During the Pre-Vet class led by teacher Patricia Beachy on January 16, students practiced different types of sutures on raw chicken breasts. This exercise was used to show students a more realistic way to suture an incision.

Sammie Volo said, “I really liked doing this activity, even though it was a little messy. This helped me learn what it’s really like to practice surgery on an animal.”

The sutures used included the Ford-interlocking method, a continuous uninterrupted stitch, and an interrupted stitch. The students were tasked to create a deep incision onto the chicken breast, deep enough to cut through the muscle. Then they needed to create another incision that wasn’t too deep. This incision only broke through the skin of the chicken.

For the deeper incision the students had to suture the inner cut using the uninterrupted suture method. After the inner cut was sutured, the students then had to suture the skin on top of the deeper cut using the Ford-interlocking method.

After the students were all finished suturing up their chicken breasts, Beachy informed them that they would be practicing injections the following day.

Opposed to raw chicken, practicing on cut-up oranges is a great substitution to practice sutures on!

This class is a very informative course, especially if you are interested in pursuing a career in veterinary science.

If you are interested in this course, please see Mrs. Pat Beachy in room B124. [email protected].