STUDENT EXPERIENCE: GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

Submitted by Isabel Correia, University of Tennessee

"In January, I traveled to the Galapagos Islands for a study abroad experience as part of an “Applied One Health” elective course through my veterinary college. As a dual degree DVM-MPH student, I am passionate about one health approaches to wildlife conservation. From my previous education, I don’t think a realistic solution to conservation issues involves insufficient efforts to remove human influence from wild areas. This effort no longer seems practical in our current earth system and in light of the rate of climate change and globalization. Rather, I think a more promising direction to pursue lies in embracing these new human-animal-environment interactions and finding healthy, sustainable ways to move forward.

As much as I read and write about one health and value its importance, there is no replacement for real-world application of the principles I have come to value. There are few opportunities for applied one health that currently exist for veterinary students, and I am very grateful that this opportunity arose at my university during my time here. Working with Galapagos Animal Doctors (GAD) through Worldwide Veterinary Services (WVS) provided me with great insight into this field. This experience was also a great opportunity to improve my cultural competency, cultural humility, and Spanish-language proficiency. I gained confidence in my Spanish speaking skills, helping to break down language as a barrier to my career and ability to communicate.

One major takeaway from this experience was the complexity of establishing and growing a successful one health project starting as an ‘outsider’ to the community. GAD’s primary objective at this time is to perform sterilizations of dogs and cats in an effort to reduce the burden of introduced domestic species on the native wildlife. Following their one health goals, future objectives include vaccinations of dogs and cats as well as eventually providing care for wildlife. Coming from the United States, vaccination sounds like a very basic, fundamental part of veterinary practice. This is supported by the awareness that so many animals on the islands suffer from diseases that core vaccines and preventatives can help prevent, such as parvovirus, distemper, and ehrlichiosis. However, I learned that starting a vaccine program in a place like the Galapagos is not as straightforward as it may seem to someone with my background. Additionally, public perception is something to be taken very seriously, and outreach is vital to advocate for responsible pet ownership and the efficacy (and safety) of vaccinations once GAD has the ability to administer them.

I also found it very valuable to learn about conservative medicine. In our classes, we are used to learning about the ‘gold standard’ of veterinary care and often have a wide array of resources at our disposal. At the GAD clinic, I learned how the veterinarians still practiced high quality medicine in spite of limited resources, often empirically treating cases. My takeaway from this is not that we should never use the diagnostic equipment at our disposal, but rather that we may find ourselves in situations where the most blood work we can do is a smear and PCV, imaging is limited to an ultrasound (if that), and the surgeries you can do are limited to what can be done with a basic spay pack under total intravenous anesthesia. It is essential we learn to be resourceful in this profession; this is a quality that I think one gets better at with experience, and it will be very important in my future career. 

In addition to practicing my clinical and surgical skills, I gained incredible insight into the increasingly necessary role that veterinarians play in the anthropocene on the one health stage. While the Galapagos Animal Doctors clinic currently works with domestic species (mainly dogs and cats), it is clear that there is a great need for veterinary care of these animals. Introduced and invasive species have a massive detrimental impact on the endemic wildlife that the islands are known for. Seeing the impact that a single clinic can have on greater conservation efforts was very eye-opening and inspiring as I move forward with my career. I am so grateful to IVEC for supporting this experience that has allowed me to grow personally and professionally, giving me more confidence for a career in one health."