Diary of a Third-Year Vet Student: Boosting My Confidence

Yesterday we did our first sheep surgery. I was the assistant surgeon. My team for the Large Animal Surgery Lab class has been really great at communicating and dividing up tasks, and after a bit of discussion, we decided that I'd try to place the jugular catheter in the sheep.

With one of my teammates holding the sheep securely, I clipped his neck. Then I did a rough prep with betadine and alcohol and injected a line of lidocaine under his skin where the catheter was going to be placed. Then I put on sterile gloves and did a sterile prep. My other teammate opened the package so I could grab the catheter while remaining sterile and he helped me fill it with heparinized saline. I hit the jugular vein right away but passed the catheter all the way through the vein so we had to pull that one and give it a go with a second catheter. It's really important that these be placed in sterile conditions so you don't introduce bacteria into the skin or blood. I was successful with the second catheter and placed two stitches through his skin and tied them around the catheter port to hold it in place.

My arms were shaking from a combination of stress and excitement when I finished. It was a big boost to my confidence to get it done quickly, efficiently, and properly. Even better, that catheter remained patent for the two hours it took to do the surgery. I can't take all the credit, however, because successful catheter placement depends quite a lot on the person holding the animal. Our ram weighs 186 lb and was not sedated. I kept thinking about that as I was kneeling on the ground in front of him, poking him with sharp things, but my teammate did a fabulous job of keeping the ram steady and calm.

Next week is the last week of this winter term, then finals, then a week off. Our lecture and lab schedule drops off a lot in the spring term because we will be doing mini (week-long) clinical rotations to prepare us for the real things that start in June. Our cohort will break up then since the order of the clinical rotations is different for each of us. Plus their length depends on the track that we have chosen. Most vet schools offer tracks along the lines of small animal, large animal, non-traditional, and general. I went with the general track. With my interest in poultry medicine, none of the other tracks were suitable. Finishing my time in vet school with a well-rounded exposure to all facets of vet med seemed to be the most reasonable choice.

Since I can't put up a picture of the sheep, I will leave this here instead.

Freezing fog is typical for western Oregon winters. These ice feathers formed on my car windshield overnight. I took the photo sitting inside the car looking out towards the sun which is just below the horizon.