The outbreak of COIVD-19 is likely to affect every aspect of our lives. This is true for providers working on trucks and students in classrooms. However, one specific area severely affected by the pandemic is student clinics. At least, this is the case with the caregiver program of Mountwest Community and Technical College (MCTC). Although all clinical site visits are affected, the most important and lasting impact is the entry of students into operating rooms in hospitals or other clinical settings. The MCTC project has stated for many years that the first intubation for a patient on-site by caregivers should not be the first intubation for a living patient. In a perfect non-COVID world, they should have the opportunity to do so in a controlled environment with a mentor to ensure that the skills are performed correctly and that they do not cause harm to the patient. In addition, the program has set field intubation as the gold standard for this skill. Before COIVD, the program was able to achieve this goal with all students.

However, due to limited access to the operating room, students have to rely on other clinical or field settings to gain this experience. Due to health issues, students are usually limited to clinical settings, so this problem still exists in some cases. Due to the limitations of the clinical location, many students are empty-handed when they encounter real-time intubation requests. The MCTC project is very fortunate. There are multiple mannequins for students to practice intubation skills. However, according to the project instructor, there are some differences in observing and manipulating living tissue compared to Manakin. The author of this article does not want the previous statement to be considered a negative comment or opinion on the current mannequins on the market. Similarly, students in the program regularly undergo simulated patient encounters, such as complete airway obstruction, upper respiratory tract fluid accumulation, and even laryngospasm due to the human model used in the program. However, in the view of these authors, as a student in a controlled environment before becoming the main provider, it is still important to see this and use living tissue to alleviate these problems when possible.

The plan hopes to maintain the gold standard for real-time intubation, so the plan can consider an out-of-the-box approach to achieve this goal. This led to a collaborative effort between MCTC's Nursing Staff Program and Veterinary Technology Program. This collaboration enables students who are negatively affected by COVID to experience biopsy intubation. Utilizing local veterinary clinics and certified veterinary providers that have long-term cooperation with the MCTC Veterinary Program, MCTC's nursing staff students are able to intubate cats and dogs. As previously admitted, this is an out-of-the-box solution for situations that have never been encountered before as a program.

It is important to communicate some factors about this process. First, the clinical process is supervised by certified professionals in the field of veterinary technology, just as patient intubation is supervised by certified professionals in the corresponding field. This supervision ensures compliance with all regulations regarding the handling of animals in the Animal Welfare Law. The second thing to convey is that these animals are scheduled for surgery in the clinic, so they need to be intubated. These animals must be intubated even if the nursing staff student is not present or participating in the procedure.

A total of 22 students from MCTC participated in this clinical opportunity in the 2020-2021 school year. All participating students reported that the experience was beneficial. The former student is now a state-registered nursing staff. It was a good experience and he would recommend it. By participating in this clinical experience, students are able to visualize the vocal cords and therefore, the glottis opening, as we know it, is a key sign of intubation. The two project leaders agreed that considering the anatomical structures and procedures between these animals and humans, there are many similarities. In most cases, the airway anatomy of dogs is larger than that of adults. The cat's airway anatomy is smaller and is compared to a pediatric patient. This is a major benefit of this clinical opportunity, because even before COVID, most students did not have the opportunity to intubate pediatric patients. Perhaps one of the most beneficial components of this clinical opportunity is that students can see the laryngospasm on living tissue in real time.

Amanda Clagg, MCTC's veterinary technology program director, said that the intubation process for cats or dogs is slightly different from that for humans. The animal is usually not in the supine position when intubated, but prone. As a result, the anatomy we are used to seeing in humans is reversed. Because of this positioning, a laryngoscope is usually not required. According to Ed Bays, MCTC Nursing Staff Program Director, “Although the technique may be different, the ability to access living tissue during intubation and the'pediatric' airway is critical to the development of the student.” Cragg agreed: “ Although this is not an ideal situation for these students, we believe that living patients with living tissues will be a benefit."

Although from an academic point of view, this collaboration is more beneficial to nursing staff students, veterinary technology students and providers can participate in an interdisciplinary form of education. Beth recalled, “This is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with another department within the college to help our students achieve their learning outcomes.” Although most obviously, this is not a common combination in the allied health field, but it Very helpful. Students and providers can participate in the process and get the same feedback from veterinarian providers as nurse students. Not to mention, this collaboration allows project leaders to discuss other collaboration opportunities. An example of this is the opportunity to hold first aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation courses for dogs and cats on the MCTC campus. This is a course of interest to first responders and others, and can provide a more interdisciplinary experience for the students, providers, and teachers involved.

Is this a perfect solution? Absolutely not. However, despite the obstacles caused by COVID, it is an excellent opportunity for students to continue their education. Cragg asserts, "For the veterinary technology program, this is a great opportunity to help our first responders receive further education." This collaboration also encourages each program to continue to think about how to continue student education in the aftermath of COVID , And how to improve the overall educational experience. In many ways, COVID has forced educators to think outside the box and expand their understanding and even comfort of what education should look like. This experience helped these MCTC projects realize that breaking the rules may be necessary and may be more beneficial to students.