When I started practicing as a vet in Australia nearly 20 years ago the most advanced bit of technology we had was an x-ray machine. It hung above a standard table in the only procedure area we had that doubled as the surgery, dental suite and general procedure room. X-rays were developed in a small cellar where the chemical tanks were kept. In a tiny pitch black space, x-ray film was immersed for three minutes in the developer fluid, given a quick rinse, then a further minute in the fixator, before a final rinse and hung up on a clothes line to dry. If the film wasn’t perfectly lined up or was over-developed the whole process was repeated. It could easily take 30 minutes to take just a handful of images.

Dental equipment was a good selection of hand scrapers and probes, a tiny hand saw and a very basic polishing tool. My boss still had a selection of stainless steel injection needles and glass syringes that could be sterilised for repeat use. Blood tests were posted to the lab and it took many days or weeks to get results back

Modern vet practices are unrecognisable by comparison. X-rays are digitally processed, images produced at the click of a button, and a dozen x-rays con be processed in minutes – chemical dipping tanks and dark rooms are long gone. Dental equipment rivals the best of the human world with ultrasonic scalers, power drills and polishers. We have an in-house laboratory where blood samples are processed in minutes, testing all sorts of critical values and drug levels. Orthopaedic instruments include all the power drills, saws and titanium implants that you would find in a human hospital. We have sterile operating theatres, separate lead-lined x-ray rooms and another area for less sterile surgery like dental procedures. The best vet practices will have high quality ultrasound equipment and endoscopy (cameras for key-hole surgery and looking into airways and stomachs). I even have an ECG app on my iPhone that allows me to take cardiac ECGs without connecting any leads to a patient – it’s like something out of Star Trek!

Imagine where we will be in another 10 to 20 years – even more diagnostic imaging equipment is becoming accessible to the veterinary world and it’s likely the best practices will even have CT scanners or MRI available. 3-D printers are making waves in the medical world where it is possible to use information from scanners to generate an accurate model of a cancer in a bone, for example, and then calculate how to remove it. My smart phone will probably produce a whole lot more than an EGC – I imagine all sorts of vital medical information may become instantly available and uploadable. Medicines are constantly evolving and new treatments available all the time, surgical procedures more advanced but often less invasive.

With all the new technology, medicines and surgical options comes the need to continually update your knowledge. It’s one thing to have information at your fingertips, but it’s another to understand how to use it. Veterinary students and practising veterinarians need to constantly stay up to date with the latest discoveries and practical skills.

Ultimately, all these new technologies benefit our furry friends. What we can do to treat them, look after them and fix them is advancing all the time. One of the excitements of being a modern veterinarian is that I can constantly discover new and better ways of diagnosing, treating and improving the lives of our four-legged companions.

Feel free to come and look around our facilities. Here’s to another 20 years of progress – personally I don’t miss the dipping tanks!