Sundays at the clinic are routine with exams, blood work, cleaning and no surgeries. My quest for an additional part-time job did yield two hires and two resignations within a month’s time. In other words, I now will stay away from one-doctor practices and if a doctor does not inflate an intubation tube prior to surgery-RUN!!!
I went from damn good values and hardcore work ethics with my current position to horribly bad in terms of practice ethics, lack of aseptic values, and price gouging to name a few. Professionalism and code of ethics were not the values of the two disgruntled doctors I was unlucky enough to encounter. Details of blatant disregard of OSHA standards as well as personal safety need not be recorded in my blog. I know what was abused and neglected; my readers do not need to know. For those who would like to know, be aware of working in a clinic or hospital that goes against every chapter’s coverage in your coursework textbooks. There is a reason these overpriced textbooks have value. In my case, courses as well as the texts helped to establish a good basis for learning what is appropriate and what is not in this complex field of Veterinary Technicians.
The resumes continue to go out and the interviews will continue to come in until, one day, I will find the practice that will foster my learning and growth. Of course, I am not giving up working Sundays at the Clinic.
I worked at the clinic today assisting Dr. Q on a surgery to remove a mass from an elder beagle’s small intestine. Once the surgery was under way, Dr. Q discovered it was not the small intestine that held the mass, but the spleen! Dr. Q removed the spleen and I was able to assist as a ‘scrubbed in assistant’, which enabled me to hold the spleen as Dr. Q sutured blood vessels and extracted the organ with little blood loss. The spleen was sent to the lab for a biopsy to determine if the tumour is benign. More than likely, it is malignant. I nursed the dog through its dysphoria.
Once again, it was a pleasure working with Dr Q!!!
Dr. S and his son, a DVM worked together on an amputation of a cat’s hind leg that was encased in a tumour. It was my first amputation and I was able to observe the procedure as the head vet tech explained anesthesia protocol or an elder cat. Although we did joke about the leg once it was removed (comparing it to a turkey leg) the suture work and end result of the procedure was amazing.
At the end of the day, I like to come home feeling I made a difference in an animal’s medical treatments and working at the clinic allows this.
Now for the pixs:
Schedule of the days’ procedures
Radiograph of canine, scheduled for tumour removal
Holding the spleen as Dr. Q sutures-my hands could not leave the table. Left hand could not rest on table as my glove was not rolled up
The Spleen with large tumour
Dr. Q closing up
Dr. S, first incision for amputation
Using a scalpel to cut through to bone joint
Removing leg
Leg is removed, closing up
Medical waste
Finished. Drain in place to allow drainage of accumulated fluids
Sundays At the Clinic 