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.

CAPTION CONTEST

Caption submitted by Amelia Collins, University of Georgia

Photo submitted by Taylor Bobst, Iowa State University

"When the clinic is short-staffed"

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