Entries in Oregon State University (5)

Saturday
Feb212015

Yerington, NV

Cherise Hill - Oregon State

Experiences

 

The SAVMA Public Health and Community Outreach Committee awarded Cherise a $500 "Underserved Populations Externship Stipend” for her externship in Nevada.


For the first week of Christmas break, in my third year at Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine, I completed a small animal surgery and medicine externship at Greenfield Animal Hospital in Yerington, Nevada. Much of Nevada provides a unique challenge for veterinary care as the region has many communities that are too small to supporta veterinary service on their own.  Greenfield Animal Hospital is the sole veterinary hospital in Yerington and also provides veterinary services to people traveling from the surrounding communities: Smith Valley, Schurz, and Hawthorne (nearly 60 miles away).  Both Drs Justin Smith and Jody Roderick have been incredible mentors ever since I worked there in high school, and were incredibly gracious to open up their hospital to me for a weeklong surgery and medicine externship.

                Every morning I performed preoperative physical exams for the surgical procedures that day, checking for any clinical signs that would preclude the elective surgery, such as a severe heart murmur or respiratory disease.  Many of the dogs that I had the opportunity to spay or neuter came from the Paiute Native American Tribe in Schurz and from the local Yerington Animal Shelter. I then spent the morning in surgery, working to perfect my skill with Dr. Smith giving me tips on how to be most efficient—from what he had learned at one of the other OSU’s – Oklahoma State University. Most of the dogs and cats were young adults with no complications. There was one dog in particular that I was concerned about because she was an older bulldog that had whelped several litters of puppies. I was happy when her anesthesia went very smoothly, and though there was increased hemorrhaging due to her pregnancy history, the surgery and recovery went well. By the end of the week, we had completed seven neuter or spay surgeries, and I felt incredibly more excited about being in the surgery suite for the rest of my life! Towards the end of the week a beagle came in with large abscesses and bite wounds on its neck, so was excited to clean out the abscesses and place a Penrose drain to allow the wounds to continue to drain.

                In the afternoons I followed both Dr. Roderick and Smith in medicine cases. Many of them were the typical vaccination appointment, but I did get to see some cases that would be of interest to a veterinary student and I will mention three that stand out to me: One middle-aged gray tabby cat that came in for vaccinations had copper colored eyes, making me wonder if she had a portosystemic shunt. She had of course been healthy all her life, so there was no need to perform further diagnostics, but I’ll always wonder! A middle aged Siberian Husky  with the classic ‘tragic facial expression’ was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, and although he didn’t appear to me to have alopecia, I would assume that could easily go unnoticed with the northern breeds who have a thick coat to begin with. And finally, having just taken a surgery exam on repairs for a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament (CCL), I was excited to have a look at the radiographs of a Shepherd mix at the 8 week recheck appointment, and rehearse the advantages and disadvantages of the three main CCL repairs.

                On Wednesday morning I visited the Yerington Elementary School to give an hour-long presentation that I called “The Jobs of a Veterinarian.” When I arrived at the school I discovered the size of my audience had more than tripled because of the interest of other classrooms. In all, there were about 80 kids there, ranging from 4th grade up to 7th grade. I began by explaining the various types of jobs a veterinarian can have, including the lesser known jobs such as wildlife, and lab animal veterinarians. The kids were especially excited to learn about the veterinarian that attends to the dogs of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race! I gave the kids some interesting animal trivia, talking about how heart rates vary from large mammals to tiny hummingbirds in flight and why cephalopods have blue blood. One of the teachers had been cleared with the principal to bring her dog into the school, so I performed a brief physical exam and among other things, highlighted the importance of regular dental cleanings and keeping their pets at a good body weight.  Finally, I spent the last 20 minutes answering questions the students had and was happy that so many of them were curious about veterinarians and other jobs that involve animals.

The week that I spent in Yerington was incredible –the doctors and staff at Greenfield Animal Hospital were phenomenally welcoming and patient with someone who didn’t know where anything was located in the hospital. It’s not a surprise in the least to say I highly recommend looking them up for an internship – it may not be the high volume clinic that you might see in a large city, but I certainly saw many cases that made me rethink my approach to certain diseases (the absence of the classic alopecia of a severely hypothyroid dog, for example).  Most of all, it was exciting to give back to the community I had grown up in, both by raising awareness of the need for veterinary care with the kids at school, and also practicing my surgical skills to make some pets behave like much better citizens. 

Saturday
Nov012014

"Foggy Days"

Emily Swan, Oregon State

Creative Corner, Entry

  "Foggy Days", a digital painting

Sunday
Jun092013

IVSA happenings at Oregon State University

One of the benefits of being a SAVMA member is that you are also a member of the International Veterinary Students' Association (IVSA). Read below to see what Oregon State University's chapter is up to!

The OSU International Veterinary Students Association has been very busy over the last few months.  We started out the school year with the very successful Run for Ukraine in October followed up by OHOW week in January.  In winter term we awarded scholarships to Nicaragua 2012 participants, and the term was rounded out by our annual silent auction.  Plans for the 2013 trip to Nicaragua are well under way; applications were received and approved in January.  The 2013 Nicaragua participants began their required seminars on April 2nd; those will continue through spring term.  Representatives from our IVSA group attended the tenth annual Western Regional International Health Conference at OHSU at the beginning of April and there is more IVSA fun to come.  Don't forget the International Food Fest coming sometime in May!

On October 14th IVSA held The Run for Ukraine.  This event received a lot of community support and raised $785 that will be used to further veterinary care in our sister city of Uzhgorod, Ukraine and assist the community of Ukraine with healthcare for their citizens suffering with tuberculosis.  Currently, Uzhgorod does not have an animal shelter, the community hopes to put these funds toward the effort of establishing one.

OHOW (One-Health-One-World) week was January 7-11 and the proceeds from this event also went to our sister city Uzhgorod, Ukraine; a grand total of $874.67.  The events of the week consisted of a presentation from the Corvallis Sister City Association, a penny drive that the Class of 2014 won again this year, and several lunches sponsored by IVSA, AAEP, Therio Club, SCAVMA, Class of 2014 and Shelter Med Club.  There was also a fundraiser sponsored by Woodstocks Pizza in which 30% of the proceeds were donated to our sister city.

Thanks to Dr. Bermudez and the Department of Biomedical Sciences, we were able to award 8 scholarships for

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Jan082013

pencil sketch, "Untitled"

Entry, Creative Corner
Sarah Hall, Oregon State University

Tuesday
May012012

Students at Oregon State learn how to rescue horses from ravines, and much more!

Editors note: SAVMA's Public Health and Community Outreach Committee offers a grant every spring to a veterinary school that is hosting a disaster preparedness activity.  The latest winner of the grant was Oregon State University. Read below to hear more about their event, and if you are interested in funding for a disaster preparedness activity at your own school, please contact the Public Health committee at savma.phcoc@gmail.com

Oregon Veterinary Students participating in a disaster preparedness course spponsored by SAVMA's Public Health and Community Outreach Committee

By: Ashley Galen
Oregon State University, Class of 2013

Last summer I participated in an externship at a local equine practice where I met Dr. Shannon Findley, a recent graduate of UC Davis with a lot of enthusiasm for equine emergency response.  During veterinary school she took courses in large animal rescue and participated in their Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT).  Her drive to spread awareness to clients and fellow aid workers, veterinarians and firemen alike, showed me how important it is to be prepared for emergency situations.  

This drove me to set up an SC-AAEP workshop at Oregon State on equine emergency response, focusing on what can be done in an average practice to be prepared for a disaster of any magnitude.

Click to read more ...