Meet Simona – Internal Medicine Intern
Meet Simona Borgonovi, one of our newest Interns here at Paragon Referrals…
- How long have you been an intern at Paragon?
I have been an intern here at Paragon now for just under 3 months. It feels, though, the time has flown by so quickly!
- Have you worked in a referral practice before?
I have done a rotating internship at Southfields Veterinary Specialists in 2018/2019 which is another Linnaeus referral practice. It was quite a different experience than this one, although, looking back, I am grateful I did it.
- What is a typical day like for you?
I usually start my day at 7.45 am. If I have any inpatients, I check on them to make sure everything is going well and adjust the plan as needed. At 8.15 am we have medicine rounds and after that we have a brief case discussions session where we ask for inputs from other colleagues for difficult cases or we discuss some interesting ones.
The morning then continues with general owner updates, reporting outstanding results, writing referral letters for referring vets and discharge instructions for owners, I get to see my own rechecks or new cases which are usually urgent referrals, with the help and supervision of a mentor.
I get to work-up my own cases or assist with other’s and make a therapeutic plan. I am grateful to work within an amazingly knowledgeable, supportive and friendly team. There are plenty of learning possibilities and every day is never the same!
- What has been your proudest moment during your internship so far?
This is such a hard question to answer! Moments what make me proud and motivate me to work harder are the ones where I experience a feeling of achievement and satisfactions, particularly when I discharge a patient that came in a very poorly condition and the owner was ever so grateful for what we did.
Seeing a happy ending makes me proud of what I do. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. However, when I know I did the best I could to save a life and the client appreciate this it’s also a proud moment for me.
- Are you involved with any research projects?
Yes, I am. I am currently involved into a multicentric prospective study designed to evaluate the efficacy of faecal microbial transplantation to treat dogs with chronic diarrhoea due to chronic enteropathy.
My role is to recruit dogs that fulfil the inclusion criteria, randomise them either into the treatment group or the control group and follow them up until completion of the trial period. It’s not easy to find the right candidate and the owner must be fully committed during the trial.
Nevertheless, I am happy to have the opportunity to be involved in such an interesting project. This might help many dogs and, hopefully, avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotic in these cases.
- What are your plans after your internship?
I am considering applying for a residency in internal medicine. Before I started this internship, I wasn’t sure this was the right path for me, however, day by day I spend here at Paragon referrals I feel this is the kind of working environment I want to be in in the future.
This is because I love internal medicine, obviously, but also because I enjoy working in a multidisciplinary centre, I like clinical research and to be involved into a stimulating learning environment where I can continue learning but also teach other vets, students or nurses about what I do and love. Besides, I don’t want to go back doing surgeries!
