Veterinary Semester Abroad Experience

If you are looking to prepare yourself for veterinary school, Loop Abroad is the perfect program to do so. I am now a junior Pre-Veterinary major in college, and before this program I had almost no hands on veterinary experience; Loop changed that for me! During my 3 months abroad I made some great connections with the students and staff, while expanding my knowledge/skills with courses connected to veterinary medicine.
The experience overall was so wonderful, I often have a hard time telling people what my favorite part was. Each course gave me something new to love about veterinary medicine, and just working with animals in general. We did a spay/neuter clinic where I learned how to intubate, place catheters, observe an anesthesiologist, and give vaccinations/medications to the local dogs and cats. We also spent a few weeks on the island of Koh Tao where we learned all about the marine ecosystem, and the conservation efforts of the local dive school. Almost every day we went out with the dive school and assisted them in their research; this consisted of snorkeling around coral reefs observing the marine wildlife (how cool is that?!) One of my favorite parts was going to the elephant sanctuary for 2 weeks. Elephants are my favorite animal and it was a dream come true to get up close and personal with them. I was able to vaccinate an elephant, administer medications and observe other veterinarians care for the elephants.
From this program I gained over 300 veterinary, research and animal hours, while learning about the culture of Thailand and making many friends along the way. This experience confirmed my passion for veterinary medicine and supplied me with more confidence in my abilities/knowledge for when I apply for vet school. The money was well worth it and I would highly recommend this program to anybody that is remotely interested in animals. Thailand was a home away from home thanks to Loop Abroad.