Y2S2 Week 14: Clinical Skills Block, Suturing, and Easter!
- Izzy Pulido
- Apr 20
- 5 min read
This week we started our final block of the year! It is a 6-week clinical skills block that covers a range of topics from surgery basics to anesthesia and emergency medicine. I started the day with a quick run with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. We then had a block orientation lecture followed by two lectures on basic surgical principles and instruments. The afternoon included two lectures on skin reconstruction and a lecture on hemostasis. That afternoon involved taking Churro on a walk followed by the KLOHC course. This week Ari and I had a break from teaching and Dr. Dear gave a guest lecture on honey bee health. Besides being an awesome internist, he is also very knowledgeable about honey bees and is a beekeeper! He gave the vet students a lecture on honey bee health a few weeks ago and it was super interesting to learn about their lifestyle and the important role that they play in our environment. The whole concept of the honey bee hierarchy and lifestyle sounds like something out of a fairytale book. For example, the queen bee gets a special diet of “royal jelly” and that is why she is larger than the others. The rest of the night included some lecture review and snuggle time with Churro.
Tuesday morning started off in a similar way with a short run with Churro followed by a hot yoga session. I then had a chance to get a little swim in before heading back home for the morning lectures. These lectures were based on operating room etiquette, surgical planning, and surgical drainage. The rest of the afternoon was blocked out so that we could go through multiple online modules and prepare for the upcoming labs. After working through most of the modules, Churro and I got to play on the field and the rest of the evening was spent reviewing the previous lecture material.
Wednesday morning started out with a nice run with Churro followed by some playtime on the field with his friends. It always amazes me how he can run for an hour and then still have a crazy amount of energy to play with his buddies. The morning lectures continued with the surgery theme and focused on how to approach abdominal surgery. We then had two lectures on pain assessment and management followed by a lecture on laboratory analysis and patient triage.
Wednesday afternoon I had the opportunity to spend some time with Madeline. It’s always a blast to hang out with her and catch up on life. The rest of the evening involved a walk with Churro followed by some additional lab preparation and studying.
Thursday morning started off with a quick run with Churro followed by hot yoga and a swim. The weather has been gorgeous, so I have been trying to maximize my swimming and enjoy the spring sunshine! We started the school day with a discussion on clinical pathology. This discussion was targeted towards interpreting diagnostic tests and understanding sensitivity and specificity. The past block on population health had touched on these topics beforehand so this was a nice refresher and a way to cement the information even more!
Thursday afternoon we had a suture lab where we got to practice different suture patterns on pig feet. This was a nice way to get a feel for suturing and the room was filled with clinicians who were ready to help if we ran into any problems. After about 2 hours of suturing practice, we transitioned into a surgery and patient preparation lab. Our junior surgeries start early in the fall so this lab was a way for us to walk through everything that we would be doing and make sure we felt prepared for next year!
The rest of Thursday afternoon included a walk with Churro followed by some studying and lecture review.
Friday morning started off with a quick run with Churro followed by a bike ride! It had been a little while since I hopped on my bike, so it was awesome to some miles in before class. Our first session was focused on a surgical case, and we walked through the whole process from prepping to wound closure and post-operative discharges. This session helped tie all the lectures together and was a great way to review for the upcoming exam. We then had a class meeting where we discussed externships and learned more about the fourth-year scheduling process. It’s wild to think that we will be starting our clinical rotations in about one year! The rest of Friday was spent hanging out with some awesome horses and visiting Madeline.
Saturday morning started off with a quick run around the park with Churro followed by Steve’s hot Pilates class. I then spent a little time at the farmer’s market getting some fresh produce and then spent the rest of the morning studying. That afternoon Churro and I enjoyed the spring weather and went on a nice walk followed by some additional studying and getting a few things done around the house. The evening ended with some acupuncture practice on Churro which I don't think he hated 😉
Sunday morning started off with a fun 9-mile run with Naomi and Churro! It was super nice to be able to catch up with Naomi and hear about all the cool things that are happening in her life! After the run I went to church with some of my friends and we celebrated Easter. Easter is always a beautiful reminder that we have a Savior who has triumphed over sin and death and loves us deeply! After church I did some grocery shopping and meal prepping to get ready for the upcoming week. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying and hanging out with Churro.
Quote of the week: “If you were to give this (Simbadol) IV, the cat would be walking on the ceiling.” -Dr. Cenani
*Simbadol is a high-concentration formulation of buprenorphine that can provide up to 24 hours of analgesia. Contrary to what some may believe, it is NOT a sustained-release formulation. The only reason it lasts for 24 hours is because it is about 10x the normal amount that a cat would get and is given subcutaneously which causes it to be absorbed slowly. Coupling the extremely high concentration of the drug with the slow absorption route you get about a day of pain control. Therefore, if you were to give the suggested amount intravenously you would be dramatically overdosing the cat.
