My experience working in Goa was not only amazing but also challenging. Working at WVS Goa was the time where I could upgrade my skills and techniques. The first two weeks of my work at the Hicks I was one of the clinic veterinarians. We looked after numerous cases, but mostly related to dermatology and a few emergencies.The clinic time was from 10am till 2pm, which was good because I had the opportunity to do a few dog sterilisations afterwards, completing an average of twenty cases.
Out of the emergency cases, I remember a cat had come in on a Sunday afternoon which had a punctured pleura and had to be stabilised first and was to be operated on after it had recovered from the shock.
After two weeks of working in the clinic I was working as one of the ABC veterinarians, where I could work on building my confidence and polish up my animal birth control techniques. Soon after this, the Mission Rabies truck was on my waiting list for the same ABC operations. It was the best part of the entire three month internship in Goa, and I did at least 15 surgeries per day on average by myself and I was happy with my progress.
Duty as a kennel veterinarian was slightly hectic, because there were lots of cases, ranging from wound dressings, to TVTS (cancerous forms of transmissible venereal tumours) and fractures as well as many more. During my duty at the shelter I was also given a chance to assist in few special surgeries with Dr. Vinay such as wound reconstructions, hematomas, ventral hernia, tumor extraction and a few disarticulations.
During my last two weeks at Hicks I helped teach on the international training course with Dr. Aswin, teaching the fun-loving Aussie students from the James Cook University. I also got an opportunity to lead them on a mini Mission Rabies Programme to one of the most beautiful places in Goa, the Divar islands.
I thank Dr. Karlette (Hicks Clinical Director) for being very optimistic and supportive and also the entire staff at Hicks for being very helpful. My time in Goa with WVS has been very helpful for improving my skills and I’ve had an incredible time on this internship!