WVS Surgical Training Course

I've just completed the WVS Surgical Training Course at the ITC Ooty in India and can honestly say it's been one of the best experiences of my veterinary career so far.

The course was well structured, including everything I'd hoped to cover and more. By the end of the two weeks I'd done 8 dog castrates, 8 bitch spays and a scrotal ablation.

The ITC work under 'limited resources' in that they don't have access to a huge range of drugs and equipment we do in the UK. They have had anaesthesia available but only at one operative table so it's used for longer surgeries but neuters are done with Total Intra-Venous Anaesthesia. We have a protocol using 10 injectable drugs for anaesthesia and analgesia (pain relief).

At first it sounded daunting and we have to monitor patients much more closely under anaesthesia but the protocol was explained well and the lecture we had was great so I understand the drugs we use and why we used them. It also meant that we could use the protocol in individual animals should they need more pain relief or anaesthesia.

Even though they're under limited resources the staff they have are amazing, particularly Dr Vinay and "the boys". The boys are a bit like our nurses and technicians/VCA's in one. They catch the dogs for us to sedate then prep and scrub them for surgery as well as monitoring anaesthesia and prepping all our kits, surgery and much much more.

The care each and every dog receives is second to none, with constant monitoring throughout anaesthesia and recovery, we even had pulse oxymetry which some clinics I've been to back home don't have.

I've done a fair bit of work experience and assisting in surgery back in the UK but have always had a vet scrubbed in explaining the procedure, checking my ligatures and any bleeding.

At the start of the course we had vets scrubbed in to supervise but I'm now confidently doing dog castrates and bitch spays all by myself with no assistance, complete with intradermals.

Intradermal suturing is something I've never done before but as we are operating on free roaming dogs we want them recovered and returned back to where they came from as quickly as we can. Intradermals mean we don't need to take stitches out after a week.

During rounds the following morning we checked every dog giving them a wound score and pain score followed by pain relief and a rabies vaccination.

That also gave you the opportunity to check your tissue handling and intradermal technique and we could see how our wound scored improved over a few days.

During our first week the ITC neutered their 20,000th dog which is a huge achievement and shows the expertise and experience the staff have. We celebrated with a giant chocolate cake and dog 20,000 was given extra treats that evening.

Accommodation was in single sex dorms which were clean and better than I anticipated in that we had wifi and a flushing toilet! The food provided three times a day was amazing, all vegetarian and not too spicy as that could be added individually.

The cook definitely ramped up the spice slowly over the two weeks which we loved.

I would recommend the course to every vet student and new graduate wanting to gain confidence in soft tissue surgery.

I spent a further two weeks after the course travelling around India and found myself comparing everything to Ooty. While I fell in love with India, the cooler climate and calmer pace of life in Ooty suited me perfectly and I would love to return to the ITC in the future as a volunteer vet.