The Belize Zoo Veterinary Program
“The Belize Zoo offers learning opportunities for veterinary students, visiting veterinary faculty and residents in training as well as local veterinarians. Exposure to species native to Belize provides these individuals with practical experiences they cannot acquire anywhere else. These activities and interactions help to ensure the health and well-being of some of our most endangered animals. A modern hospital setting, such as that which The Belize Zoo has constructed, is essential to educating future zoo veterinarians as well as local practitioners.”
- George V. Kollias, DVM, PhD.
The Belize Zoo welcomes students from all over the world to come and experience veterinary medicine in a rich and diverse environment. BZNC supports the efforts of the outbound veterinarians. Providing hands on experience in a real life setting ensures zoo and wildlife veterinarians gain technical training. The knowledge gained from learning and sharing with the staff at The Belize Zoo will benefits both communities.
Hear from visiting students about their experience in the Belize Zoo Veterinary Program here!
The partnership the Belize Zoo has made with Cornell VetMed facilitates a world-class veterinary opportunity for veterinary students, technicians and clinicians. What excites me most in collaboration of the veterinary specialties anesthesia, zoo/ wildlife medicine and dentistry is that it not only helps the animals at the zoo, but provides new insights and discoveries that contribute to veterinary medicine which may have not been found if not for this partnership.
- Will, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine student about his Belize Zoo visit. Read the full article here.
“This winter break I spent a week in Belize. While Belize is a wonderful destination for visiting the beach, I wasn’t there for vacation: I was there for a Cornell vet class called “Field Techniques in International Wildlife Medicine.” Needless to say, as an aspiring wildlife veterinarian, this course was without a doubt the most fun, challenging and rewarding course that I’ve taken at Cornell so far!”
- Sarah, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine student about her Belize Zoo visit. Read the full article here.
“I went to Belize with 11 classmates and 5 veterinarians, where we spent a week providing care for the animals at The Belize Zoo. A small, charming zoo integrated almost seamlessly into the tropical savanna, TBZ is probably better defined as a sanctuary- all of its animals are local species and are “rescues” in one way or another. Some are orphans, many are rescued from the pet trade, and some come in dealing with injuries from vehicular strikes or other anthropogenic activities.”
- Ginny, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine student about her Belize Zoo visit. Read the full article here.
If you’re looking for more about this program, you can also check out this feature about the veterinary program visits in the Cornell Chronicle here
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