FARVets: A Model for Global Competency in Veterinary Service-Learning
About this episode
A veterinary “clinic” doesn’t always look like stainless steel tables and a wall of equipment. Sometimes it’s a town pavilion, a park, an old hotel lobby, or a host’s living room and that shift changes what students learn, what they notice, and who they become as clinicians. We’re joined by Dr. Paul Maza to talk about international veterinary service learning and why it deserves more recognition in veterinary education, not as a feel-good add-on, but as rigorous training that builds adaptability, confidence, and cultural humility.
We dig into the on-the-ground reality of providing animal care in low-resource settings: how teams adjust anesthesia protocols when the usual machines aren’t available, how students learn to problem-solve with different supplies and medications, and how interpreters often translate cultural context as much as language. Paul also shares what he’s observed after training hundreds of students over the years, including how the “clinical work” can become the backdrop for deeper learning about community, partnership, and the global nature of veterinary medicine and animal welfare.
Then we get personal with the stories that stick: setting up a clinic at a Buddhist monastery in Thailand and realizing a single monk was the essential partner for safely handling the dogs, and walking the streets of La Paz, Bolivia, only to find street dogs wearing child-sized puffy coats because people wanted them warm. If you’ve ever wondered what global veterinary service, externships, and community-based care can teach that a hospital rotation can’t, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend in veterinary medicine, and leave a rating and review wherever you listen.
JAVMA article: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.26.04.0275
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