"The capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill, the willingness to learn is a choice" Brian Herbert.
2018-2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGViFT_Zxbg&t=4s
This post is dedicated to the team at VSS who helped train me during my surgical residency. The best way to become skilled as a surgeon, is to learn from those with years of experience. During a surgical residency you spend hours (upon hours) with your specialist supervisors. (Side tip: Learning from experienced surgeons does not necessarily need to be in the setting of a residency, and most referral centres are happy for visiting veterinarians to come and spend time with them. I spent a day a week at VSS for 2 years prior to my residency (thank you). Prior to this it was North Shore Veterinary Specialist Hospital in Sydney, Bristol University in the UK etc. )
Philip:
Thank you Adjunct Professor Philip Moses. Whenever someone forgot to turn the cautery on - you wouldn't yell - you would look up, pause, and say 'Abbie, can you please make that buzzing sound like the cautery is switched on'. But my favourite moment was when Animal Planet came to film us performing a Koala fracture repair and you asked for the 'Koala bone-holding forceps' - then you winked at me, turned to the camera and with a straight face said 'These are Koala bone holding forceps, especially designed and imported from the UK. You can see they are perfectly shaped to hold Koala bones'. Then you took the cat bone-holding forceps and nodded, presumably as a silent 'thank-you' to the manufacturer of this great instrument. (they didn't even question that they were imported from the UK - The UK - where they see a lot of Koalas?)
Anita:
"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
This is Anita Parkin (head surgical nurse and practice manager at VSS Jindalee), recovering a brachycephalic airway surgery patient (these surgeries require a lot of post-operative attention and monitoring for the first 24 hours+). Anita is an incredible women who is well-respected and loved by her team of nurses and vets. She leads by showing kindness and respect to her colleagues, something we can all learn from. None of us are perfect, but every day we should try just a little harder to be like Anita. Be kind to people and animals, lead by example, only accept excellence and above all else, don't let a brachycephalic dog out of your sight while it is recovering (for the first 24 hours). Pete
"There are friends, there are family, then there are friends that become like family".
Covid in some ways, really did put a spanner in the works of many residents' training programmes - there were cancelled rotations, split teams, altered less clinic time and general chaos (p.s. I have this in perspective - people lost their entire livelihoods including my brother who owned a wine-tour business in NZ). The positive - split teams for a few months meant I got to spend more time with this guy - Dr Peter Delisser, Surgical Specialist at VSS. He did a fantastic job of training me, except this one time when he TA stapled my finger.... Dave
"Learning is experience. Everything else is just information"
This is a photo from performing my first spinal fracture with Dr Dave Cook supervising. Dr Cook was one of my supervisors and I have been lucky to spend many hours of training with him. Dave is managing director of VSS and is an excellent boss, colleague and friend. Dave looks chilled, I look like I am about to pass out. Be like Dave during a spinal fracture and keep calm.
Nick and James
"Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you" Misty Copeland. Dr Nick Cleland and Dr James King were the big brothers of my residency. They have both been extremely generous with their time, giving weekly journal club summaries, helping give feedback on presentations and giving advise on cases. One of Nick's passions is anything involving a scope - arthroscopy, laparoscopy or laparoscopic-assisted surgery and thorascopic surgery. He is gifted with these procedures. He helped teach me arthroscopy, which I now love. It is a steep learning curve, but worth it for our patients. Photo - Nick, myself and Dr Clark.
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team". James, did you think you would get away without a photo! Below is Dr James King concentrating on formulating a plasma rich platelet transfusion to inject into an arthritic joint.
Wendy
"A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small"
I can't think of this quote without thinking about Dr Wendy Archipow, surgical specialist at VSS Underwood. Thank-you for helping to rid me of any bad habits (well, most of them), and for teaching me one-handed surgical knot-tying in a way I can actually remember. I can only hope some of your exceptional talent has rubbed off on me. You have been a huge inspiration and it is super cool that we are both from NZ and love ballet!
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