Research

One of the most valuable aspects about my mentor ship was the hands-on learning I received the opportunity to do. At Mission Vet, there weren't many animal admitted into the hospital. The few that were had already been addressed and were only waiting on treatment. Since Dr. Robinson and I had a lot of time on our hands, she taught me how to administer a physical exam on a dog. A physical exam is performed by emergency veterinarians when animals first arrive at the hospital. Through the exam, doctors are hoping to find what might be wrong with the animal and any other signs of pain. I got to practice on another veterinarians dog that she had brought into work. Afterwards, I got to discuss with the critical care doctor and learn more about specialties. She gave me insight into what it is like to specialize in a certain area of an animal's body and the extra education it requires. Overall, my mentor meeting provided me with a new learning experience and insight into specialties. 

When I think of my mentorship, I am not only reminded of the work I got to do with Dr. Robinson, but with her colleagues as well. When I arrived at Mission Vet, Dr. Robinson did not have any patients, but there were many animals admitted in the emergency room so, we joined Dr. Bunde in addressing her patient that was expected to have lymphoma. I got the opportunity to watch Dr. Robinson, Dr. Bunde, and the vet techs perform a fine needle aspiration on the dog. A fine needle aspiration is performed to extract blood cells from the animal in order to determine whether any are cancerous or not. Although it is not a very long process, it requires tedious handling and precise decisions. Once the procedure was finished, Dr. Bunde taught me how to use a microscope and allowed me to look at the blood samples. Luckily, none of the cells were deemed to be cancerous. This mentor meeting revealed to me the strong connections and teamwork that veterinary medicine requiries. 

Veterinary medicine often goes beyond only addressing animals' illnesses. At this mentor meeting, Dr. Robinson explained to me the calls she had to make. Dogs had bitten doctors before they were euthanized, so they needed to get checked for rabies. These were not easy calls to make since in order to check for rabies, they needed to cut the dog's brain. Dr. Robinson also needed to make calls to pet owner's regarding their animal's necropsy. As she was making these calls, she asked me to give her feedback on the way she explains conditions. Dr. Robinson felt as if sometimes she gets lost in the medical aspect of things and fails to make what she is saying understandable. After she made the calls, we reviewed seizures and how they occur. Dr. Robinson also printed me a hand out so I can learn about them from a new perspective. Overall, this mentor meeting was very beneficial since I got a new understanding of the legal aspects of veterinary medicine. 

When I got to Mission Vet, Dr. Robinson and the internal medicine specialist were assessing a french bulldog who had a surgical cricothyrotomy done to him. The owners were travelling on the road with their two french bulldogs. They said typically, their dogs both get excited and end up breathing heavier. This usually only lasts for about 30 minutes, but one of their dogs continued to work themselves up. The owners said they were in the middle of nowhere, late at night and called many veterinarians in the area, but only one had answered them. It was an equestrian hospital that usually operates on farm animals but were willing to accommodate in order to save the dog's life. They ended up placing a surgical cricothyrotomy for the time being in order to ease his breathing. The doctors then told them they should see another hospital soon. The owners gave Dr. Robinson the medical record from the visit and she concluded that although they saved the dog's life in the moment, they hurt the dog in the long run. To address the dog's issues, Dr. Robinson needed the dog to go into an oxygen room, get anxiety meds, be hospitalized for a few days, and then transfer over to internal medicine. This case was very interesting since it involved addressing a previous veterinarian's work and accommodating with it to save an animal's life.