Thrive Pet Healthcare Careers

The Full Time Equine AVDC Dental Resident at Midwest Veterinary Dental Services will be responsible for the duties outlined below.  Clinic duties are not limited to this document and expectations may be adjusted as deemed appropriate by DVMs employed by Midwest Veterinary Dental Services 

1. Full Time AVDC Equine Residency Program Overview
   1. Total Program Time from Start Date: 36 months minimum, 6 year maximum
   2. Type of Diplomate Supervision provided:  primary direct supervision, with some unsupervised time commensurate with experience gained.
   3. Location of  residency:  Midwest Veterinary Dental Services (Elkhorn, WI).  Some work may be completed on farm sites and various referral hospitals that we see dental cases at.  Opportunity for some travel may be offered to our remote referral locations (Peterson and Smith in Ocala, Florida; Southwest Equine Hospital in Scottsdale, AZ)
   4. Minimum directly supervised clinical weeks:  48 weeks
   5. Total clinical time (supervised and unsupervised): 78 weeks (full time residents will have no more than 6 weeks per year total indirect supervision for clinical weeks)
2. Office and hospital procedures, client relations and communication
   1. Office and clinical tasks
      1. Assist with patient discharge and triage of patients according to client, patient and clinic needs via phone, in person, email or other electronic or digital means.
      2. Handle financial transactions when necessary
      3. Assist with inventory control
   2. Acquire Patient history
      1. Obtain important medical history and information about patients from both owners and referral DVMs, when appropriate 
   3. Provide instructions for routine dental care and preventative measures
      1. Have thorough knowledge, understanding and the ability to communicate
         1. Medication administration
         2. Post-surgical care
         3. Dental care
   4. Maintain patient records and records of client communications
      1. Use appropriate medical terminology and AVDC abbreviations
      2. Maintain documentation of cases to be logged for the AVDC residency
      3. Create surgery reports and discharge instructions using clinic templates
   5. Communication
      1. Utilize appropriate, professional and courteous communication between veterinary team members
      2. Assist in procedures as requested with or for the doctor with a professional and courteous behavior.
      3. Utilize appropriate interpersonal and public relation skills
      4. Provide client communication
         1. Review the chart to ensure accurate information is provided
         2. Interact with owners for surgical or sick appointments
            1. Be able to answer questions and make appropriate recommendations for possible diagnostics
            2. Discuss and obtain blood work, fluids or other diagnostics as indicated

1. Oral/Phone
   1. Follow up phone communication with owners and referral vets on clinical patients.  This duty will be shared with the primary supervising veterinarian.
   2. Return messages (emails, phone calls, texts) left by owners regarding patients in a timely manner.
2. Written
   1. Discharge instructions
   2. Educational handouts
   3. Promotional materials
   4. Estimates for routine procedures

1. Pharmacy and Pharmacology
   1. Administration
      1. Handle pharmacological and biological agents to ensure safety and efficacy of the product
      2. Administer medications via the appropriate route as directed
      3. Calculate medication doses
      4. Accurately record medical information
      5. Understand controlled substance regulations and maintain logs
   2. Dispensing
      1. Prepare and dispense medications
      2. Relay handling, storage, administration and side effect information to clients
      3. Understand which products are considered over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription
      4. Maintain controlled drug logs – computer and paper
   3. Recognize drug classifications and adverse reactions
      1. OTC vs prescription
      2. NSAID vs Antibiotic vs nausea etc.
2. Nursing
   1. Patient examinations
      1. Obtain pertinent and thorough patient history
      2. Understand basic normal parameters for TPR
         1. Obtain TPR on patients
         2. Auscultate heart and lungs using a stethoscope prior to administration of sedatives on every patient
   2. Emergency procedures
      1. Recognize and appropriately respond to emergency situations
      2. Assist in CPR
      3. Know the location and be able to quickly retrieve emergency medications as needed
   3. Patient care/husbandry
      1. Assist barn assistants with patient care/husbandry if needed
      2. Administer oral and parenteral medications
      3. Apply and maintain bandages
      4. Place intravenous catheters
      5. Manage IV fluids and maintain IV catheters
      6. Ensure patients are clean, dry and comfortable
         1. Includes boarding patients
         2. Ensure all patients have access to water and food when indicated
   4. Nutrition
      1. Counsel clients on dietary needs of the patient
      2. Feed and provide water to patients as directed
   5. Behavior
      1. Recognize and assess body language and behaviors
      2. Respond appropriately to body language and behaviors demonstrated by patients
   6. Restraint
      1. Restrain patients in a manner safe for patient and staff
      2. Safely apply twitch or other equine restraint

1. Laboratory Procedures
   1. Properly collect diagnostic specimens for analysis including but not limited to:
      1. Venipuncture
      2. Culture
      3. Biopsy
   2. Properly prepare, label and submit samples for diagnostics including but not limited to:
      1. Blood work
      2. Cytology specimens
      3. Biopsy specimens
      4. Culture specimens
   3. Perform various laboratory tests
      1. Microscopic evaluations
         1. Cytology
      2. Packed cell volume (PCV) and total protein (TP)
      3. Run CBC and blood chemistry samples in house
      4. Run IDEXX snap or other patient side tests appropriately
         1. Utilize the IDEXX Snap readers for complete record reporting

1. Dentistry
   1. The first few months of the residency will be primarily focused on gaining a comfort level with routine dentistry:
      1. Sedated oral examinations
      2. Occlusal adjustments
      3. Periodontal treatments
      4. Obtaining diagnostic radiographs
      5. Upper Airway Endoscopy
   2. Once your mentor assesses your routine dental skills as sufficient, you will be transitioned into assisting with surgical procedures.
      1. Peripheral nerve blocks
      2. Basic and advanced extraction techniques
      3. Sinus procedures
      4. Endodontic procedures
      5. Patient monitoring and maintaining a standing surgical plane of anesthesia
   3. The advanced techniques that we utilize for surgical extractions

1. Diagnostic Imaging
   1. Perform or assist with obtaining diagnostic dental radiographs
   2. Utilize appropriate protective equipment
      1. Aprons, thyroid shields, gloves, other
   3. Properly utilize radiographic technique charts
   4. Appropriately label and orient images
      1. Left or Right digital marker
      2. Other as indicated
   5. Gain skills on radiographic interpretation
   6. Gain skills on CT interpretation

1. Anesthesia
   1. Understand basic procedures and risks associated with general anesthesia (GA)
   2. Understand and maintain documentation necessary for procedures
      1. Controlled drug logs
      2. Authorization and consent forms
      3. Drug calculator sheets
   3. Maintain and operate equipment
      1. Syringe pump for equine CRI
   4. Calculate and administer appropriate anesthetic medications (including CRI administration and intermittent IV boluses)
   5. Understand set up for equine IV catheter placement and maintenance
      1. Appropriate gauges and lengths for different sized patients
      2. Heparinized saline
      3. Appropriate interval for flushing the IV catheter
   6. Monitor patients with complete attention
      1. Utilize monitoring equipment
      2. Focus on visual assessments of patients
      3. Understand assessment of standing anesthetic planes
   7. Recognize post-operative pain and respond appropriately

1. Surgical Assisting
   1. Appropriately prepare patients for surgical procedure, including surgical planning with your supervising veterinarian
   2. Understand and provide equipment needed for various procedures
      1. Knowledge of instrumentation needed for various surgical procedures (simple extractions, surgical extractions, minimally invasive buccotomy, sinus procedures)
      2. Knowledge of various suture types and their appropriate uses
   3. Maintain sterility around the surgical site and equipment when necessary
   4. Assist in procedures as requested with aseptic technique
   5. Assist with post-surgical clean-up of equipment and room if needed
   6. Provide post-operative care
      1. Pain management
      2. Fluid therapy
      3. Bandaging
      4. Discharge instructions
         1. Should include patient first and last name
         2. Date of procedure
         3. Procedure performed
         4. Nutritional instructions
         5. Incision care
         6. Post-operative medications with accurate dose and frequency
         7. Absorbable vs skin sutures
         8. Other special instructions as indicated
   7. Communicate with owners in post-operative period

1. Wear appropriate footwear for working around horses
   1. Sturdy closed-toe shoes
   2. No Crocs

1. Full Time Dental Residents are primarily in charge of patient care and client communication, however they are also expected to be able to work as a team with all Midwest Veterinary Dental Services team members and fill in as needed.  Patient care and monitoring may include evening and weekend care on a case-by-case basis.

1. The responsibilities of Full Time Dental Residents at Midwest Veterinary Dental Services include but are not limited to the tasks and duties outlined above.

I, ___________________________________ acknowledge that I have been provided a copy of a job  

                             (Printed name of Employee) 

description for my position. 

Employee Signature ______________________________________ Date________________________ 

Supervisor Signature______________________________________Date_________________________