Izabela Returns to Small Animal Surgery with Style!

 
Our latest camp attendee was Polish vet Izabela Swierczynska. She graduated 7 years ago and has been working since then in the UK with large animals . We had the pleasure of reintroducing her to small animal surgery.

She started small with cat spays and worked her way up to large dogs. She coped well under pressure with some fairly delicate uteruses which were a haemostatic challenge.

Her surgical time improved over the course of the camp but more importantly her technique was consistently safe and of a high standard.




She was also able to perform two enucleations and the majority of a 3kg splenectomy during her stay as well as assisting in a few other surgeries.
In between surgeries she also participated in a few medical cases and whatever we threw at her she met with the same positive attitude. We are sure she would make an excellent small animal vet and look forward to hearing how she develops her skills in the future.

Carribean Camp!

February saw a change to the normal Veterinary Training Camp. The whole team were in the Dominican Republic for a neutering campaign on behalf of Animal Spay and NeuterInternational. In collaboration with Animal Balance and Pets Breeding Control. 

Drs Aurelian And Petrisor Stefan spent time with local vets performing and teaching surgical techniques which are particullarly applicable when working with stray dogs where a minimally invasine technique and quick complication free recovery is vital for survival on the street.

Ruth Osborne spent time with 1st year vet student Raul Morrilo And Nancy Ines Ramirez Castillo

They were learning about anaesthesia and preparation of the patient. In no time at all they were able to intubate any size dog with no assistance whether it was upside down or the correct way up. Rauls IV skills and injection technique score a 10 out of 10 and we are confident they are going to be central to future neutering campaigns in the Dominican Republic.

New Year, Old Friend

It’s the new year and the Veterinary Training Camp has already completed its first camp of 2014!

We started the year welcoming back an old friend. It was wonderful to see Elena Graebener from Germany again and this time she was able to spend a little time with both Dr Petrisor and Dr Aurelian to benefit from their slightly different teaching styles.

Her first visit was under the guidance of Dr Petrisor and she enjoyed her time here enough to come back for more! Since September she had started a new job and also done some work neutering in a shelter.

Elenas tissue handling skills have developed nicely in the last 4 months so we concentrated on building confidence as well as adding in a few other surgeries such as her first solo leg amputation and acting as assisting surgeon in some orthopaedic procedures.

We are confident she will continue to grow as she continues to perform more surgeries and we look forward to hearing how she develops with time.

Great Fun With Greek Vet Nektaria

Nektaria with one of her patients

The VTC finished the year with Greek Vet Nektaria-Lefkothea Tzourou. She is currently working in the UK and joined us to increase her surgical confidence particularly with bitch spays. As she had completed a fair amount of work spaying cats we focused on different types of dogs. Small, large, fat, skinny, deep chested, puppies, pregnant and in season all landed on her surgery table during her time with us and she was able to take everything we could throw at her! She mastered the techniques and knots that make up a safe, minimally traumatic surgery and her surgical time reduced as she became more familiar with the movements required. There were a few memorable moments during her stay including the power cut mid surgery. We concluded if Nektaria is able to operate on all of the different types of dogs found here in Romania then the relatively ‘normal’ dogs in the UK should hold no fear for her. We cannot wait to hear how she gets on putting into practice her improved skills after her experience with the VTC. We wish her all the best for the future and hope to stay in touch.

Even an unexpected powercut does not phase Nektaria

Cambridge Graduate Castrates with Ease

Deep Chested Bitch Spay Holds No Fear For Georgina

Our latest camp attendee was Georgina Hall from the UK. She graduated this year from Cambridge Vet school and wanted to perfect her surgical skills before beginning her first job.

The clinic here in Craiova has been very busy with surgeries as part of a free sterilisation campaign by Romania Animal Rescue.

Once Georgina had mastered the minimally invasive techniques under the guidance of Dr Petrisor Stefan she was able to help us work through some of the 200 surgeries for the local animals of Craiova.

Using her surgical skills on the cake she bought the team!

She was also was able to amputate a tail and perform two enucleations as well as assisting in surgeries such as intersusception repair and ulnar osteotomy.

Georginas confidence grew over her time with us and she over halved her surgical time whilst producing some very nice neat small incisions. She coped well when presented with an unexpected haemostatic problem and is going to develop into a very good surgeon.

We wish her all the best in her new job and look forward to hearing about her first post camp surgeries!

First Spay, First Spayathon for Dr Cristina!

Last week The Veterinary Training Camp was joined by Dr Cristina Petre from Ploiesti, Romania. She spent 5 intensive days learning and perfecting sterilisation skills that she will take back to her home town where she can continue her work with the local stray dogs. Her training was sponsored by Romania Animal Rescue. Her minimally invasive techniques, small incisions and rapid recoveries will make a huge difference to the animals of Ploiesti.

On her last day we were able to take her into the field! We took part in a spayathon organised by Swiss Group Einzatz Fur Tiere and Romania Animal Rescue. We have every confidence in time she will be able to organise such projects for her local community.

This is what Dr Christina had to say about her experiance with the VTC

The Veterinary Training Camp has provided an unique experience for me, made possible through Dr. Aurelian Stefan's guidance. Although I was a little nervous at first, Dr. A gave me confidence and helped me do my best. The air was peaceful and nice during the five days of training.

 

Ovariohysterectomy is a Piece of Cake!

Last week we were joined by Veterinary Surgeon Wenche Mokkelgard from Holmedal in Norway. It was a warm week with temperatures in the mid twenties, around 10 oC higher than in Norway at present. She received an equally warm welcome at the clinic in Bucharest where the course was held.

Our emphasis this week was canine ovariohysterectomy as this is the area Wenche felt she could improve her skills the most. Dr Aurelian Stefan found to his delight Wenche already had a sound basis in surgical skills and set to work developing and expanding her abilities. She got to grips with some new suture techniques that will help her sleep at night as she now can be confident her ligatures and sutures are safe and secure. She mastered the skill of handling stainless steel sutures, which is not easy. This is a strong, non reactive suture that will never fail if your technique is correct.

The week contained some tough surgeries from deep chested dogs to pregnant females but our attendee took it all in her stride and was a seasoned pro by the end of the week, able to remove any uterus put in front of her with skill and efficiency. The deep chested and lactating females were perfect candidates for Wenche to learn a flank approach to ovariohysterectomy in the dog. She learnt when to use this approach and why in some dogs it can be considered preferable to a midline incision.

The easiest incision of the week!

As life is always full of surprises it is important to know what to do with a bleeding patient as this is a serious complication and potentially fatal even if you are aware of the problem as soon as it happens. Most newly qualified (and some more experienced vets) if they are honest fear this situation which is why at the Veterinary Training Camp we prepare you for this emergency so you clearly know what to do if you encounter a haemorrhage in the future. We are confident if Wenche does come across a haemhorrage in her surgical career she will be having a stiff drink afterwards to celebrate a successful outcome not to get over the stress of the life or death situation!

 Overall it was an intensive week but very satisfying to see someone develop their surgical confidence. Wenche worked extremely hard and the results show. Everyone at the clinic found her a delight to work with and we wish her all the best as she pursues her veterinary career.

November 2011

Last week we ran a small specialised training camp with only one attendee. Dr. Florin-daniel Lucaciu travelled from Baia Mare in the Northwest of Romania. His training has been sponsored by Romania Animal Rescue (www.romaniaanimalrescue.com) and after his week with us we hope he will be able to work towards improving the welfare of stray dogs and participate in the Romania Animal Rescue Spay and neuter project integrated with the Think Stray Campaign.

It was an intensive week with several long days where Dr Lucaciu was operating between 9 o’clock in the morning and 9 o’clock at night. Even though the days were long, ending with aching muscles, time was still found to relax and enjoy a few alcoholic beverages.

The week started well even if the linear alba proved to be somewhat elusive to begin with. Attention to detail was important as Dr Lucaciu learnt about the properties of different sutures, where was best to use them and why. He tirelessly practiced his knots to ensure they were always secure and he also learnt the importance of haemostasis. Overall around 20 surgeries were performed.

Dr Aurelian was very pleased with how our trainee improved over the week and he certainly passed the test performing a bitch spay on a particularly large dog towards the end of his time with us.

Provided Dr Lucaciu continues to practice the techniques he has learnt with us he should be a valuable asset to many spay and neuter campaigns in the future as well as providing the best care to his patients. We wish him every success in this!

Day 1: Camp September 2011

It was looking like it was going to be a really hot day as I rode the Bucharest metro to meet our eager veterinary training camp attendees in the huge bustling square, Piata Unirii. We watched the crazy Bucharest drivers as we waited for Aurelian to pick us up for the 45 minute drive to the town of Giurgiu. I was excited about the small group we had joining us on this camp and was sure we were going to have a lot of fun.

Left to Right Lidia Nistor, Katy Orton and Sandra Patzner

As we settled into the journey we got to know a little better the people we would be sharing out skills and experiences with over the next 5 days. We were joined by two vets and one student VN. Sandra Patzner, a vet originally from Namibia now available as a locum based in Warwick, UK, Lidia Nistor, a Romanian vet from Botosani and Katy Orton a Student VN at Harper Adams University College, UK.

The journey passed quickly despite a slight scenic detour at the start and we soon arrived at our destination. Giurgiu is a small town near to the river Danube on the Romanian border with Bulgaria. Dr Petrisor Stefan (a.k.a Pepe) was waiting for us at the shelter with all of the equipment. We worked quickly in the little porta-cabin to set up our theatre for the week so we could go and meet the dogs we would be helping.

Giurgiu Shelter

You could feel the excitement in the air as we picked up the bottles of anaesthetic agents and a selection of syringes and needles and went out into the sun to meet and select the first dogs for surgery. We agreed on a pair of friendly young females and after a brief discussion on international differences in muscle choice for IM injections our dogs were asleep and ready to be prepared for surgery. Each dog was placed on IV fluids, intubated, clipped and scrubbed ready for spaying. The vets selected their instruments, draped the patients and we were ready to begin our first surgeries of the week.

The Team at Work: Katy Orton, Pepe Stefan, Lidia Nistor and Ruth Osborne

The concentration in the small room was intense as Aurelian and Pepe began to impart their surgical knowledge and the nurses got to grips with injectable anaesthesia. The morning’s surgeries went smoothly with the time passing by so quickly. After a fantastic lunch at a small restaurant in the town we got back to work. Despite it only being the first day we had already settled into a routine and we were working well as a team. Jokes and banter were beginning to flow freely as we became used to the new environment and drugs that we were using.

We were pleased with the start we had made on our first day with six females being spayed and two males castrated. The vets learned several new techniques and were ready to start perfecting them in the morning. We got back to Bucharest tired but satisfied with what we had achieved and already thinking about the dogs that we wanted to work with the next day.

Post Surgery