The student will be offered the opportunity to participate in daily, cage side rounds between our emergency clinicians and the surgery and internal medicine specialists on-site. A radiologist is also onsite and available on Thursdays / Fridays as well. Case transfers, as well as scheduled appointments, will allow the opportunity for the student to review pertinent medical records, perform physical examinations, and have an active participatory role in discussing the patient’s diagnostic evaluation and treatment plan. The student will be permitted to join the supervising clinician during appointments to observe conversations with clients. Additionally, the student will also be permitted to listen during conversations discussed over the telephone. While no primary case management will be permitted to the student, they will be actively engaged in the cases and communication with the clients. They will also be able to observe communications and case consults provided to the referral partners.
Our facility is a twenty-four hour emergency hospital, staffed seven days a week 365 days a year. We have an emergency doctor on site twenty-four hours a day as well. We have registered technicians providing care to the patients, supported by animal aids. Our hospital is equipment with an in house laboratory (IDEXX Procyte, Catalyst, Vetstat, Coags, etc.), blood pressure (doppler) and ECG monitoring, ultrasound capabilities, CT scan, flexible and rigid endoscopy, and two surgical suites (both soft tissue and orthopedic procedures are completed). Blood products are on hand and available for blood transfusions as needed, as well as fresh frozen plasma.
Rounds begin at 8am Monday-Thursday; the student would be expected to be present and take an active role. The student would be expected to be present and participate in both patient care (learning techniques such as venipuncture, blood pressure monitoring, restraint, etc.), as well as case management (determining the diagnostic approach, client communication, record keeping, etc.). An internist will be available and on site Monday-Thursday from 8am until the work is completed for the day. The student will never be put in a position to communicate directly to the client without immediate support and they will not be making decisions on case management without consult with the onsite internist.