Introduction: Diagnostics and treatment with limited resources

Many have you been placed in rural clinics and may find yourself having to work with very limited resources. You will be encountering many conditions more prevalent in rural areas where preventative care such as vaccinations and parasite control is very limited. Knowing how to best treat these conditions with the limited resources you have been given will allow you to walk into this post with confidence. Unfortunately you will need to adjust your clinical approach to the resources you have available and may not always be able to apply the gold standard treatment that you have learnt at Onderstepoort.

You will also likely have very limited advanced diagnostics available to you such as bloods, radiography and ultrasonography. Embrace this challenge with open arms because you will come out the other side of your CCS year a better vet because of these challenges. You will need to develop and become masters at the diagnostics you do have available to you and the most important of these are your hands! Master the clinical examination as this is a skill that will set you up for success for your entire career!

Module content:

• Getting the most out of a clinical exam
• Importance of a minimum database – Blood smears, PCV, TP, Urinalysis, faecal float
• Common conditions:
  • Babesia and Ehrlichia
  • Parvovirus
  • Distemper
  • Parasites

Speaker: