69955 - Core Clinical Training in Internal Medicine and Therapy

Learning outcomes

At the end of the training period, the student is able to diagnose pathological processes in the medical field on diseases that are present on animals that are presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The student is able to interpret radiographs. It is also capable of evaluating the appropriateness of a biological sample according to the analysis, or of evaluating the reliability limits of a result and of interpreting it taking into account the pre-analytical and analytical variables. Finally, the student is able to evaluate the usefulness and limits of a laboratory technique and to direct his choice towards the most appropriate techniques in the context of a diagnostic protocol. The student will be stimulated to acquire all the practical skills (not excluding nursing ones) necessary for carrying out the veterinary profession.

Course contents

The program covers various topics related to internal medicine, emergency medicine, clinical pathology, and diagnostic imaging. The student performs a rotation in various fields such as first opinion consultation, management of hospitalized cases, intensive care, specialist consultations, clinical pathology and diagnostic imaging. During these rotations, the student has the opportunity to come into direct contact with the animal and take part in the daily work of the different units belonging to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital

The student is required to perform procedures (e.g., perform a CBC exam, read a blood smear, perform a urinalysis, perform and interpret a blood gas test, perform and comment on a SNAP test, collect at least 2 blood samples, place a venous catherer, assemble and monitor a fluid line, measure systemic pressure, place an animal for a radiographic study). The student is required to take a medical history, perform physical examination, perform a vaccination, write a medical record, write letters to the owner about the clinical case, report a radiographic study, report a urinalysis, and report a blood count.

The student will attend about 10 afternoon seminars (e.g., ECG interpretation, blood gas analysis, chest X-ray interpretation, assessing gait defects, pressure measurement techniques)

The Syllabus of the course unit and the list of EAEVE Day One Competences that the course unit contributes to achieving can be viewed on the dedicated page.

Readings/Bibliography

"Diagnostic and Therapeutic Algorithms in internal medicine for dogs and cats" F. Fracassi. Edra, Milano, 2022.

Ettinger SJ, Feldman EC. 7 Ed. Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier, 2010

Nelson RW, Couto C.G. 5° ed Medicina Interna del Cane e del Gatto. Edra, Milano 2015

Teaching methods

In the first part of the practical training it is carried out a meeting in which are explained the main activities that will be performed during the period of practical training. There are practical parts (eg collecting medical history, performing a physical examination, execution of radiographs, performing laboratory tests, inpatient management) interspersed with moments where the student discusses the theoretical aspects of the activity carried out. There are therefore meetings in which the student discusses with the teacher on theoretical and scientific aspects of the activity carried out. A relevant amount of time is dedicated to the discussion of clinical cases.

The student is asked to write reports (e.g., urinalysis, X-ray report), write medical records, write letters to the owner that are eveluated by the lecturer, discussed and that result in a final judgment.

Assessment methods

The student has a booklet to record attendance. The teachers insert a signature at the entrance and a signature at the exit of each day.

Many activities scheduled during the month-long internship are graded from 1 (bad) to 4 (excellent).
This is the list of activities that are graded by the instructor:
- Display of a clinical case at the morning briefing
- Write the report of a urine test
- Write the report of a CBC
- Write  4 letters for the owners 
- Write  2 medical records
- Write the report of an x-ray
- Presente an emergency room case at the end of the month (PowerPoint presentation)
- Present an internal medicine case at the end of the month (PowerPoint presentation)
- Write a case report

The grades from all of the above activities are used to make up the final grade for Clinica e Terapia Medica degli Animali da Compagnia (for details, see the web guide for the Clinica e Terapia Medica degli Animali da Compagnia course.


At the end of the month of the practica training, the student scans the pages of the booklet pertaining to the month training, sends them by e-mail to the supervisor (Prof Federico Fracassi federico.fracassi@unibo.it) who verifies attendance and activities performed and register the training  period. 

Links to further information

http://corsi.unibo.it/MagistraleCU/MedicinaVeterinaria/Pagine/tirocinio-clinica-medica.aspx

Office hours

See the website of Federico Fracassi

See the website of Gualtiero Gandini

See the website of Massimo Giunti

See the website of Francesco Dondi

See the website of Laura Marconato

See the website of Francesca Del Baldo

See the website of Marco Pietra

See the website of Giovanni Romito

See the website of Francesco Dondi

See the website of Fabio Gentilini

See the website of Francesca Freccero

See the website of Angelo Peli

See the website of Marilena Bolcato