Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s Website!
Have you ever wondered where all the animals at the Zoo go when they are sick, have a medical appointment, or are having an issue that keepers can’t seem to understand? This week interns were shown around the San Diego Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital by Dr. Sutherland-Smith, the Zoo’s Director of Veterinary Services.
Dr. Sutherland-Smith has for the longest time had a fascination with the great variety found within the animal kingdom, and has always had a desire to help make a difference for the many species in danger of extinction. She has also had a life-long interest in working in the medical field, and found that working as a Veterinarian in a zoo would allow her to work in an environment where she would be able to apply both of her passions. These passions would be a vital source of motivation during the arduous journey through university and veterinary school.
Dr. Sutherland-Smith received her Bachelor of Science degree at Virginia Tech in 1982, then proceeded to receive her masters degree in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University in 1985, and finished with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1989. After finishing school, Dr. Sutherland-Smith conducted a one-year internship involving small animals, at the Animal Medical Center in New York City to gain more experience within her field. In 1990, Dr. Sutherland-Smith came to the San Diego Zoo, where she has been applying all of her knowledge gained over 12 years of school and the experience gained from internships for over 28 years. Despite all of this knowledge, Dr. Sutherland-Smith’s and other doctors residing within her field are required to read academic papers and attend conferences that help keep them up to date on the information in order to maintain their license.
Throughout the visit at the Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital, interns saw several different tools used by veterinarians and zoo hospital staff in their work, including a detailed demonstration on how tranquilizer darts function which provided some surprising information. I was surprised to learn that dart guns could actually be quite dangerous to animals if the dart hit the wrong area, with the worst-case scenario being a broken femur. Interns were then shown to the digital x-ray machine and several screenshots depicting the many different ways that x-rays are used by the veterinarians. As Dr. Sutherland-Smith explained, the digital x-ray technology has many different appliances including identifying where bone fractures are, determining whether an animal is pregnant, or if it has eaten something it wasn’t supposed to.
The star of the show however, was the CT scanner, or as Dr. Sutherland-Smith calls it “the big donut”. The CT scanner’s addition to the veterinary hospital has allowed for much sharper images and even 3D models of an animal’s skeleton, making identifying certain bone fractures, too difficult to be properly viewed using digital x-ray, possible. This has allowed for the veterinarians to identify the source of an animal’s problems with greater accuracy and frequency that previously due to technological constraints. Apart from a massive leap in clarity when it comes to identifying issues such as bone fractures, the CT scanner has also allowed veterinarians to scan bigger animals than they were able to previously using the digital x-ray technology, although elephants, giraffes and rhinos are still out of the picture. The CT scanner has overall, made the identification of certain issues possible for those working to maintain the health of the many animals at the Zoo.
CT scans, digital x-rays and tranquilizer darts are only a few select examples of the many different tools that zoo hospital staff use on daily basis to conduct a multitude of tasks. These can range from simple medical examinations and pregnancy tests all the way to identifying bone fractures or if an animal has ingested something it’s not supposed to. Implementations of technological advances in CT scanning and x-rays have been met with open arms by the Zoo’s hospital staff, passionate about maintaining and improving the health of the Zoo’s animals.
Mael, Career Team
Week Two, Winter Session 2019
