Surgery
During my time in surgery I saw three arthroscopies, a hoof mass removal, and three emergency colic surgeries. I had a lot of fun getting to see these surgeries! This was my first time ever getting to go into surgery. Watching how they get the horse from incubation to surgery and then into recovery was really exciting. The emergency surgeries were my favorite. The rush of getting the horse to the table as quick and safely as possible to get the best outcome was really neat. The surgery techs are really fun to work with and they explain what is going on and what will happen next the whole time throughout the surgery. If it was slower I'd ask the techs if I could go watch the surgeries that are going on. I highly suggest asking to go in to watch as often as you can! You can learn a lot about anatomy and what the surgeons are doing, and when I was the only student in surgery they would quiz me on what they were doing.
Ambulatory
This was one of the highlights of my time down here! Going ambulatory gave me the opportunity to learn from vets first hand and ask lots of questions regarding our cases or being a vet in general. On my first day ambulatory I got to go on the road with Dr. Rood. It was HOT this day (like 108ยบ!!). We got to do a lot of preg checks, scan some foals for pneumonia, and microchip several foals! The foals travel between Kentucky and Florida so it is important to scan both sides of their necks to check for microchips before placing one. The next few ambulatory days I spent with Dr. Cadena. With Dr. Cadena I got to see a lot of preg checks, pull blood for coggins, see how artificial insemination works on a Quarter Horse Mare, and a few other fun stops. The best part about ambulatory is that our days were always so different. Another bonus was seeing some of the beautiful farms around here! It was my first time getting to travel around and see the countryside of Ocala.
Hospital
The recent excitement around here has definitely been colics! We have seen a lot of different types of colics over the last few weeks. I have gotten comfortable with the way that the doctors work up colics and how to set up for them. During my second to last week we saw a nephrosplenic entrapment and a displaced spleen in the same day, both were treated with Phenylephrine and then went for a jog up and down hills at the clinic.
Another case that we saw a lot were Pneumonias. Pneumonias were diagnosed with a combination of a transtracheal wash, an ultrasound, and radiographs. Rhodococcus equi pneumonia is extremely common in foals and something that is discussed often around the clinic. This type of bacteria lives in the soil and is one of the reasons why they suggest foals to be born in stalls in Florida. If one foal at a farm gets infected with this bacteria, it would be common to see others from the same farm present with pneumonia as well. We monitor for respiratory distress, respiratory effort, and rectal temperature in these foals as often as every 1 to 2 hours.
A fascinating piece of equipment I saw during the last few weeks in Ocala was the Lameness Locator. This device was able to be attached to the horse and the horse would be jogged, tracking his or her lameness on an iPad. Once the initial tests were completed, the horse then would have nerves blocked on the leg that it indicated. The program would put together charts that could be compared, showing the degree of improvement between the initial lameness and different diagnostic tests to assist in locating the issue.
Suggestions:
- A good pair of shoes! I purchased these boots from Tack Shack of Ocala. They broke in really quickly, were extremely comfortable, and held up through everything over the summer. Having a good pair of boots was essential. It took me a week or so to find what I was looking for and definitely wish I would have purchased these immediately. I highly suggest finding a good pair before starting work because you do work hands on with tons of horses on Day 1.
- Housing! The housing is extremely comfortable. Everything you could ever need is already down there for you. I chose to bring my own bedding, but bedding is provided if you would prefer that. I purchased a 5 drawer organizer for my clothes which was helpful to keep all of my items together.
- Groceries - there is a Publix only ~5 minutes from the house! They had so many deals every week. Also every Thursday the clinic hosts Food Truck Thursday. The menu is posted at the beginning of the week in the break room!
- Restaurants - our favorite restaurant was Sammy's! Sammy's is only a few minutes from the house and have amazing pizza. Las Margaritas and Yummy House were other favorites that the technicians at the clinic suggested that we loved. During one of my last weeks we found Ocala Downtown Diner - as a bonus it is open as soon as night shift ends for a really good breakfast.
- Water. Water. Water. It is hot and going from Michigan to Florida is a huge change! I carried my water bottle with me everywhere!
- Attend rounds! At 5pm every day the residents and interns walk through all of the barns to discuss each case and plans for that case over the next day or so. This is a great time to hear the updates on the patients and more details about how they are progressing. There is also Journal Club and Topic Rounds during the week that the fellow is invited to as well.
Overall, I had a great summer in Ocala and am so thankful for the experience Peterson & Smith and Michigan State offered me. I learned so much about how to care for foals and the preparation that went into getting horses into and out of surgery. Getting on the road for a few days was definitely one of the highlights of my experience. My favorite moment by far was when we had a mare foal out during one of my shifts. It was certainly unforgettable! I saw a lot of cases, got to watch a standing jugular thrombectomy and tendon sheath excision, and met a ton of amazing people.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about Peterson and Smith or Ocala in general. Thanks for reading :)
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