This summer, Amelia Pound, 21, of Savannah, Ga. spent two weeks in Costa Rica helping animals, discovering Costa Rican culture, and learning hands-on what it’s like to be a veterinarian. Traveling with study-abroad organization Loop Abroad, Pound was selected as part of a small team that volunteered to care for sloths, kinkajous, monkeys, parrots and other animals in the Costa Rican rainforest.
The Loop Abroad Pre-Veterinary Wildlife Medicine program brings students to Costa Rica for two weeks to volunteer alongside veterinarians from the U.S. and Costa Rica. For two weeks, Pound and her team volunteered at the Costa Rica Rescue Center Research. They created enrichments for monkeys and performed veterinary labs, such as necropsies. Pound helped to feed and care for primates, as well as learn about their diagnoses alongside an experienced vet.
It is a Rescue and Release program and is sustained in huge part by the work of volunteers like Pound. Some animals that are commonly rescued, rehabilitated and released on this program are: parrots, marmosets, tamarins, sloths, kinkajous, capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys.
Loop Abroad is the largest pre-veterinary study abroad program in the United States, hosting students in nine countries on five continents throughout the year. Programs range from two weeks in summer to a full semester abroad, and college credit is available through the University of Findlay. Since 2009, Loop Abroad has specialized in pre-veterinary programs and helped students all over the world to pursue their dreams of a veterinary career. Interested participants can inquire or apply at www.LoopAbroad.com. Admission to veterinary programs is selective and Pound was selected based on her transcript, admissions essay, and professional references.
By following a study abroad model instead of a volun-tourism model, Loop focuses on educating its students so that they can contribute and serve in meaningful ways. It also works with locally run animal welfare organizations so that students contribute to long-term improvement on the ground in the countries they visit. With programs around the globe, Loop Abroad is able to support animal welfare and conservation around the world because of its students and their dedication to helping animals in need.
“Our students are really an amazing group of people,” said Managing Director Jane Stine. “They are compassionate, flexible, driven and dedicated, and it is always a wonderful experience to host them on their study abroad experience. I’m so proud of what they learn each year and the hard work that they do, and that this program allows us to provide important support to so many essential conservation programs around the world.”
Of her trip, Pound said: “Getting to experience medicine in wildlife is such a unique opportunity that is harder to come by within the United States, and I was absolutely ecstatic to be able to increase my knowledge and understanding of topics not widely covered in a classroom setting at my age. This program has changed my life and helped change my perspective on various environmental issues as well as educating myself in treatment of captive animals and how to properly rehabilitate animals releasable to the wild. Gaining experience in this field is something very important to me as I progress toward applying to veterinary school- it is something that will separate myself from other applicants as well as making me a more qualified student in this competitive field.”
Pound is a fourth year student at Georgia College & State University, in Milledgeville, majoring in biology.
