SAMS 514 Introduction to Surgical Skills

(1 cr.) (Didactic 0.33 cr./Laboratory 0.67 cr.)

The course is an introductory surgical course designed to offer the student instruction in both the theory and practice of veterinary surgery, serving to prepare the student for subsequent courses in veterinary surgery and beyond.

Didactic instruction focuses on theoretical surgical principles: asepsis, sterilization & disinfection; surgical instrumentation and surgical techniques; surgeon and patient preparation; suture materials and surgical needles; and hemostasis, wound healing and wound management.

Practical surgical skills that are mastered during the laboratory sessions include knot tying, suture patterns (skin and hollow organ), ligatures, surgical drape application, and bandaging. Students are provided opportunities to practice surgical skills using both hollow organ tissue specimens, simulation models (i.e., skin and intestine), and knot tying boards.