Sanne Ross Sørensen

Clinic: AniCura Gistrup Dyrehospital

Practice clinic: Royal Veterinary College, Queen Mother Hospital

Clinical rotation: Surgery

With help from the staff at the Master of Companion Animal Clinical Science (CACS) programme Sanne got in contact with other universities:

I made arrangements with a lecturer from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) who was teaching at the CACS programme and he put me in touch with the coordinator at RVC in London. At RVC I participated in an externship of two weeks at their Surgery Department. My time was split between soft tissue and orthopedic tracks.

The purpose of the stay was to learn, be inspired and see how companion animal treatments differed from the students’ known methods:

The stay was an externship meaning that I was there on observational terms and had no patient responsibility nor was I actively participating in the surgeries. This was not a bad thing because the lecturers put a lot of effort into communicating and sharing knowledge with me so I felt like part of the team.  When possible I participated in clinical examinations.

A normal day at RVC started at 8.30 or 9.00 o’clock where the new patients were presented and a plan for their treatment and/or procedures were made. Two days a week there were academic meetings or sessions with presentation of cases and/or research findings. Then there were consultations of new patients or surgeries. Diagnostics or operations continued in the afternoon. There was some waiting time between paraclinical examinations and the operations, but after some days I discovered the flow and could use the time to see other patients. However, this required some outreach from me.  The day always ended with rounds between 5 and 7 pm.

During the day patient work-up, diagnostics and treatments was varied. I followed patients from primary consultation to their further examinations in e.g. radiology, CT, MRI and into their final operation. Some examples of diseases/surgeries were FLUTD- cats (urethrostomy), mucocele, stab wounds needing thoracic tubes, BOAS, radius-ulna fractures, metacarpal fractures and joint invasive lipomas.

The hospital had a huge patient load with about five operations a day for each track. Despite this some days were less hectic than others which gave me the opportunity to flex between soft tissue to orthopedics.

At the RVC Sanne experienced a highly educational environment that engaged the students

I was connected to a trained resident or professor, resident student, an intern student and three veterinarian students. The educational level was very high and my perception of the academic environment was very constructive with a lot of interaction.

The most educational experience I had was an operation of a bilateral radius-ulna fracture. The professor in orthopedic did not only show a high level of professionalism but was also very skilled at passing on knowledge and techniques in both intra and post operatively, which I can use in my daily work.

When Sanne looks back at her stay she has got a lot of new knowledge that she has been able to use in her professional life:

The international stay has given me the possibility to observe a huge patient load and other procedures/techniques than we use in Denmark. I find it important to see other approaches and practical ways to exercise the veterinary profession than the Danish one. The clinical rotation at both University of Copenhagen and Royal Veterinary College have been a good combination in terms of seeing differences as well as having the opportunity to professionally and practically optimize procedures at my workplace.

I have subsequently optimized operation techniques, surgical aseptic, increased monitoring during anesthesia and have started focusing more on analgetic treatments. Furthermore, I have been motivated to seek more knowledge in my daily life in an attempt to work more evidence-based.

I can only recommend an international clinical rotation; it has given me a professional benefit, a nuanced and international picture of the development of the veterinary science as well as a broader network in the industry.