Editor’s note: Summer is a common time for veterinary students to travel abroad and provide veterinary care. We’ll be sharing a series of student summer experience stories/Q&As in their own words. Edited for length and clarity.
Overview by Michaela Rybolt, fourth-year veterinary student
From July 27 to August 10, Moriah Palmer (incoming first-year student) and her husband Ethan, Isaac Buckwalter (second-year student), Amy Swenson (third-year student), Dr. Jenna Beilby (DVM ‘24), Dr. Brian Bowers (Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine pharmacist), Katrina Patterson (local veterinary assistant) and her husband Cole, and I all had the privilege of traveling to Honduras for a veterinary mission trip through Christian Veterinary Mission. The trip was organized through our Christian Veterinary Fellowship student chapter at the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinary students from Oklahoma State, Virginia-Maryland and Washington State also joined in on the fun, in addition to veterinarians from Illinois, Indiana and Texas.
In Honduras, CVM is partnered with Honduras Outreach International, a non-governmental organization that sustainably empowers Central American communities through education, medical care, agriculture, facility construction and spiritual development programs. Our role as CVM veterinary professionals was to support HOI's ministry by providing veterinary care, including parasite control, sterilization surgeries, and vaccinations, to both small and large animals. During the two weeks we were in Olancho, Honduras, we served 182 dogs, 36 cats, 26 horses, one rabbit, and 200-plus cattle (and their people!) in nine different communities!
Q&A
As a veterinary student, what did this experience bring to your education?
Michaela Rybolt
In the veterinary field, success as a team is dependent upon adaptability to new perspectives and methods while striving for the highest quality of medicine. Nothing teaches you how to work both effectively and considerately in diverse environments quite like performing a challenging spay with a doctor you met less than 48 hours ago using only injectable anesthesia, sterile gloves and a cold tray, let alone with a headlamp for lighting on a folding table in a one-room schoolhouse with no running water and sparse electricity! I am extremely grateful for how this mission trip taught me to make the most of what I have while still regarding both clients and patients with the utmost respect.
Moriah Palmer
As an incoming first-year student, this trip grew, stretched and strengthened my veterinary experience in many ways. On trips like these where there is a great need for veterinary care and limited access to resources, you hit the ground running as you jump in to fill whatever needs you can. This allows you to obtain hands-on experience in ways most people wouldn’t get until the later years of their education. Thanks to incredible mentorship by the doctors and experienced fourth years on this trip who took their time to teach me, I can officially say I learned how to suture, perform my first neuters and spays and much more on this trip. I also learned how to show love and compassion to owners and their animals by providing the highest quality care possible, despite language barriers and lacking resources. I believe this experience will make me a more knowledgeable and confident veterinarian in my hands on skills, but also in my client relational skills.
Amy Swenson
Going on this CVM trip to Honduras not only provided veterinary care to underserved areas in rural communities but it was also an incredible learning experience for us students in just two weeks’ time. As an incoming third year, I am about to begin my junior surgery class/lab this fall. Because I was able to receive one-on-one, hands-on instruction with dog/cat spays and neuters as well as equine castrations, I feel better prepared to enter into my upcoming courses. This trip allowed me the time and opportunity to practice my skills, which greatly expanded my own capabilities. It taught me the value of being flexible and adaptable regardless of the situation or the conditions.
How would you describe access to veterinary care in Olancho?
Michaela Rybolt
Most, if not all, rural Honduran communities’ access to veterinary care is limited to teams such as ours setting up pop-up clinics. Christian Veterinary Mission sends teams to two different general locations in Honduras (Danli, El Paraíso and Honduras Outreach International in La Venta, Olancho) several times per year for the purpose of putting on these clinics; however, there are many more communities than teams have the capacity to visit every trip. For example, HOI alone serves around 125 communities, but on our trip, we were only able to visit nine. In other words, there is a great need for veterinary care in Honduras!
Can you describe the region and communities that you visited?
Michaela Rybolt
Most of the communities we visited were in the mountain ranges neighboring the Agalta Valley, 30 minutes to two hours off of a paved road. The smaller communities probably had somewhere between 400 and 600 residents.
Isaac Buckwalter
All of the communities where we served were in the Agalta Valley of Olancho, Honduras. Each day we visited a different town in the surrounding area which could range from a 30-minute drive down the main road to a two-hour journey on dirt roads in the mountains. The population size of each town varied but the smallest probably had between 300-400 people. Education here is very limited. The majority of children will not attend school past eighth grade. There is no high school in the valley so parents must pay money to send their children to a different town if they want to pursue further education. The Agalta Valley is mostly agricultural, with dairy farms and field crops such as plantains, coffee and corn. The economy there is largely dependent on agricultural production, which is why Honduras Outreach International is heavily invested in research and community education focusing on crop production and animal health. Healthcare is also very limited. HOI is actually one of the main health providers in the valley. They have four health clinics which serve over 16,000 people in 33 of the surrounding villages.
What types of surgeries did you participate in?
Michaela Rybolt
Our team performed neuters and spays on cats and dogs, a couple of mass removals on dogs, and castrations on horses.
What case(s) stood out to you, and why?
Michaela Rybolt
One of the cases we saw that will stick with me forever is a dog that presented for a spay, but was severely anemic, likely due to parasites (most of the animals we encountered in Honduras were flea- and tick-ridden and had internal parasites). Our doctors warned this dog’s owner that proceeding with the spay could end poorly because of the anemia, but they insisted we continue, so we did. The surgery went without complication, but the dog recovered from the injectable anesthesia it was given quite slowly. By the time we had packed up all of our supplies and were ready to leave, the dog was still not up. It quickly became evident to us students that it was not going to make it, but instead of rushing away, one of our team members suggested we pray for it. In front of several community members (including the dog’s owner), several of us huddled around it together and lifted it up in prayer. It was a beautiful moment to see so many people united by the same animal with the same goal, to bring peace to an unfortunate situation.
Moriah Palmer
The case that stood out for me the most was the case that Michaela described above. However, there was another situation where a woman brought in three of her pet dogs to be spayed/neutered. This woman was very clearly attached to these dogs, as she hovered nearby the entire duration of the surgeries and frequently would check in to make sure all was proceeding well, behavior that wasn’t necessarily typical among Honduran animal owners. After my teammate and I were finished spaying her last dog, we brought it out to recover with the owner. We packed up and began to pull out, when all of a sudden the owner started yelling and began flagging us down. From our car we could see that the dog was seizing. We quickly jumped out of our vehicles and a few people assessed the dog, while a few others comforted the owner. The owner was very confused and scared. After one of our Spanish-speaking members explained to her that her dog would be OK and gave her instructions for at-home care, the woman began to cry because she was so thankful for us taking the time to come back for her, reassure her and help her dog. It was incredible to see everyone spring to action and fill a role in this emergent situation. It was also so heartwarming to see how grateful this owner was for us simply taking the time to care for her and her beloved pet.
Would you participate in this type of trip again, and why?
Michaela Rybolt
Absolutely! In fact, I am currently in Mongolia (for the second time!) on another mission trip with CVM. I will be here from August 27 until October 5. Serving through CVM is something I want to continue to do my entire life — It is amazing to see how veterinary medicine can be used to reach and connect with people all around the world, transcending language barriers, cultural differences and more!
Moriah Palmer
Yes, yes, yes! This trip opened doors for opportunities for my career in veterinary medicine, and opened my eyes to the dire needs of not only the animals, but the people across the globe as well. I would highly recommend partnering with CVM for a mission trip if you are at all interested. This trip, though only two weeks, has changed the trajectory of my career and strengthened my faith in ways I never thought possible.
Amy Swenson
I absolutely would! More than the fact that it is a great learning experience, CVM trips allow volunteers to use their God-given gifts in veterinary medicine to provide the resources that are lacking in so many areas around the world. It is a joy to be a part of.
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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