Internships at Iowa State University

From 10.02.2020 to 06.03.2020 two PhD students of the UPWr Department of Internal Medicine - veterinary surgeons Marcin Michałek and Piotr Frydrychowski participated in an internship at Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Center, Iowa State University. Both doctoral students are involved in veterinary cardiology and spent the entire internship in the Cardiology Service under the supervision of Jessica Ward (DVM, DACVIM Cardiology, Assistant Professor of Cardiology) and Melissa Tropf (DVM, MS, DACVIM Cardiology). The aim of the project was to create a network of new contacts, which in the future will result in shared research projects. In addition, the doctoral students had the opportunity to learn novel cardiac ultrasound imaging tools and techniques for performing percutaneous minimally invasive procedures. The internship also served to discuss the results of preliminary studies on new parameters for assessing the prognosis of chronic heart failure in dogs.


Iowa State University is located in the city of Ames, Iowa. It is a public university educating more than 30,000 students in the fields of agrotechnology, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering, agriculture, statistics and veterinary medicine, among others. The state of Iowa is located in the central part of the United States, between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and its territory consists mainly of vast plains, hence agriculture is particularly well developed there. The veterinary clinic where the doctoral students stayed provides veterinary services for dogs, cats, horses and livestock. Services are divided into 3 main groups: primary care, specialty care - specialist clinicians, consulting in narrow areas of specialisation, including cardiology, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, dermatology and emergency services (24/7). The majority of the Cardiology Service's patients are dogs and cats, although horses and cattle are also consulted. The most common examinations performed there are echocardiography (heart ultrasound), electrocardiography, thoracic X-ray and Holter examination. Minimally invasive cardiac procedures that are routinely carried out are percutaneous patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) closures, pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty (BVP) and pacemaker implantations. The team consists of two ACVIM diplomates in veterinary cardiology, two residents and a qualified technician. The work of the Cardiology Service was very organised and each week was filled with different activities to improve the skills of the team:

- Mondays: journal club - meetings to discuss scientific articles in veterinary cardiology;
- Tuesdays: ECG club - meetings to learn electrocardiography;
- Wednesdays: ECG in practice - practical activities involving self-analysis of ECG recordings;
- Thursdays: presentations prepared by resident physicians; each week one of the residents prepared a presentation discussing his activities, professional interests, and academic progress;
- Fridays usually featured interventional cardiology procedures.


What is more, the Cardiology Service team admitted patients every day and provided hands-on clinical training for the students. Each day started with an Emergency Service patient round and consultation. This was followed by clinical meetings with final year students (Clinical rounds), where one patient was allocated to each of the Cardiology Service trainee students. The students were expected to gather clinical history and carry out a basic clinical examination of the patient and then participated in their cardiac examination. At the end of the day, members of the cardiology team discussed each case with the students. The students were highly dedicated in the diagnostic process. During the two-week rotation in each specialist service they were involved in the examination of numerous patients, which allowed them to acquire a lot of practical skills. In addition, the theoretical seminars allowed them to gain new knowledge.


According to the doctoral students, the internship proved to be an interesting and valuable experience. They were able to learn new techniques of cardiac ultrasound and improve their lung ultrasound skills. During their stay, they had the opportunity to participate in two interventional procedures: pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty and pacemaker implantation. Daily work with specialists and students allowed them to acquire and improve soft skills such as communication, workflow in a specialist service, creativity and time management. Thanks to the successful cooperation, they established new contacts, which resulted in plans for future research, as well as the future visit of one of the cardiology academics at the Cardiology Service of the Department of Internal Medicine, UPWr.

In their free time, the doctoral students were able to explore the great diversity of the United States of America. Visiting the USA convinced them that the country is exciting, beautiful and worth visiting.