Seeing Practice with PDSA

I've been Seeing Practice with PDSA Oldbury this week and loved every minute!
The PDSA are a national charity providing free veterinary care to pets of people in need since 1917, with 51 hospitals and 380 pet practices across the UK.

The Oldbury hospital opened in 2015 so the facilities and equipment are all great.

Within half an hour of walking in on Monday morning I had donned gloves and gown and assisting in surgery; a cystotomy to remove bladder stones. I was able to hold the bladder to stop it disappearing back into the abdomen and place catheters to flush saline and clear the calculi.

The vets were great at explaining things to me and nurses very patient explaining and restraining animals for procedures.
I did a few afternoons consulting, taking histories and doing clinical examinations - they have double consulting rooms split down the middle so I was able to grab a vet after they'd finished their consult to discuss my patients and what treatment was necessary.

The first few consults were general health checks either post-operative or new kittens, I had a diabetic dog come in which hadn't eaten breakfast but was still given insulin and went into a hypoglycemic state. The owner had given cake and glucose powder so I admitted the dog for blood glucose and monitoring. The nurses were great in letting me do the blood glucose throughout the day and on the discharge consult I was able to explain the importance of routine for diabetic patients; consistency of feeding and insulin routine and reasons why.

Throughout the week I scrubbed in and assisted on lots of other surgery including a caesarean section, dentals, pyometra and an ex-lap which unfortunately found a stomach tumor so I euthanised and closed up.

I have another week with the PDSA in September and will hopefully be back again next summer!