I have just completed two incredible weeks at the ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance in Asheville, North Carolina. This was by-far my favorite rotation experience. It was actually an externship I set up on my own nearly two years ago, and then went through an approval process to receive school credit for it.

During this experience, I had the opportunity to learn how to do efficient spay/neuter surgery to help reduce pet overpopulation. The ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance does surgery for a multitude of shelters who transport their animals there.

On the first day, we had an introduction, knot-tying class and demo surgeries in our teams of 4 by our instructors. They do very unique methods of surgery that was not taught in school, including:

• Small spay incisions (1-2cm long, versus the typical 5-6cm done in school)
• Using spay hooks aka. “snook hooks” to find the uterus in the tiny incision
• Pedicle ties in cats (also known as auto-ligation – typically suture is used to tie vessels off before cutting, this involves tying vessels to themselves instead)
• Uterine cut-aways in dogs (cutting the ovary/uterus away after clamping the vessel, then using suture to tie the vessel off)

When I did my first cat spay in 2018, it took me 70 minutes. Even my first cat spay on this externship took me 40 minutes. By the end of this externship, I was able to perform a cat spay in just 17 minutes. Why does this matter? In a general practice setting, it is probably not a big deal. However, in shelter environments, spay/neuter organizations and spay/neuter trips (such as the one I went on in May), it is important to do surgery efficiently in order to get all animals done who have been signed up. Our instructors at this externship can do an average of 40 sterilization surgeries each in a day, whereas an average veterinarian in a small animal clinic may do 2-6 in a day.

During the rotation, I stayed at the student dorms that were built just for this learning opportunity. There were twenty students there during my two-weeks, with 10 surgery tables and five instructors. During the evenings, we had time to explore the city of Asheville, NC. On the weekend we went on a couple of hikes nearby. North Carolina has some beautiful old mountains, with tons of trees.

I am so grateful for the opportunity. I got to perform 17 sterilization surgeries on my own (including an umbilical hernia repair) and more importantly gained new skills to be a valuable veterinarian upon graduation.

Some photos from the hikes:

For anyone interested in the ASPCA Spay Neuter Alliance, go to https://www.aspcapro.org/training/site-training