My trip to Hoopa

By: Kate Parent

University of Illinois, Class of 2011

Last summer, Kate participated in a RAVS trip where she got some great new experiences, but she also earned herself some cash to help with the costs by applying for the SAVMA Native American Project externship stipend. To learn more about the stipend, visit the committee's site on the SAVMA Website at: http://www.avma.org/noah/members/savma/committees/napinfo.asp

Over spring break during my second year, I decided to live a little and go on a RAVS trip. It was a fabulous experience – during no other week of my life did I sleep so little or learn so much.

            My trip was to serve the Hupa people of the Hoopa Valley Tribe living in northwestern California. According to Hupa tradition, these people have been living in the Hoopa Valley for 4,000 years. Based on my readings before the trip, I hoped to see beautifully twined baskets made by the women, homes built of cedar slabs set on end, and yew bows strengthened with sinew fastened to the back with sturgeon glue. However, I did not get to explore the culture and crafts of the Hupa people during my stay there, mostly due to the duties we had at the RAVS shed that kept us busy from 6 am to 11 or 12 every night, but I did meet some wonderful people that were grateful for the service we were providing for their animals.

            On the first night of the trip, we unpacked the entire clinic, surgery suites and all, from the back of a horse trailer, where it had been carefully stowed away from the last trip. Our clinic would be in a metal shed adjacent to a small rodeo pen. The mornings were chilly and the toilets (outdoor) were few, but it worked reasonably well for what we were there to do.

            Our days consisted of either being a surgeon, anesthesiologist or primary care provider/surgery receiver. As a second year student who had not spent very much time in small animal clinics, I was among the most inexperienced of the students there. There were all levels of experience to be found at the RAVS clinic, including many doctors that were either working as a RAVS veterinarian or had donated their time to serve in a RAVS trip. There was always someone available to answer questions, and they were always patient.

The most valuable lesson I took away from my RAVS experience was the value of passion for the profession. The veterinarians that worked for RAVS were incredibly passionate about their work, serving the underserved and educating the uneducated. I saw in them love for what they did every day, despite the early mornings and late nights, the sometimes poor food, being far from home, and sometimes facing unappreciative animal owners or encountering poorly cared for animals. Despite the apparent difficulties of the life they had chosen, I saw in them concern for the people and animals they served, happiness and gratitude for their career, lives molded from service to otherwise largely forgotten groups of people, and joy in mentoring the veterinary students. It was a powerful example to me.

RAVS was a wonderful chance to meet dedicated veterinarians and students, to get hands on experience with anesthesia, surgery, and primary care, and to experience the exhilaration of doing things for the first time. It was in Hoopa that I did my first spay and neuter, monitored my first patients under anesthesia, placed my first catheter, and diagnosed demodex for the first time, not to mention many other things. I am grateful for the week I was able to spend in Hoopa serving the Native Americans there. However, I believe that I took home more than I was able to give.