City: Chiang Mai
Organization: Friends for Asia Expected experiences: Volunteering involves mostly husbandry of elephants in the camp as well as various opportunities to assist Mahouts and Techs with elephant first aid on a daily basis. Free time during the day is common (great for meeting the people). Best time of year: July and August Perfect for a 3 week clinical rotation or during the summer after your first or second year in vet school. Housing: The camp provides accommodation on site (next to the elephants) that is included in the cost. Nice but rugged. Avg cost of excursion: $1300 for 2 weeks, not including flight. |
Shelter Medicine Externship with the Soi Dog FoundationCity: Phuket
Expected experiences: With a brand new state-of-the-art veterinary hospital, the Soi Dog Foundation is inviting veterinary students to do an externship learning about shelter preventive health care, international shelter medicine challenges, commonly treated diseases in stray dogs, population management and rabies control, as well as understanding dog meat trade in Southeast Asia. Students would primarily be working alongside full-time veterinarians on cases in the hospital and/or the field mobile spay/neuter clinic. The medical caseload ranges from vehicular accidents to demodectic mange, but students may also work with animal rescue officers and others to gain a full appreciation of shelter medicine activities. Externship hours are typically Monday-Friday 9am-5pm with weekends off to explore. Best time of year: Any; Externships are often 2 weeks, but can be longer. Perfect for a summer externship or a clinical externship during the fourth year. Housing: Accommodation is at the expense of the volunteer but there is a multitude of cheap guesthouses in the Nai Yang Beach area of Phuket. Complementary transport to and from the shelter is provided. Avg cost of excursion: No current estimates provided; cost would include: flight, housing, food and local travel. Contact: Email Dr. Katherine Polak at [email protected] for more information, or check out their webpage: Soi Dog Foundation. |