Final post :)

Since I was the age of 5 horses and horse back riding has always been apart of my life. I grew up wanting a career path in equine veterinary medicine. My experience with Becton’s internship program helped me get more of a view on my future as veterinary doctor, as it exposed me to many different medical environments and situations. What I enjoyed most about my internship was getting a true feel for the workplace environment involving veterinary medicine. I am proud to announce that I have committed to Centenary University with a major in equine veterinary medicine and will be starting in the fall of 2017… and I'd like to thank Dr. Frezzo for the amazing opportunity to intern and work at her hospital and for the experience that truly gave me an upper hand with my career path in life.

Here are a few pictures of the ultra sound machine brought in by a doctor, along with the examining bed where the animal is set down on.

Worms?!?!

While examining a dogs fecal matter in a light microscope the veterinary technicians discovered that the dog had worms that were able to be seen!

Chubby pugs and bulgy eyes

In the hospital today Dr. Frezzo had a patient that came in with some sort of obstruction in the eye. The pictures attached shows the obvious signs of a complication in the eye of the dog. Another picture shows a different dog going through an eye test which analyzes the eye for any dangerous pressure points or anything that should not be there.

Spay that turned into a small little discovery?

During a routine spay at the hospital, as Dr. Frezzo began the surgery right on the surface of the dogs skin was an umbilical hernia which is fat poking through the skin. It was very interesting to me because I have never seen a hidden hernia and had no idea that a hernia could be right under the skin.

Guinea pig in the hospital?

Today one of Dr. Frezzo's employees has brought in her guinea pig to be neutered. I have never seen such a small animal surgery and so it was very interesting to see the procedure and to see Dr. Frezzo researching through her medical books to find the proper ways to perform the surgery. It gave me lots of insight on small animal surgery and the care put into every single animal at her hospital.

Hospital surgery arrangements

In the surgery room on this particular day the staff and Dr. Frezzo were working on a small dog's spay. A spay by definition is the removing of an animals reproductive organs. There are a few attached pictures of the monitoring machines and surgery table with the little puppy all shaved and prepped for her surgery. To prep for a surgery the animal is shaved and properly cleaned and sanitized, along with all tools used and the doctor. Dr. Frezzo herself has to be sterile and scrub herself and wear a sterilized gown and gloves.

April 17th 2017

Over all the past two months have been extremely ordinary. There was an average amount of clients and it was not very hectic at all. Although This Friday at the hospital we had a very unusual patient and a very intense surgery happen. My mentor Dr. Frezzo had to remove intestinal tissue from a male cat due to prolapsed intestines. The cat needed emergency surgery, because it had been un able to defecate for almost two days and the situation had become extremely critical. It gave me a real understanding of how an emergency surgery could be. I was running all over the hospital helping with rooms and keeping track of everything and making sure the hospital stayed clean and tidy as the surgery went on. I would switch out with my co-workers so they could take breaks and would monitor the cat's vitals during the surgery. It was over all a great learning experience as I have never witnessed such a dramatic situation.

March 20th 2017

I have been getting used to the color coding the hospital has for appointments as well. I have learned that:

red = a sick pet visit
pink = a no show
blue = simple vaccines/first time visit
green = recheck
grey = the client has checked out

March 13th 2017

Along with putting clients in rooms I have been getting more familiar with the front desk area. I was taught how to create and remove appointments and call clients to confirm appointments. I have been getting used to the format the hospital computers have, and making calls. I normally have the responsibility to call clients from the day before and ask them how their pet is doing, how their medications are working if they were given any, etc.

February 27th 2017

During the past few weeks I have very avid around the whole hospital. I have been all over the place helping with everything I can. I have been:

• bathing animals
• cutting nails
• cleaning ears
• warming up animals after surgery
• cleaning tables, rooms, kennels, etc
• mopping and sweeping hall ways
• putting clients in rooms

February 6th

A chemistry roader is a "disk" type device put into a blood analyzing machine. Blood is dripped into it from a patient and it is then spun and analyzed to determine whether or not the animal has any serious problems.

February 6th 2017

I've recently learned about the different iron levels in cats and dogs and how they can affect them, along with learning about the fecal exams and how they can show if a pet has any type of worms or intestinal parasites.

February 6th 2017

Working around the fecal and blood test machines has really opened my eyes to learning more about what they analyze and how they can assist in creating a treatment plan for a patient!

January 29 2016

Last week a very exciting patient came in with a very bad heart condition. An older male dog with a heart condition that prohibits his heart from properly beating, which leads to fluids draining into the abdomen. The dog's chest would fill with fluid, making it very hard to breath and uncomfortable in general. The plan was to sedate him and lay him comfortably flat on the exam table so we could insert a needle and syringe into his abdomen to draw out the fluids. In the picture above you can see the light red pigmentation of the fluids. It is like this because it isn't straight up blood, it is "blood like" fluids from the heart not properly processing them. We ended up with half a gallon of fluids!