Angell Animal Medical Center
ICU
This is where animals in the Intensive Care Unit are kept and monitored. Most of these patients were admitted after coming through the Emergency Room. Some are recovering from risky operations.
Intern Lecture
I attended an intern lecture by an attending cardiologist on echocardiograms. This image shows different heart rhythms on the monitor.
Pre-Op
A dog is being intubated and anesthetized in the pre-operative area before being transported to the operating room.
A Visit From My Dogs
My two dogs, Herbert (black) and Roxie (brindle), had a routine checkup scheduled during my internship, so I had the opportunity to shadow the doctor at their appointment. I went in the back and helped her draw blood/administer vaccines.
My experience at Angell was wonderful. This internship was broken into three blocks: surgery, cardiology, and emergency. I loved surgery. In veterinary medicine, there aren’t typically sub-specialties within surgery—just surgeons who like to do a lot of one thing and get really good at it. As expected, I observed a lot of spays and neuters. There was actually a lot of variation within these procedures. Some were done openly and some laparoscopically, and some were even morphed with other surgeries so that the patient wouldn’t need to undergo anesthesia more than once. I watched a gastropexy, which is where they pin the stomach to the side of the abdominal wall. Big dogs like Great Danes and Saint Bernards need this since their anatomy makes it easy for their stomach to flip. The doctor I was shadowing happens to be really good at orthopedic surgery, so I was able to observe fracture repairs, torn ACL repairs, and best of all, an amputation—don’t worry, it made the dog have a much better quality of life.
In cardiology, I watched a lot of echocardiograms, listened to a lot of heart murmurs, and attended a lecture on EKGs. My favorite rotation, though, was in the emergency department. I lucked out in that the doctor I was shadowing loved teaching, so he always made sure to explain everything to me. The emergency department is exciting and chaotic.