Dedicated Companion Animal Clinical Practice

Professor Annemarie T. Kristensen is the Study director at Master Companion Animal Clinical Sciences as well as lecturer at the compulsory part of the Masters programme and at the Internal Medicine, Surgery and Oncology specialisation tracks.

Clinical and research interests: Clinical and comparative veterinary research, especially diagnostic, pathogenetic, and therapeutic aspects of hemostasis, thrombosis, inflammation and cancer.

h3>Background Graduate from The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (RVAU), Copenhagen. Rotating Internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota. Completed a combined Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency and Veterinary Medicine PhD program same place. Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 1993, PhD same year.

Post doctoral research associate at The Platelet Research Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota.

Worked for six years with research within hemostasis, thrombosis, angiogenesis and atherosclerosis at Novo Nordisk A/S. In 2000 recruited as Associate Professor in Small Animal Internal Medicine, Dept. of Clinical Studies, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen. Since 2007 full professor Companion Animal Clinical Oncology. Since 2004, Section Head, Medicine, Oncology and Veterinary Clinical Pathology, Dept. of Veterinary Clinical and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. Director ECVIM- internal medicine and oncology residency programmes. Study director, Master Companion Animal Clinical Sciences and Vice chair Danish Research Council for Technology and Production.

Astrid received help from a lecturer at the CACS programme to plan her international stay.

"I got in contact with the university through Gert ter Haar, who taught at the surgery module and he recommended the Royal Veterinary College, Queen Mother Hospital to me.

The hospital is used to having students, so they e-mailed me all the information I needed, e.g. where to stay and even how to get to the campus from the different airports in London."

During her stay Astrid had a close relation with the staff at the hospital, and she followed their work closely in treatment of patients:

"I saw a lot of different patients and treatments. It is a referral hospital, so there was a lot of variety in the cases. I saw wound management and reconstructions using vacuum therapy (V.A.C.), Portosystemic shunt surgery, various tumor operations, including insulinoma, thyroidal carcinoma, auricular chemodectoma, placement of permanent thoracic tubes and larynx paralysis. Soft tissue surgery had approximately 6 surgical procedures daily plus a number of post-operative check-ups including check-ups after subcutaneous ureter bypass on cats.

A typical day at the university started at eight o’clock where we went for rounds. At rounds we were doing check-ups, treatment and treatment planning till around 10-11 o’clock. After this there were surgeries, both minor and major. The closing rounds were about 16-18 o’clock. Some days exciting surgeries were about to start at that time, so you had the time to observe a little bit more.

The distribution between staff and students was great. I was connected to the specialists but was encouraged to go wherever something exciting took place. Every veterinarian had about 3 or 4 students with them on their rounds, which made it possible for them to teach the students and answer questions between treatments. This made the educational level very high."

With different cultures come different treatment methods and Astrid observed a lot of new diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.

"The commitment and the well-developed diagnostic and therapeutic tools they have make them capable of treating conditions in an ethical way, contrary to Denmark, where we cannot treat the same diseases yet. These methods will be available in Denmark in a matter of time. Overall I saw a lot of things where I learned something but it is not only the stay that has helped me and my clinic. The Master of Companion Animal Clinical Science has changed a lot of routines in Egtved.

I believe everybody should have a stay like this. I got a great experience in London that shifted my mindset which I think is very healthy. I also had a weekend off where I could see London, which only was a bonus for my stay."

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."

<emThe 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."