Throughout the year, final year students have to complete two weeks of ‘after hours’, comprising a total of three nights at the small animal emergency centre and three nights at the equine hospital. The small animal emergency nights are actual shifts where we are expected to work through the night, consulting, looking after the ICU patients, and treating emergency cases as they arrive. The 10pm to 8am shift is an absolute killer! Copious amounts of caffeine and sugar are a necessity to remain functional throughout the night. The only good thing about these shifts is that we’re allowed to wear scrubs, which are essentially professional pyjamas. There is a magical time around 3am where things usually become quiet (touch wood) and everyone starts to get a little delirious and giggly. This is when the staff let their guard down and students become privy to the hospital goss. All of my overnight shifts were dead quiet (maybe that’s not the best term to use in this situation) which made the nights drag out painfully. The worst part was leaving the hospital in the morning, blinded by the light and feeling like a zombie, while your friends rolled in, fresh-faced and full of enthusiasm for the day ahead.
Equine overnight shifts, by comparison, are usually a lot more manageable. Two students are rostered on each night and given access to the student flats (a small room with a mattress, study desk, basic kitchen facilities and attached bathroom). At 5pm, we meet at the equine barn for rounds where we take notes on the hospital patients and form a plan for the night. Usually the overnight students have treatments and colic checks at 6pm, 8pm, 12pm, 4am and 8am. In between these times, we can study or attempt to sleep. The student flats are filled with textbooks, which I guess is a not-so-subtle hint from the university! We are also on call and have to answer the phone if it rings. Thankfully, all of my equine cases were straightforward and the phone didn’t ring once. There were, however, five lambs in the production barn which needed regular bottle feeds. They were very cute, but it meant I didn’t get much sleep at all. At 8am, we drag ourselves down to the equine barn to meet the well-rested day students for rounds and pass on any pertinent information from the night.
