Animal Medical Center

Katheryn Johnson - Ross

Experiences

Honk…Sirens…Cold dry air. My surroundings over whelm my senses as I find myself in the “Big Apple”, New York City. I walk to the Animal Medical Center (AMC) for my first day of a two week externship…

            What started out as a work horse parade event in 1907, to promote prevention of animal cruelty to animals by the Women’s Auxiliary, has evolved into the Animal Medical Center. They treat more than 30,000 animal cases a year. The hospital is equipped with specialty departments, a full staff of 70 Veterinarians, and treats small animals from dogs and cats to exotics like reptiles. I will share with you what AMC has to offer, what I learned there, and amazing people and opportunities it provides. Let’s first take a look at why the AMC has a diverse and numerous case load.

            The Animal Medical Center has specialty department and services to fit the needs of each patient and client that comes. There are numerous specialties offered, some of which include: avian and exotics, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, oncology, radiology, internal medicine, neurology, ophthalmology, surgery, and rehabilitation and fitness, and more. All of these departments see a vast diversity of animal cases and provide the best treatment possible. AMC has state of the art equipment to provide proper diagnostics and testing. They have two digital radiology suites, ultra sound machines, five operating rooms with several top anesthesia machines, endoscopy suit, and more. The hospital provides emergency and critical care that is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The hospital not only provides amazing veterinary care to its patients, but provides vet students with a great opportunity for learning. Here is what I took away from my time there.

            As I approach the Animal Medical Center, I look up at the eight story red brick building and I am eager to get inside. Once inside I am directed to the third floor where the Internal Medicine Ward A is located. I would be working with this department for the full two weeks. I introduce myself to the internists, residents, and interns. They greet me with open arms and I already feel like part of the team. I quickly learn the routine, which is morning rounds, then see appointments or take referrals, and the night rounds at the end of the day. Throughout my two weeks there I saw so many animal cases that I could not describe them all in this short narrative. However, I will talk about a few of the animal cases that I got extra involved in.

            The internal medicine department comprises of many disciplines, one of which is endocrinology. Tiger was an 8 year old DSH that came in because he was having a diabetic ketone acidosis (DKA) crisis.                                                                                                                           He has been a diabetic for a while and had a history of being DKA in the past. When Tiger came in he was extremely dehydrated, acidic, and lethargic. He needed to be hospitalized for a few days to get his ketones under control. This was a good opportunity to learn more about DKA and so as a group we read a paper and discussed it. I learned a lot about DKA and feel a lot more comfortable understanding the endocrine disease. I can use this knowledge to perform better in school. Since this was not the first time Tiger had been this sick we had to discuss the options with Tiger’s owner about the future. It was starting to become burdensome on Tiger’s owners emotions and finances. When euthanasia was suggested as one of the options it became very emotional for all of us especially Tiger’s mom.  We decided to give Tiger a change to get better before we went that route. For the next three days we treated and monitored Tiger very closely and every day I was hoping he would get better. Slowly Tiger was improving and by the fourth day he looked like a totally different cat. He was going to be able to go home. Seeing the transformation of Tiger by to health confirms why I want to be a veterinarian. The hospital saw a lot of endocrine disease like diabetes mellitus, Cushing’s, hypo and hyperthyroidism, and I even saw a dog with Addison’s.  

The next case was a 2 year old pitbull named Rocky. Rocky came in because he had recurrent pneumonia. This young dog was full of energy and life. He would jump up and give kisses to everyone.  They had done several diagnostics and could not figure out the cause of this recurrent pneumonia. A barium swallow study was performed. This study involves a radiographic examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The structures are made visible on the x-ray by allowing the dog to eat a liquid called barium. The purpose was to see if any of this barium ended up in the lungs, which would display if any food was being aspirated and could cause the pneumonia. They covered the dog food in the white milkshake like barium liquid and let Rocky chow down. He was more than happy to eat his barium treat. They proceeded with the radiographs and the study was negative. Rocky was not aspirating his food. His pneumonia is still being worked up for other causes, but for now he got to go home with a full stomach.

Some other animal cases and procedures I got see where congenital kidney disease, ultrasounds, chylous effusion, thoracentesis, endoscopy, cystotomy, cutaneous lymphoma, and traumatic catheterization. Not only did I learn and observer a ton, but I also got to meet and work with great people.

I got to work with the very accomplished internist, Dr. Appleman and Dr. Bloom. They were extremely informational and willing to explain and teach. They walked me through how to perform a physical exam, obtain TPR, and proper animal restraint. When procedures were performed they explained each step and why it was being done. I learned an abundant amount of information that I will take with me for my future education. These veterinarians showed a compassion for their animal patients and a high degree of professionalism and expertise when working up each case. It was an amazing experience to be mentored by them.

The Animal Medical Center is an amazing place to extern. It exposes you to a huge animal case load, the opportunity to learn about some many different areas of veterinary practice, and to meet influential people in the field. AMC has stayed true to its beginning with the level of care and compassion it provided to animals. If you are interested in doing an externship at AMC you can email Lauren Klingler at lauren.klingler@amcny.org