CUTEST PET

Submitted by Callie Ezell, Louisiana State University

"Model Lyfe"

STUDENT EXPERIENCE: GUATEMALA

Submitted by Nardine Nasr, Cornell University

"Over Spring Break of March 2023, I have had the opportunity to go on a FARVets experience with a group of students and a couple veterinarians. We went to Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala where we performed sterilization procedures on the local dogs and cats. This experience was eye opening, as I got to learn the local culture, the level of veterinary care in a poor community, and how to perform veterinary care with limited access to supplies.

            In Santiago Atitlan we performed spays and neuters on the cats and dogs owned by the local people. We assessed if the patient is healthy enough for surgery, premedicated the patient, intubated them, IV catheterized them, shaved, prepped, and sterilized the patient. We anesthetically monitored the patient through manual counting of the heart rate and respiratory rate, and monitored the palpebral response. Over time we learned when the patient was starting to wake up and we would immediately give more anesthetic drugs before they woke up. We also got to perform surgeries. Lastly, we monitored, recovered, and reversed patients. Personally, I performed one feline male castration, four spays (three canine and one feline), and closed on a different patient. I also got to perform all the anesthetic duties, preparation of the patient for surgery, and recovery. As I got more experienced with each surgery I got to do more and more. The last two spays I preformed I had even accomplished doing 90% of the surgery on my own which was rewarding! 

          This veterinary experience also allowed me to see situations that would otherwise be unique in the United States. I got to see several pregnant spays, females in heat spays, and more. I even got to perform a spay on a large uterus with a lot of bleeding and a tiny uterus that was hard to exteriorize. This allowed me to see the whole spectrum of spays that will occur and feel the variations on such spays. I even learned different methods that are used in such situations. For example, I learned how to make a transfixation knot on a huge uterus and I learned on how to exteriorize a tiny uterus.

            Not only did I get hands-on surgery experience, but I also got to learn about the local veterinary care. I learned that the local people cannot afford to go to the veterinarian and many go without medical care. However, since there are few doctors and lack of affordability, it is common to be able to buy drugs over the counter. Thus, I learned that a lot of people may ask for other people’s advice and buy their own drugs for their pet.

            This experience was a truly valuable one. I got to gain surgical experience, but also I got to learn about veterinary care in a completely different situation. There are many valuable lessons I learned on this trip such as not relying on machines for monitoring and variations of methods on the same surgery due to different patients’ size and age. I look forward to applying what I learned to my veterinary career and maybe even going on a FARVets trip as a veterinarian myself."

CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Melanie Martin, Midwestern University

FOOT IN MOUTH DISEASE

Submitted by Reilly Scheppers, Louisiana State University

STUDENT EXPERIENCE: GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Submitted by Isabel Correia, University of Tennessee

"In January, I traveled to the Galapagos Islands for a study abroad experience as part of an “Applied One Health” elective course through my veterinary college. As a dual degree DVM-MPH student, I am passionate about one health approaches to wildlife conservation. From my previous education, I don’t think a realistic solution to conservation issues involves insufficient efforts to remove human influence from wild areas. This effort no longer seems practical in our current earth system and in light of the rate of climate change and globalization. Rather, I think a more promising direction to pursue lies in embracing these new human-animal-environment interactions and finding healthy, sustainable ways to move forward.

As much as I read and write about one health and value its importance, there is no replacement for real-world application of the principles I have come to value. There are few opportunities for applied one health that currently exist for veterinary students, and I am very grateful that this opportunity arose at my university during my time here. Working with Galapagos Animal Doctors (GAD) through Worldwide Veterinary Services (WVS) provided me with great insight into this field. This experience was also a great opportunity to improve my cultural competency, cultural humility, and Spanish-language proficiency. I gained confidence in my Spanish speaking skills, helping to break down language as a barrier to my career and ability to communicate.

One major takeaway from this experience was the complexity of establishing and growing a successful one health project starting as an ‘outsider’ to the community. GAD’s primary objective at this time is to perform sterilizations of dogs and cats in an effort to reduce the burden of introduced domestic species on the native wildlife. Following their one health goals, future objectives include vaccinations of dogs and cats as well as eventually providing care for wildlife. Coming from the United States, vaccination sounds like a very basic, fundamental part of veterinary practice. This is supported by the awareness that so many animals on the islands suffer from diseases that core vaccines and preventatives can help prevent, such as parvovirus, distemper, and ehrlichiosis. However, I learned that starting a vaccine program in a place like the Galapagos is not as straightforward as it may seem to someone with my background. Additionally, public perception is something to be taken very seriously, and outreach is vital to advocate for responsible pet ownership and the efficacy (and safety) of vaccinations once GAD has the ability to administer them.

I also found it very valuable to learn about conservative medicine. In our classes, we are used to learning about the ‘gold standard’ of veterinary care and often have a wide array of resources at our disposal. At the GAD clinic, I learned how the veterinarians still practiced high quality medicine in spite of limited resources, often empirically treating cases. My takeaway from this is not that we should never use the diagnostic equipment at our disposal, but rather that we may find ourselves in situations where the most blood work we can do is a smear and PCV, imaging is limited to an ultrasound (if that), and the surgeries you can do are limited to what can be done with a basic spay pack under total intravenous anesthesia. It is essential we learn to be resourceful in this profession; this is a quality that I think one gets better at with experience, and it will be very important in my future career. 

In addition to practicing my clinical and surgical skills, I gained incredible insight into the increasingly necessary role that veterinarians play in the anthropocene on the one health stage. While the Galapagos Animal Doctors clinic currently works with domestic species (mainly dogs and cats), it is clear that there is a great need for veterinary care of these animals. Introduced and invasive species have a massive detrimental impact on the endemic wildlife that the islands are known for. Seeing the impact that a single clinic can have on greater conservation efforts was very eye-opening and inspiring as I move forward with my career. I am so grateful to IVEC for supporting this experience that has allowed me to grow personally and professionally, giving me more confidence for a career in one health."