I hate to respond and bump this thread at the risk of igniting "hostile" feelings from both parties, but I feel I have something to contribute after going on one of these trips.
For those of you interested and reading through this debate: It was a one-of-a-kind experience and I learned a lot more than I thought I would. Not about surgeries or diseases or anything of medical value, but about people and the standards of care in different countries and cultures. Although I "performed" surgeries, I do not feel secure in my skills to claim that I understand how to do a surgery nor can I point out to you the anatomy nor do I really understand all the consequences of having "uneducated" (for lack of a better word) pre-vets performing surgeries. I am not a veterinarian and I do not have the skills of a veterinarian. I only understand vet med as far as my experiences have taken me this far. This trip does not make me a veterinarian.
Many of the techniques were questionable. Yes, zip-ties were used and yes, they caused some complications. It was awful the first time a zip-tie slipped. Even the vets we were with were uncomfortable using zip-ties. By the middle of the trip everyone was using suture material instead of zip-ties because it was safer. We did perform surgeries on trash bags and we didn't have sterile gloves or sterile surgery environments.
As the trip progressed it became pretty clear to me that we were slowing down the vets and sometimes they seemed pretty frustrated that they had to teach us how to neuter and spay. They most definitely could have fixed more animals without having pre-vets tagging along in surgery. However, I think programs like VIDA offer opportunities to spay and neuter as incentives for pre-vets. My personal belief is that rich, privileged students are more likely to come on trips that allow them to do something extraordinary and lets face it: the more rich people you attract, the more money you get for your cause. Each student paid around $2000 dollars to attend this trip. That money not only goes to jobs (vets, vet techs, vida employees), but it also goes to the community (host families, tourism, shopping) and more supplies (vaccines, suture, antibiotics, vitamins, dewormer). Additionally, pre-vets are required to bring donations with them, which means more goods. Also, I feel many students that go on this trip are more likely to donate money to the cause in the future. I think this answers the question of why have a student do the surgeries if the vet is standing watching...
If you think about it, VIDA has a pretty sweet deal going on: put up with a few annoying pre-vets and get a good amount of money and materials to actually help animals. I think any individual would be out of line to claim that they were as competent as a vet from going on a VIDA trip. If anything, I learned how far I have to go before I truly am competent as a pre-vet or vet student (when I get there)
All of this is just my take on it, but I started to feel this way as the trip went on and even after the trip ended.
I do not think you can hold countries like Nicaragua and Honduras to the same standards that we hold ourselves to in the US, however. As morally "wrong" as this might seem, life isn't fair and you'd be wayyyyy too idealistic to think you could expect the same standards of care and moral code to apply in underdeveloped countries. I think a fundamental flaw of many Americans is to push our beliefs on other countries as the "correct" way. If countries in Central America want to welcome pre-vets with open arms then so be it. Ultimately these countries allow pre-vets to perform surgeries and who know what their reasons are for doing so.
To go along with not holding them to the same moral codes: Individuals in these areas have no money (some living on less than a dollar a day) and the conditions they live in are shocking to say the least. They are not going to spend the money or time to take their animals into town to see a vet. Animals do not hold the same place in society that they do in the US. Most of these animals would die before they saw treatment from a local veterinarian. Some of the only care these animals get is from traveling groups, like VIDA. I'm not saying that this is a reason for pre-vets to be allowed to perform surgeries. However, I would be lying if I said I wasn't grateful to have gone on this trip and had the experience I had, even the surgeries. If this makes my morals questionable, then so be it.
I think we need to have some perspective and really examine what the conditions are like in the countries VIDA travels to. MOST people in the US have the money to pay for quality, educated DVMs. Clearly this is not the case in some areas in Central America. This might be a stretch, but how many times have you seen quality of care or quality of a surgery go down because an owner couldn't afford the thousands it would cost to pay for the procedure. Isn't this what is often seen with low-cost spay neuter clinics in the US? I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone, but I hope people will really take a hard look at the "moral standards" here in the US. (Okay this is more of a social-politcal rant. Sorry! :/)
I hope one day I can better understand the argument of veterinary students and DVMs who feel that this is morally questionable and abhorable. Right now I see it from a pre-vet perspective: a one-of-a-kind opportunity that showed me how lucky I am to live in a developed country and one that gave me a unique perspective on vet med. I do know that I would love to get my DVM and go back to help in Central America.
To summarize my experience: it was unique and eye opening. To be honest I will never know if any of the animal died after the fact and that bothers me a little bit. However, I really gained an understanding of culture and how it impacts the ability to care for animals.
**NOTE** Nothing I have posted is meant to spark any debate. Everything I have written here is purely my opinion and isn't based on any factual information. I don't claim that VIDA is morally right or wrong. Nothing I have written is directed at any particular individual nor any comment made by any individual. I do not consider myself competent at performing surgeries and I do not feel that VIDA has made me equal to a vet. I am sure my opinion will change if I get into vet school or become a DVM, but its hard to see the perspective or argument without having all the information. I know that there is a good chance you vet students and DVMs have a better understanding of consequences of trips like VIDA, but I don't and therefore I can only use the information I have to make choices and form opinions. Ultimately, I see both sides of the argument. I think a lot of pre-vets on here are defensive because they feel like their morals and ability to be a good DVM are being called into question. I think this is particularly stressful when we pre-vets don't know if we will ever get the chance to prove that we could be good, competent DVMs. Anyhow, I appreciate any perspective or info anyone wants to contribute and I hope this helped someone in someway.
