Attending vet school in Costa Rica at Universidad Nacional Costa Rica

[jh1992]

Hello all!

I have recently decided that I want to go to veterinary school in Costa Rica. I love the country and have a few friends that are veterinarians there that are wonderful vets! I was wondering if anyone has gone to this vet school before. I toured the vet school with one of my vet friends that went there and I loved it. I want the opinion of someone that is not Costa Rican that decided to go to vet school there. One of my friends thought that I may be the first American to attend but I am not sure if that is true or not, which is why I am reaching out. I would love to hear about experiences anyone has had going to vet school outside the US (even if it is not this one) to a school that was not accredited. How hard was it to test into this US? Did you feel like you were prepared for the test? How did you prepare? Any and all advice is welcome! I am applying to Costa Rica's national vet school now and am preparing for the entrance exam in September. I find out if I got in or not in December and classes start in February. I am in the process of learning spanish right now. Any advice on learning efficiently? I want to make sure I also learn a bunch of medical terms to help prepare me. Any and all advice is welcome!

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[Minnerbelle]

I'm guessing the vet school is taught in Spanish? And that your current Spanish level is not much beyond someone who's learned Spanish all throughout high school? If so, I would personally rethink that one if I were you...

As someone who is fluent in another language, I can tell you that I would never even consider trying to go to school or even trying to get a license in the other language. The reason being that if I were to talk to you about my vet patients to you in English, that in itself will prob sound like a foreign language to you. That's how much new lingo you have to learn. Nevermind being able to just understand the background biology of it in the other language. It would be hooooorrrible IMO to try to learn all that new lingo PLUS needing to be fluent in the other language to you know... communicate with clients and colleagues, ESP if your plan is to practice in the US (in which case you'll have to learn vetspeak in English too!)

 

[EdinBelle]

I know a vet who went to vet school in Italy and always practiced in the US. He wanted to travel after undergrad, so he spent a year learning to speak Italian and then moved to Italy for school. He said that it wasn't easy doing everything there in Italian, but it was worth it to him. He didn't comment on the international exam though, so I'm assuming that's doable as well.

 

[catnips]

I'm looking into UNAM in Mexico City, so I'm wondering about this too. I think minnerbelle might have a good point about how vetspeak in English might be different, but my pets' veterinarian also got his education in Italy (this seems to be in fashion lol) and he doesn't seem to have a problem. ( not sure if the education was in English or Italian though I think it was Italian) it's definitely something to think about though - especially first years of learning English terms for the stuff you already learned in Spanish might be tough and annoying.

US was already a foreign country for me ( I'm not from here ) and getting an education in another language is tough, but doable. I am not sure how well your Spanish is though, definitely learn it thoroughly if you want to do this. You don't want to add more stress to already stressful vet school.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I have no personal experience with being bilingual, but I'm with Minnerbelle. If you are only learning Spanish now, you might struggle more than you already would have in vet school. I can't say it sounds like a good idea unless you intend on practicing in Spanish. Don't get me wrong, fluency in Spanish is a valuable skill to have (even in the US)! I didn't even know Costa Rica had a vet school...I'm curious to hear from anyone who went there as well!

 

[Gr8teful]

I learned Spanish by living in Mexico and Central America for two years after college. Immersion. Immersion. Immersion. If you are serious about it, get down there ASAP, take regular Spanish lessons, and get experience practicing Spanish in veterinary settings. I learned that speaking Spanish is one thing, speaking biology/veterinary Spanish is another entirely. Have you considered UNAM? Also in Spanish and its accredited.

 

[willbvet]

I totally agree with G8tful, I think it would be too hard even if you're fluent or close to fluent.

 

[shortnsweet]

The equivalency exams alone would be enough to deter me, let alone the other language thing.

Just sayin'.

 

[Kpowell14]

Vet school is hard enough in English.

 

[bbeventer]

Vet school is hard enough in English.

For real. I always thought half the battle with science was learning the terminology, I would hate to have to learn the basic science terminology in spanish plus all the new medical terminology in vet school. That just sounds like it would add up to be too many nights crying into the pillow instead of the average vet school amount.

 

[BlackDog17]

For real. I always thought half the battle with science was learning the terminology, I would hate to have to learn the basic science terminology in spanish plus all the new medical terminology in vet school. That just sounds like it would add up to be too many nights crying into the pillow instead of the average vet school amount.

The average vet school amount being every single night, yes?

In all seriousness though, I'm sure Costa Rica is an absolutely lovely country . . . but there is no country in the world that is lovely enough for me to want to go to an unaccredited vet school unless it was my only option. As far as I'm concerned, the extra several thousand dollars it would cost to take the equivalency exams would not be worth it at all if I had even the slightest chance of getting into an accredited school.

Keep in mind too that visiting a country and actually living there 9+ months a year are very different experiences. I'm sure some of the international students here can attest to that.