Week 8 Days 2 and 3

Yesterday was my first real day of my rehabilitation medicine rotation.  I must say that there is some real neat stuf that goes on.  Yesterday I got to see a dog on a receiving pulse signal therapy (PST).  The machine uses an electromagnet to generate a pulsed signal that helps stimulate bone and cartilage growth.  All the dog has to do is lay on the bed area underneath an arch and the machine goes to work.  Here's a link if you want to see what they look like:

PST machine

I also got to learn how to acclimate a dog to a treadmill.  We have a treadmill that is not as wide as a human treadmill but longer and has metal fenced sides on it.  The dogs seem to do real well on it! If you want to check out how they work here's another link:

Dog Treadmill

  I also got to learn how to run the underwater treadmill which is really neat.  You just put the dog in the box (the treadmill is the floor of the box), close the door, tie the dog up so he can't just run everywhere in the box, fill the box up with water as high as you need it, and then start the treadmill.  Once the dog is comfortable moving along you can even turn on the jets.  I have to say that helping with these dogs on the underwater treadmill made me wish I was in a hot tub.  Afterwards, the treadmill is stopped, water drained, and the dog is released and let out of the box to be dried off with a towel and then put in a cage dryer.  The cage dryer is pretty much a big metal box that warm air blows through to dry the dogs. Here's yet another link, this one showing how an underwater treadmill works:

 Underwater Treadmill

This dog obviously cannot walk right now but they are working on training it how to again.  The water helps keep the dogs body up and allows its feet to come under its body.  We actually have a dog that is in that situation right now and seems to be doing a little better although she's not walking yet. 

While I'm on a treadmill video roll, I figured I would show you a horse on a treadmill as well which I saw about four weeks back or so.  It is real neat:

Horse Treadmill

Today, we learned how to train a dog to walk loose-leash as well as continuing to help with treadmill and underwater treadmill work.  We did have a lecture this morning on honor code which was basically a repeat of the honor code lecture we got at orientation.  I have enjoyed my first two days on my rotation and am looking forward to the next two days as well!