Cutest Pet

Submitted by Giselle La Hoz, University of Florida

International Veterinary Experience Scholarship Recipient

Submitted by Leah Fine, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

My experience doing the 2023 International Educational Necropsy of Marine Mammals in Jeju Program has significantly progressed my veterinary learning and goals towards becoming a zoo veterinarian. This program was extremely valuable to me educationally, as we learned about a variety of different species that I have not yet had the opportunity to work with, including sea turtles, sharks, and cetaceans. Through lecture-based and hands-on learning, I was taught about the unique anatomy of the species and the various conservation challenges they face. Additionally, prior to this program, I had no necropsy experience. Good necropsy skills will be essential to my future career as a zoo vet and will also be very useful for me in my more imminent veterinary training, such as when I am on clinical rotations. Because there are very few opportunities to gain zoo and aquatics experience prior to the clinical year, I was really excited that this program offered me the very unique opportunity to further my training in zoo/aquatic medicine many years prior to when I had anticipated I would be able to. Furthermore, as a zoo veterinarian, I very much hope to take part in international fieldwork with local wildlife. As I have only had limited international travel experience, this opportunity allowed me to begin gaining skills in traveling and working internationally, especially in a non-native English-speaking country. Not only was I able to practice getting comfortable in a foreign country, but through this program, I was also able to begin making international professional connections. Aside from the few American students, this program had about 30 Korean veterinary students with whom I worked closely throughout the week. This created very strong bonds and has allowed me to develop a network of contacts for research or other projects in the future. These student contacts are in addition to the connections I made with the professors who led the program, all of which were Korean veterinarians with extensive knowledge on various marine animals. I was very grateful to be able to participate in this program and am very appreciative of SAVMA and IVEC’s support!

Photography

Submitted by Emma Ruesch, University of Minnesota

Student Experience

My “last free summer”

by Annie Marlowe, University of Illinois

In veterinary school, the summer between your 2nd and 3rd year is unofficially deemed your “last free summer”. Meaning, that once 4th year clinicals start, and subsequently your career, you won’t have any more summer breaks! This, of course, is slightly over exaggerated, but I kept this in the back of my mind in planning my summer activities.

I decided this summer was going to be focused mostly on recharging for my 3rd year of vet school, with a few weeks of externships and working. While relaxing at home, most of my time was spent going to garage sales, swimming at the pool, or training for a marathon. I had a fair amount of travel as well, attending weddings, crossing state borders to see family, or vacationing to Belize for a week. It was a much needed break from studying and great to relight some hobbies of mine.

The first half of the summer, I was a POD leader for the Summer Bridge Program; this program is open to incoming first year students and others that want to build some clinical critical thinking skills in preparation for vet school. This 6 week program went through several clinical cases based around body systems where I lead students through important questions to ask when uncovering a case. Overall, this was a great learning experience for me in leadership and my own system of going through cases!

I also spent time externing at a general practice clinic about an hour from school, where I learned some new skills and refreshed my memory on some old ones. I followed doctors into rooms and learned what questions are important to ask to owners and assisted techs in the treatment area with blood draws, catheter placements, and ultrasounds. My favorite thing I did was perform my first few spay surgeries on some kittens! It was a tricky process at first and I had some assistance, but in the end I did the full surgery on my own and I feel very confident in my abilities!

Lastly, I shadowed at an integrative medicine general practice clinic in Indiana. This is something that I wanted to gain more experience in as it likely will be a part of my future career. I learned a lot of new ways to approach medicine, such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, ozone therapy, and nutrition. My favorite part of my time spent here was the focus on preventative medicine and making sure clients and patients are set up for success with diet, weight management, and routine blood work.

Overall, my “last free summer” was a success and the perfect mix of relaxation and productivity. I look forward to what my third year of vet school has to offer and I feel even more prepared to tackle a year of surgery and medicine!

Creative Corner

Submitted by Sarah Gainer, Iowa State University