Enjoy tropical Thailand working with dogs, elephants, various zoo species, and marine life on this special 6-week Summer Semester

Spend six weeks exploring Thailand from the rain forests in the North to the coral reefs in the South. This program combines the most popular experiences we offer in Thailand!

Two weeks behind-the-scenes learning zoo medicine and management
One week of companion animal medicine
One week at an elephant sanctuary
Two weeks of forest, ocean, and wildlife conservation learning from the experts

This program puts you alongside a veterinarian whose job is to teach you while helping animals in need. Work in a dog clinic and learn clinical skills including blood draws, suturing, skin scrapes, and assisting in spay and neuter surgeries. Live and work at an elephant sanctuary learning about and caring for rescued elephants. Go behind the scenes at the Chiang Mai Night Safari to learn how zoo vets care for their animals, including restraint handling demos of birds, and reptiles and designing your own enrichment project!

Finally, get to know the research and conservation projects that are so important for regrowing the forests and reefs that are home to all these tropical species! Get out into nature in Thailand and explore ecosystems from cloud forests to coral reefs. You will complete a SCUBA certification on your week in Koh Tao (turtle island) right on the beach.

Evenings and weekends are filled with fun activities such as zip-lining and exploring street markets.


Who It’s For

This program is designed for university-aged students who are interested in becoming veterinarians or working professionally with animals. Participants must be at least 18 years old. Most are 18 to 25, but we also accept full-time undergraduates over 25.

There are no pre-requisites for this program. You do not need to be in school currently to apply. Individuals of any nationality may apply.

Applicants should be comfortable working with animals and getting their hands, and everything else, dirty. You must be able to swim and be physically fit enough for outdoor activities such as hiking and SCUBA diving. This program can accommodate a maximum of 12 participants per session. Courses and excursions on Koh Tao island will be led by the researchers and staff at the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program.

Highlights

• Visit beautiful temples and cultural activities in and out of the city
• Assist in dog spay and neuter surgeries
• Zipline through the jungle
• Get a behind-the-scenes tour of a real working zoo hospital
• Learn about restraint, physical exams, and treatment of zoo animals, possibly including parrots (such as macaws), raptors (such as hawks and owls), small mammals (such as meerkats), large mammals (such as horses and donkeys), and reptiles (such as iguanas, bearded dragons, Argentine tegus, sulcata tortoises, king snakes, and pythons)
• Learn how to make (and shoot!) blow darts and understand how they are used in wildlife medicine
• Design and implement your own enrichment project and learn how to support captive animal welfare
• Study and care for rescued elephants at an elephant sanctuary
• Earn research hours observing elephants in small groups and collecting nutritional data
• See first-hand what it takes to run a sanctuary that is home to thousands of animals
• Discover what it’s like to be a vet in the tropics
• Get SCUBA certified and learn conservation diving
• Learn to identify marine invertebrates, tropical fish, and understand reef health
• Stay overnight in forest villages to understand their connection to forest ecosystems
• Learn and practice small animal clinical skills that will be useful in any small animal clinic or internship you apply to work in back home!

Some of the topics explored during this program are:

• Taxonomy, anatomy, and physiology of mammals, birds, and reptiles
• History and conservation of Asian Elephants
• Elephant anatomy, behavior, and body language
• Asian elephant nutrition, medicine, and common diseases in captivity
• Small animal handling, physical examination, and common medical conditions
• Companion animal anesthesia and surgery
• Buddhism in Thailand and its impact on how veterinary medicine is practiced
• Coral reef ecology and reef organisms from invertebrates to fish, reptiles, and mammals
• Sea turtles and blacktip reef sharks
• How local communities traditionally use forests and reefs
• Deforestation and accelerated forest recovery
• Climate change and its effects on all ecosystems