International Alumni-Student Service

The International Alumni-Student Service Program matches Cummings alumni mentors with Cummings students to facilitate volunteer medical and surgical assistance at a specific partner site.  This fund-raising effort is to provide student participants with scholarships to travel to our project location in Ecuador during the 2022-2023 clincial year.

Amici Cannis is a small animal hospital in Cotacachi, Ecuador which provides free sterilization and veterinary care for the street dogs of Cotacachi, low-cost sterilization for pets of families in need, and high-quality veterinary care of pets in the surrounding area. Students will develop their surgical skills, mentored by the hospital’s veterinarians and an alum, as they aid in maintaining the health of the street dog population.

“Traveling to Ecuador was an amazing experience. It was the best thing I did during vet school. I really enjoyed learning about a new culture while honing my clinical skills. During our clinical year we need to find opportunities to practice surgery and I was able to perform multiple spays and neuters while I was in Ecuador, which has made me much more confident as a doctor. I continue to stay in contact with the Tufts alumni who I traveled with and I know I can speak with them for advice.”

~Dr. Sara Forsythe, TCSVM Class of 2019

This program has many direct impacts, including:

-Provide alumni who are primarily based in the U.S. an opportunity to travel to and work with a service organization in a foreign country, thereby enhancing the veterinary care in a resource-poor area and providing alumni an opportunity to make an impact in a short one- or two-week time frame
-Provide students informal mentorship with a Tufts alum on neutral ground while gaining an understanding of a new culture and an appreciation for the medical resources we have at home
-Improve the surgical and clinical competency of our veterinary students by increasing opportunities for practicing primary care
-Provide avenues for alumni to help develop/participate in student research projects and make a positive impact on the diagnostics and treatment of at-risk populations

Your support funds this important work, and we could not do it without you. All donations go directly towards the cost of travel and training, and every gift means so much.