Zurich University

So today was my day at Universitat Zurich (University of Zurich). I took the tram #7 from our hotel to Tierspitel (Animal Hospital) and the length of time was about 5 minutes. I arrived at around 8:30am and had to wait until about 9am to meet with Gabriela Schmid (secretary of Dr. Joerg). While I was waiting, there was another person waiting for her as well. She was from Berlin and her name was Yana. She spoke good English, so I was able to have a translator for the day. We were given overalls to wear for the day, they were actually very comfortable!

So I started the morning by going on medication rounds and administering medication to all of the horses. For being a first time visitor, they let me do a lot! They gave me the medication to administer through the catheter on two of the horses. It was very different administering medication to an animal MUCH larger than a dog, especially through a jugular catheter. The lady that was going around with us on the medication rounds was an intern and did not speak any English, so Yana needed to translate all that she was saying. After the horses were given their medications, we headed back inside, where the surgery suites were. We were given the grand tour of the facility and let me tell you, it was AMAZING!!!!! The equine facility is extremely large and there are approximately 60 stalls. The anesthesiologist took us to the surgery facility where they perform all of their orthopedic procedures. It was a very large stand-alone building and even had a recovery pool inside. The operating table was a hydraulic table and the room that it was in had the most state-of-the-art equipment. To get an idea of how sterile they keep the rooms, the ventilation system changes the air in the room 20 times in an hour! So every 3 minutes, fresh air from the outside is circulated through the room. Then there were cameras at every angle so that doctors and vet students on the outside could use a joystick to control the view of the operating table. Everything was controlled by a flat touch-screen that was embedded in the wall.

After our grand tour, we went back over to the first facility where they were performing radiographs on a horse. The radiology facility is HUGE! I guess it needs to be for horses. They also had 3 digital radiograph machines for small animals. There was also a very large team of radiologists. After they had performed the x-rays, I helped a group of doctors place a jugular catheter on a foal. The original catheter was twisted so bad, that a new catheter needed to be placed. The foal had Septic Arthritis and it had been through 3 rounds of antibiotics with little improvement. Today, they obtained a synovial fluid sample and sent it to the lab for further analysis.

After I helped with the placement of the catheter, I ate lunch at the cafe with Yana. I had a salami and pickle sandwich on baquette, very good! After lunch, I went over to the small animal clinic and helped with surgery. Dr. Claudio walked me through the entire clinic and they have some pretty impressive equipment. There is a CT just like the one at
Animal Health Services clinic, only rather than the table being the mobile unit, the scanner itself moves and the table is stationary. I met Jennifer, who was from Canada, and spoke mostly English but knew some German. She was prepping a calico cat for surgery. The cat had been hit by a car and had a broken tail and fractured hip. They took the cat into the surgery room and prepared for surgery. Meanwhile, Dr. Claudio gave me a tour of the surgery suites. I have MANY new suggestions for the clinic that I think would help during surgery, A LOT. The rooms were divided into separate sections. There was opthalmology, gynecology, soft tissue, and orthopedic. I went back into surgery with Jennifer and observed Dr. Claudio and two other doctors perform the surgery. Talk about a tight workspace! Jennifer told me that even with 3 doctors, orthopedic procedures still take up to 5 hours. She gave me her email address so that we could contact her on places to visit in Switzerland. I took the tram back around 5:30pm and went to dinner with Mom to Zeughauskeller Restaurant. I had the sausage platter and Mom had a beef curry/garlic sauce dish with rice, both were excellent.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked along the Bahnhofstrasse. It is very famous for its shops and restaurants. There are shops all along the street as well as up numerous alleys that branch from the main road. We caught the tram back to Hauptbahnhof, and went back to the hotel. Well that was our day, and tomorrow we will be heading to Lucerne. Talk to you all later!

-Dan and Andrea