Vets in Peace Corps

[adams30]

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Hey Everyone!

I was wondering if anyone has/or knows someone who was involved in the peace corps at all? Or some other organization similar to that.

I studied abroad in South Africa last summer and was inspired to join the peace corps in the future.

If I did, I was planning on going sometime after vet school. My goal would be to use my veterinary knowledge to help people abroad care for farm animals, pets, or wildlife.

Does anyone know someone who had a similar experience? If so I'd like to hear. I'm trying to find out what vets can do abroad helping others.

Thank you 🙂

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

My only worry would be paying back your loans on a Peace Corps salary, which I'm assuming isn't very much 🙁 However, kudos for you to consider this as a lifestyle/career, awesome 🙂

However, if volunteer-type stuff is your thing, have you heard of Vets Without Borders?

http://www.vetswithoutbordersus.org/

 

[adams30]

Yeah the loans I figured would be in the way, but fortunately there's more time after vet school.
Thanks for your advice, I'll check out vets without borders too

 

[SnowyRox]

Ive heard of older vets doing it, but I don't know if there's a current program going. I would love to hear the answer if you ask Peace Corps.

Studying mixed animal medicine with a focus on production would be a good idea.

I worked with a few vets who travel around the world doing volunteer missions in their spare time. They're asked to treat everything from the backyard cow to the broken wing of a wild bird to neutering a dog.

ETA: None of those vets are American grads and they are all appalled at how much we pay for vet school. They had their loans paid off in the first few years after grad... which is not possible for most US grads.

 

[2CatMatt]

Loans can typically be deferred for the entire time you're in the Peace Corps, although I think the interest continues to accumulate. If you have Perkins Loans, some of your loan is forgiven (I think it's 15% per year).

 

[mbv]

Because I've known several people who were really miserable during their Peace Corps tours, make sure that you talk to a lot of people who have done it before you commit. You have a very isolated life for quite a long period of time and even if you were able to get a veterinary project, I suspect that dealing with an extreme lack of resources could really cause compassion fatigue.

You could also try looking into other shorter international experiences. If you like research at all (either clinical, bench or epi), look at the Fulbright Program, Fogarty International and the CDC Hubert Program. It would definitely be a different way to have a meaningful, global experience. There are also shorter term volunteer clinical trips that you can take, as other posters mentioned. WVS is a good resource for trips, but you usually have to pay your own airfare for those types of things (spendy for a new grad!). The federal grants would cover your airfare and living expenses while abroad. With Fulbright, "research" also encompasses social-type studies (for example - I know someone who did a Fulbright this year on livestock management practices tailored to reduce predation of livestock by wildlife... So dealing with livestock & farmers, but with a conservation focus), and as long as you have a project outline that seems feasible and someone in the host country who is willing to provide some support, they will consider your application.

 

[jrq09]

Because I've known several people who were really miserable during their Peace Corps tours, make sure that you talk to a lot of people who have done it before you commit. You have a very isolated life for quite a long period of time and even if you were able to get a veterinary project, I suspect that dealing with an extreme lack of resources could really cause compassion fatigue.

You could also try looking into other shorter international experiences. If you like research at all (either clinical, bench or epi), look at the Fulbright Program, Fogarty International and the CDC Hubert Program. It would definitely be a different way to have a meaningful, global experience. There are also shorter term volunteer clinical trips that you can take, as other posters mentioned. WVS is a good resource for trips, but you usually have to pay your own airfare for those types of things (spendy for a new grad!). The federal grants would cover your airfare and living expenses while abroad. With Fulbright, "research" also encompasses social-type studies (for example - I know someone who did a Fulbright this year on livestock management practices tailored to reduce predation of livestock by wildlife... So dealing with livestock & farmers, but with a conservation focus), and as long as you have a project outline that seems feasible and someone in the host country who is willing to provide some support, they will consider your application.

Ah! This is exactly what I wanted to do when I started undergrad (the farmer/livestock/predator dilemma)...put I sort of gave it up over the years, assuming it was too idealized and could never really impact conservation.