Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital

Hello! My name is Katelynn Cox and I just finished my second year of veterinary school at MSU. I am working at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky this summer and I’m excited to tell you guys about my amazing journey. I am just starting my fourth week here and I’m in love! The facility is much bigger than I expected and has a crazy case load. There are about 60 doctors, which includes ambulatory doctors, radiologists, internal medicine doctors , ophthalmology, podiatrists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, and interns. They literally have it all!

I am training to work as a surgical technician for the summer, so I am working and learning many different technicians and 6 different surgeons. I work five days a week, I've been starting at 8am and I get out depending on when we get through the scheduled surgeries. It has been anywhere between 4pm and 8pm. Though, if I want to I can go in on the weekends to help with bandage changes or go out on ambulatory. I am staying at the house that is on campus which has five bedrooms, two baths and is filled with 16 different externs. It is a little crazy living in a house with this many people but I have met so many great friends! Whenever there is an emergency the clinic will call the house and the externs are encouraged to go watch and help with the surgery although, in my position as a surgical technician I am not required to, but can if I want to. Also, every night interns will call the house to find externs to help them with bandage changes or treatments the next morning, again in this position I am not required to help them but I can if I want to.  

These first couple weeks have been a lot to take in, it is very fast pace and a lot goes into prepping the horses and assisting in surgery. They do about 15-30 surgeries a day so it’s a lot! I am finally getting the hang of things and have been assisting with surgeries on my own. There are six different surgeons in the hospital so it is great to be able to watch and learn from their different approaches. The majority of the surgeries are arthroscopies and transphyseal screws, but I have seen periosteal transections, colic surgeries, fracture repairs, castrations, arthrodesis, and much more.

Aside from the job and learning experience I want to tell you guys a little about the area! Lexington is actually awesome, I didn’t expect to fall in love with this place. I actually am considering living here one day. It is so beautiful and there are so many things to do. The first weekend that I was here I drove to Churchill Downs and watch races and then went hiking in the mountains. The food is amazing, the views are amazing, the weather is nice and the people are pretty great too.

Stay tunes for cases that I will present to you in the coming weeks.

P.S. Sorry I didn’t post before this, I forgot!

ALSO, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at coxkatel@msu.edu.