Tuesday 6th August
Today we held a 2 hour workshop with 18 students on Cat and Dog physical examinations and some basic diagnostic techniques. Whilst not necessarily exactly the topic we had set out to be teaching in more depth we joined in with the spirit of the locals to be versatile and flexible to the wants of the students. Luckily the animal clinic is a matter of meters from the Guesthouse as today was another fairly wet day with a threatening sky looming.
Having got lucky with a break in the weather and made it to the class dry. We set about refreshing the approach to the clinical exam then divided students into small groups to go and have a chance to practice with a real life dog. This was a very obliging pitbull owned by a student. Whilst other groups were doing this we improvised and kept the class engaged by discussing how different abnormalities could be interpreted and what might be the next step in the diagnostic plan. The students then were getting involved and we fielded questions which led the tutorial into teaching fluid rate calculations which was well received.
In the end, every student got a good chance to practice a head-tail exam on a dog and practice at least reading and listening to some english. The braver ones were great at asking questions and translating for friends. By the end everyone had a smile and seemed either relieved to have survived another english class or genuinely thankful for our efforts. Buoyed by a job well done, we made it home just before the monsoon started once more.
As I write this it continues to rain steadily, I am hoping that it relents before our dinner plans with Sothun tonight.
DVM4 Cambodia Selective 