STUDENT EXPERIENCE: SLOVENIA

Submitted by Hayley DesCoteaux, Kansa State University

"Traveling and Experiencing Slovenia with IVSA"

IVSA has two international meetings every year, a symposium during the winter and a congress during the summer which in 2023 is being held in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The 71^st IVSA Symposium was held in the capital city of Slovenia: Ljubljana. With the assistance of SAVMA IVEC, I was fortunate to receive a travel scholarship to help with expenses. It was a wonderful experience of meeting amazing people and traveling to exciting places. There was never a boring moment from conference meetings, visiting museums, dinner in the town and fun after dark. This experience was more than I thought it would ever be.

My future career goals in international veterinary medicine were peaked while meeting vet students from people from countries all over the world. These students shared their thoughts and dreams and difficulties. It was surreal to realize that they were going through the same trials and tribulations that I have also faced in my personal vet med classes and experiences. These students are also dedicated to seeing vet medicine improve and animal suffering subside. There was a solid bond felt among all of us with this common goal. Relationships built here could last a lifetime.

It was a cold January 5^th morning when I emerged from the fuselage of Lufthansa LH 1458, 24+ hours after leaving my “No place like home” state of Kansas. I was excited for the next day for the start of the Symposium. Six days of global immersion into vet medicine and foreign cultures. Two of my favorite experiences. After a typical European breakfast and facility tour, the first General Assembly (GA) started. This is the main meeting where all attendees are present. EXCO and the chair led us through a litany of topics to be addressed and sometimes voted on by each country chapter. It was all very formal and so interesting. Each day of the Symposium we attended a different GA session. Other activities are mixed in throughout the whole week. 

During the time that we were not in GA meetings, the organizing committee did an amazing job of planning events and activities. On the first night, the event was called “Cultural Evening”. Each country that was represented at the symposium had their own table full of food and drink that exemplified their country.  Each student went from table to table trying food and talking with others from different countries. I enjoyed food from all over the world from Thailand to Peru. Within the group, five of seven continents were present: South America, North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.

Workshops and lectures were also built into our schedule. I was able to attend both a suturing and oncology workshop and a small animal dental lecture.  There were excursions planned too.  The group visited the Slovenian Military working dog unit.  This was one of the best parts of my trip.  I underestimated the value of the excursion but it turned out to be extremely enriching when learning about how the dogs are handled and cared for.  There was ample time for sightseeing (and of course…shopping!) around the beautiful city of Ljubljana. 

After the close of the Symposium, an optional excursion was offered that provided a visit to a little ski town called Kranjska Gora. Seeing the Alps for the first time in my life was magnificent.  It is hard to describe the overwhelming beauty of the scenery we saw on this excursion. It was as if I were living inside a life-sized snow globe.  The beauty was incomparable to anything I have ever witnessed before.  On the morning we were to leave, we woke to heavy snow falling with over 7 inches accumulated on the ground… a winter wonderland. The calm and beauty of the mountains felt like nothing else existed in the outside world. 

The whole trip felt like being in the “Twilight Zone”.  Never have I felt so connected and accepted by people from so many parts of the world. The friends I made and the relationships forged at this symposium will be carried with me throughout my whole career and life. This experience has become a core memory for me that I will forever fondly look back on and be thankful for.  I will always be grateful to IVSA and SAVMA for making this possible for me and giving me the opportunity to have these amazing memories.