Thursday, March 11, 2010

In the Operating Room


I study medical English over lunch with a local veterinarian that I met through our Open English program in 2007-2008. We actually eat lunch on the operating room table, with the lights and the X ray machine just above our heads. He wants to better service the growing number of expats who bring their pets to him for treatment.

I've been surprised to hear from him about how much cancer surgery he does on older cats and dogs, as well as chemotherapy, and surgery for things like herniated disks. He's taken a course recently on reading MRIs, because some of his "patients" are taken to a university hospital for MRIs. He tells me Japanese people are more inclined to try absolutely everything to save their pets, even in old age.

Incidentally, there's an English Bible study on Mark in his waiting room every Tuesday night.