Day in the Life with @bellavetdvm
12:17 am: Left school “early”. I am on the Emergency and Critical Care rotation as a fourth-year student at the University of Missouri.
12:30 am: Finally, home. I played with my dog (she had the zoomies) and started paperwork.
1:15 am: Finished paperwork and finally going to bed! It has been an exciting and exhausting day.
11:00 am: Woke up. Ate a granola bar. Made tea. Edited my next YouTube video, and it is packed with vet school interview tips!
12:00 pm: Studied for boards. For me this means rewriting a power page and missed test questions from vet prep. This helps me study what I still need to know. I take another 60-minute vet prep exam which is super helpful for getting my timing down!
2:00 pm: Time to get ready to return to school. Put on some scrubs, apply makeup, and eat some quick lunch. I take my dog for a much-needed walk since I will be gone late tonight.
3:00 pm: Leave for school to start another Emergency and Critical Care shift.
4:00 pm: We start the rotation with topic rounds. It is an interesting day because we discuss aFAST and tFAST. These are an ultrasound technique used frequently in the ER setting to look for free fluid which can help up rule in/out certain diseases. Afterwards we prepare for the cases to start rolling in.
5:00 pm: A hemoabdomen is here. The patient has blood filling up in its belly which is serious. I learn that 2/3 of bleeding splenic masses are typically malignant, and 2/3 of those are typically hemangiosarcoma.
6:00 pm: A dog bite case presents. The clinician gives me the freedom to choose my own drug protocol! I clip, clean, and bandage the wound myself while he supervises.
7:00 pm: Working up a case of a dog hit by a…. rocking chair?!? The poor pup has a back injury from the chair. Luckily, he still has deep pain sensation, so he is transferred to the surgeons for back surgery. He did great!
8:00 pm: Bloody diarrhea dog is here. This is one of the most common type of ER cases we see on shift.
9:00 pm: Assisting with an obstructed cat. I learn that blocked cats can have hyperkalemia (high potassium) induced bradycardias.
10:00 pm: A cute pup who ate a popsicle sticks is here. We find him happy, comfortable, and not showing any clinical signs, so we discharge him. We recommend a bulk diet and are happy to hear he did well.
11:00 pm: The shift rounds out with a Parvo pup we send to isolation. Hoping he recovers quickly. It’s so tough to see these little ones sick.
12:35 am: Leave school to head home and sleep! I need to be ready to do it all again tomorrow!