My Nonprofit Reviews

I went on a World Vets IVM trip to Nicaragua last year over Spring Break during my first year of veterinary school, and it was definitely one of the best choices I've ever made and I would repeat it again and again. Not only was it my first field veterinary medicine trip, but it was also my first time out of the country, and I couldn't imagine a more positive experience than what I had with World Vets. That trip inspired me to be a world traveler and opened my eyes to the good that could be done abroad in the realm of veterinary medicine, so it changed my life, as well as the lives of all of the animals that we spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and administered parasite control to during the IVM program. I especially loved having the opportunity to perform spays and neuters as the primary surgeon when I was only a first year vet student with the close guidance of several veterinarians with their own differing techniques, as our curriculum generally only begins surgery instruction during the third year. My passion for surgery was ignited and fueled by World Vets, and it was an incredible combination of helping animals, their owners, communities, and having a fantastic vacation while learning lifelong technical skills all at the same time. During our free time, my new lifelong friends and I enjoyed exquisite and authentic Nicaraguan cuisine, explored a volcano and bat cave, went zip lining in the canopy of a coffee plantation, and went horseback riding in the backstreets and countryside of a small nearby town. One of the days of the trip, we branched out from the World Vets surgery training center and traveled to a nearby community to provide a large scale spay and neuter clinic and had such a positive turnout that we simply didn't have enough hours in the day to sterilize all of the dogs and cats, and even a rabbit! I feel that veterinary trips like these to countries with fewer resources for animals than we have in the US are extremely important to everyone involved on both the giving and receiving ends. Overall, my first World Vets experience was an incredible one, and it definitely won't be my last.

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