So after my last entry, the elections to determine the next POTUS happened and only recently, did the counts became official. The electorates would formally submit their votes to confirm Joe Biden into office next week? Also after being rejected from the super cool heart valve place, I saw this university position open and applied for fun since I have a background in education. Being "relatively" fresh out of school with no real experience in animal hospitals and whatnot, I didn't really think I was in a place of consideration but the odds worked in my favor. It's partially because there were two positions open, I think, and my manager's open to hiring technicians at any level.
I never thought I'd be working in a general practice when it came to being a veterinary professional but if I had to, I know I'm in the right place. I'm pretty lost at everything, especially since I spent like two months studying research animal material in preparation for interviews with research facilities. It also didn't help that after being rejected by the HR (almost instantaneously) of several places and applying for positions that would just be filled or taken down not to long after being posted, I started to catch up on reading comic books again and put everything I learned in technician school back into the archives of my brain.
When it comes to working with vet students at the moment, I'm really awful at answering questions because (1) I barely know how the place operates and (2) I barely remember anything I learned in school. A lot of it is coming back, but I'm still the most amateur, novice, rookie person amongst my colleagues and it doesn't help when even the part-time veterinary assistants are so well versed in the things I should already know. Nonetheless, everyone is super nice and supportive. Being in a pandemic helps a bit since vet students in the hospital are limited and clients can't physically be in exam rooms until herd immunity is reached, so I have some months to know my shit and talk the talk but that doesn't go without me making mistakes and being awful at the skills that require physical practice. I don't even have a dog or cat at home, so it's a bit difficult to even practice and review things I learned in school.
I'll list some things that others may learn from my mistakes:
- Listen to how many CCs/mls people ask you to pull for them and pick the syringe closest to that amount. That'll save you a scolding, but also it really does make a difference when it comes to accurately pulling up the correct dose. I'm so used to using 3ml syringes that I naturally just gravitate towards pulling them out of the drawer, especially when it's the primary syringe for vaccines and the refrigerated drugs. And then there's drugs like propofol, which usually ends up needing more than 3ml syringes because it requires a projected high dose, but only given until effect (titrated) and all animals require a different amount to become sedated.
- I've been writing notes for clients on post-its just to remind myself to tell it to them but also give to clients, and I only recently realized that I could've been typing them up as "discharge" instructions which look way more professional than a pink post-it in my ugly handwriting.
- I forget that x-rays often are either abdominal or thoracic and if they're not, it's usually joint focused. And if it's not joint focused, then it's specifically bone focused (but I don't often hear those shots being requested). A vet student asked me once what kind of focused shot should be taken for an arthritic dog's lower back and I was like "femoral?" when it should be like hip joint or something...IDK.
- This should be like an obvious one but if the owner doesn't mention like "he got a vaccine right?", I'll forget half the time to remind owners to monitor for vaccine reactions, provide examples of signs of that, and what to do if it does occur (which isn't often but it does happen).
- I absolutely hate dealing with money (estimates and invoices) because it makes all the difference in the world when it comes to helping the animal get the best care they can receive and dealing with a client with multiple pets at the same time is almost always a guarantee you'll forget something when it comes to billing, so...take your time...double check your notes and written instructions. **Not that working in research doesn't deal with money but it's a bit different because it's either from the corporation [which is basically unlimited] or through research grants**
- I saw my first reptile surgery which was a tail amputation. I also saw how to intubate a lizard which is a bit different from a snake but easier than a cat? You also really get to hear and see how much slower the heart pumps and how little breaths they take. Moreover, if you're like me, you'd wonder why a tail would need to be amputated for a lizard when most of them have the ability to drop their tail? The tail attached, however, had signs of necrosis and it didn't occur to me that even though they could drop it, the priority now was to stop an infection from occurring and traveling into the blood stream (sepsis).
- I scrubbed into an orthopedic surgery which was kind of like a..."I wasn't expecting this nor am I ready but ok" moment. I didn't really do much besides hold a plate in place so the doctor could drill into the side of the dog's knee. I knew I wasn't going to faint or anything because I've sort of trained myself to see the insides of animals through videos of people doing museum research prep work where they skin dead animals, but holding the leg and feeling the drill go through and seeing the surgeon take a saw to the leg isn't the most fun thing to watch. Likewise, seeing open flesh and a dog's stifle joint and bone exposed is like looking at fresh bloody chicken?
- The other day, I was taught how to do a rectal exam because your finger is already up the butt to express anal glands. I was basically told to feel for the landmarks (the urethra below and sacrum above) and then feel for uniformity.
- I've also been corrected numerous times for holding dogs and cats wrong and improper vaccine administration, so don't feel bad if you think you're a dumb POS because I'm also a stupid POS.
- Old dogs with heart murmurs can take gas anesthesia fine (we only use sevoflurane which is the safer of the two options anyway, other being isoflurane). The only time it's really contraindicated would be if congestive heart failure is found in x-rays, so that'd be the next procedure to do before getting an older dog into surgery or dental cleaning. You'll want to look at the size of the heart and see if there's any fluid in the lungs. Bloodwork is also super important in determining which drugs to use for sedation and anesthetics. Likewise, going on the chest x-ray thing, there was an English bulldog in for 'trouble breathing' and the exam went fine until it started developing into an emergency situation and the owner ultimately decided to euthanize. After the dog was intubated, given regular breaths, and provided emergency drugs and had radiographs taken, it totally sucks when you try to help return a patient to a normal state but then find that the dog may have developed a mass in its oral cavity and whatnot (not sure what exactly because you don't want to be intrusive with the doctors and the owner around). One of the options was to provide another passage way for the dog to breathe via tracheotomy which is basically cutting open a hole in the throat (think of those smoking ads in the early 2000s). English bulldogs, as cute as they are, have no benefit from the really smushed faces and chunky bodies they've been bred to have. It only makes it harder for them to breathe and difficult for doctors and technicians to treat because of their really fat necks and shortened muzzles. It was pretty wild being only 3 weeks into my new job and thrown into all these situations I'm not ready for (or ever will be, unless forced into it).
- Grain-free diets are not good for dogs, unless they help with food associated itching. The argument for grain-free diets is basically that since dogs are descendants of wolves, they need a more "carnivorous" diet because they're practically wolves but dogs and wolves are different. They split from a common ancestor thousands of years ago. It's just like how humans and monkeys split from a common ancestor a long time ago, yet we're not pushed to have the same diet as a gorilla or chimpanzee because we know that our species have adapted to an omnivorous diet (and dogs have developed the same diet as both species cohabitated together for thousands of years). Long story short, grain-free dog food is becoming ever more clearly to be associated with dilated cardiomyopathy. The scientific proof is yet to be published as research is still continuing. But if I'm being taught that, then there's enough evidence for my colleague to confidently inform me and other vet students about the connection. **But as a general note though, correlation ≠ causation. Just because one study says something doesn't mean it's fact. It's just what they found...and that can be due to poor controls and whatnot. But when multiple studies lead to the same conclusion, then you can confidently say 'yeah, this causes that'**