10 years in the human medical field hasn't been for naught.
Mind you, I've only been shadowing in the vet world now for 3 months. When I asked to observe an emergency hemi-laminectomy & spinal cord decompression yesterday, I was honored when doc said "yes." I was completely shocked, when once in the OR he turned & said "scrub in, you're assisting." Totally out of my comfort zone; however, the experience was awesome and doc is such a soft-spoken, laid back, talk-you-through-every-step kind of guy.
Surgery went well, but here's where I get to toot my own horn. He crashed afterwards while trying to take post-op films, & my assessment skills are what brought it to doc's attention. I've run many a human code, but yesterday was my first veterinary code. Scared the shiz-nit out of all of us, but we got him back. Doc couldn't thank me enough.
Little guy was doing well when I left last night. I just hope the surgery turns out to be a success.