Back to OHS

The past two weeks were spent back at the Oregon Humane Society(OHS) in Portland. I loved it so much the first time that I decided to go back for more fun and for some preceptorship credit. I was able to work on my skills in surgery (spays and neuters), dentistry, and medicine. I really enjoyed my time there once again.  Everything I did there is very applicable to what I will be doing when I graduate (which is in less than 5 months!).

I had several patients while at OHS and learned something from each of them. The doctors and technicians were great. All were very willing to teach and help out. I enjoyed the company of the other students ( Carissa, Nina, & Kat) and Dr. Funes a medicine intern. I thought it was a great group and we had a lot of fun. The drive to Voo Doo donuts was an adventure that I will never forget! I meant to get a group picture but it didn't happen. ):










I got to have a dog for a night on Friday. Lavinia, my patient for the entire two weeks at OHS has a radius ulna fracture that isn't healing properly and thus requires surgical intervention that can be provided at the OSU vet school. I brought her along, somewhat reluctantly to stay the night with me and then be dropped off at the school the following morning. I say reluctantly because she is a little dog that likes to bark and is not quite potty trained. However, having her with me for one night turned out to be really enjoyable. She did bark a little bit but she had no accidents and it was neat to see her away from the kennel environment. She was so playful and loved to snuggle up next to me while I watched TV. It made me miss having my dog Scout here with me and was a nice reminder of what is waiting for me after graduation.

Lavinia

On a different note. I passed the NAVLE!! Yay! I am one step closer to becoming a DVM. Now all that stands in my way are a few more rotations, my Senior paper and presentation, and graduation. I also will begin searching for a job back in Utah somewhere. 

Scrubbing in for surgery on the last day = 5 cat spays, 1 rabbit neuter, 1 dog spay

 (photo courtesy Carissa Jones)

This week I start my first large animal rotation which will last for 4 weeks. I will be hanging up my white coat for a while and putting on my green coveralls to work with horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, etc. I'm a bit nervous because large animals are not my forte but I'm sure I will learn a lot.

A friend in the student lounge.

Cardiology

I was lucky enough to have two weeks off over Christmas and my birthday and I went home to Utah to spend time with my family. It was fabulous and as always, hard to come back to school. Fortunately I got to ease back into my clinical rotations with cardiology, a two week rotation. There were three other students on this rotation with me and it was great! (Usually there are only 2 students) The first week was a little slow because of the New Year's holiday but we enjoyed being done early in the afternoon and having New Year's Day off. 

Echocardiogram machine and table

On this rotation I got more confident at hearing heart murmurs and classifying them. I also feel more confident about reading ECG's and treating various arrhythmias. I enjoyed watching echocardiograms on dogs and cats and thought it was fun when we were allowed to try our hand at  it ourselves. It's pretty cool to use the ultrasound probe and be able to see the heart beating and identify all of its chambers and great vessels. All of the techs, residents, and cardiologists were great and very committed to helping the students learn. 







We were lucky to watch a balloon valvuloplasty procedure where they insert a balloon through the jugular vein and into the heart and inflate it over a narrowed portion of the heart valve to try to open the valve up for better blood flow. The dog is under general anesthesia and they use fluoroscopy (real time x-ray) to visualize what they are doing. 

A ECG strip showing 2nd degree heart block

A chart to help identify heart structures on echo

We saw quite a few dogs come in with pericardial effusion (fluid build up in the sac around the heart) and it was neat to see how it looked on ultrasound and how the fluid is removed using a catheter and syringe. This is something I will see in general practice so it was good to have exposure to it now. 


I enjoyed this rotation a lot and feel like I learned a lot. 

Me practicing echo technique on a techs dog.

Currently I'm in the middle of my second rotation at Oregon Humane Society (OHS). I decided to go back for two more weeks of preceptorship credit. I'm loving it! Cute pictures to come in my next update!

Still waiting on the results from the NAVLE. Hopefully I'll be able to say that I passed it in my next update. Fingers crossed!