First Anesthesia Lab

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We had our first anesthesia lab. The day began early, we showed up at 7AM to do physical exams/meet our dogs for the day. Turned out we were group number 23, the last group, the group without a dog! Yep, we got to watch everyone else do their exams and meet their dogs. We yawned and watched on in envy. Luckily we were notified that there would be a dog for us arriving later that day and it was just a mix up why we didn't have our own dog. 

We went back in at noon and our dog had arrived! He was a gorgeous dog, will definitely get adopted! He was really good for us and we did so well as a group. Honestly, the anesthesia lab was one of my favorite things this quarter. There have not been a lot of labs, except for my equine locomotor lab each week (but we work on cadaver limbs). It felt nice to have a lab where we had a live animal and all parties benefited. 


I am so lucky to have such a great surgery group, yes I got to pick them, but I think we all picked each other. We have become great friends over the first 2 years and will have another exciting 2 years to come.

I can now say that I can anesthetize a dog, catheterize, intubate and monitor vital signs safely. During anesthesia we monitor blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse quality, mucous membrane color and capillary refill time. We also monitor signs such as a palpebral reflex and withdrawal reflex and the placement of the eyeball to monitor anesthetic depth. We also had an esophageal stethoscope and thermometer placed. We also measured end tidal CO2. There really is a lot that goes into monitoring during anesthesia and I am so lucky to have so many good teachers. Many of the clinicians/professors came by our group yesterday and taught us useful information and gave us bouts of encouragement and constructive advice.


Next fall my surgery group and I will be ready to castrate our first dog! Very exciting! 


Life of a Vet Student....