This last summer I had the incredible honor and privilege to volunteer and live under the Japan Cat Network (JCN) in Kyoto. During my time there, I was able to indulge in the beautiful and historically rich city and got to meet so many amazing people at the JCN, throughout Kyoto, and even some parts of Japan.
This summer I had the opportunity to complete my Global Programs externship in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico which is a small pueblo outside of Guadalajara. Even though the pueblo is small, it is bursting with color, tradition, and some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Living there during the summer reminded me of my roots and gave me a deeper appreciation not only for the culture, but also for the way veterinary medicine is practiced in different parts of the world.
Over the summer, I spent a month in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, living with a local family and working at Seaside Clinica, which offers spay/neuter services and basic veterinary care to a community with no other veterinarians within an hour’s reach. The clinic partners with SOS Animales, a local rescue, to treat and rehome sick or abused animals.
This summer I had the privilege of spending several weeks in Jalisco, Mexico, working alongside local veterinarians to provide low-cost veterinary services to families in the community. The town I spent time in is called Encarnacion de Diaz, also known as La Chona. La Chona is a small rural town that relies on local farmers to supply the majority of their food. In Mexico, my days were spent doing wellness exams, vaccines, client education, and hands-on work that pushed me to learn quickly and adapt to the resources available.
This summer, I spent three weeks in Thailand volunteering with People and Animals Thailand (PAT) and Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT)! These experiences honestly deepened my understanding of veterinary medicine and cross-cultural engagement.
During the summer of 2025, I had the opportunity of a lifetime through Global Programs to travel with one of my classmates to Thailand, where I spent two weeks at the People and Animal Thailand clinic in Cha-Am and one week at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand organization.
This past summer I spent 3 weeks at the National University of Colombia, Bogota, Veterinary School. During the first part of the trip I spent time as an extern in the Large Animal Hospital. I loved getting to learn how the students' experiences overall had so many parallels with our own, as well as getting to see their daily activities such as doing treatments, preparing for and attending rounds, and handling emergencies.
This summer, I did a clinical externship with the Dublin Zoo in Ireland as well as exploring the One Health operations of University of College Dublin (UCD) through the support of the UCD Squared Transatlantic One Health Alliance.
This summer, I had the immense privilege of participating in a three-week internship at El Hospital de Especies Menores y Silvestres (HEMS) in Heredia, Costa Rica. HEMS is a large referral and teaching hospital associated with the Universidad Nacional (UNA) veterinary school, treating small animals, exotics, and wildlife. I chose this site because of its diversity of specialties and the opportunity to strengthen my medical Spanish, and it proved to be one of the most formative experiences of my veterinary education so far.
This summer, I was fortunate to participate in a three-week global externship at the University of Teramo in Italy, hosted by the Department of Veterinary Medicine. My primary project focused on feline parasitology, particularly investigating the clinical relevance of lungworm infections in cats. This opportunity not only expanded my clinical understanding but also reshaped how I view veterinary medicine in a global, interconnected context.
