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Zoo Internquest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
When you get sick, you go to the doctor. When your dog or cat gets sick, you take them to the vet. When an animal at the San Diego Zoo requires medical care, it is taken to the Zoo’s fully functioning hospital located right on Zoo grounds. The veterinarians who work here tend to the many species found at the Zoo, ensuring their health is maintained. These vets are specialists in their field, and have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are now. If you feel zoological medicine may be your calling, continue reading!
This week, interns met with Dr. Louden Wright, a second-year Veterinary Resident. Growing up in a small town in Tennessee, Dr. Wright always loved the outdoors and working with animals. He originally thought he wanted to pursue a career where he would get to care for animals, such as zoo keeping, and attended University of Tennessee to receive his bachelors in Animal Science. However, after volunteering in the field, Dr. Wright discovered that he loved the scientific/medical side of caring for animals, and enrolled in Veterinary School at the University of Tennessee where he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.
After graduating, Dr. Wright completed a year-long internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Wisconsin’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and then a year-long specialty internship in Zoological and Exotic Animal Medicine at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Health Center. Now, he is a part of a three-year long residency program through UC Davis where he will gain a variety of experiences that will prepare him for just about any job in the realm of zoological medicine.
Every day is different for Dr. Wright at the Zoo’s Hospital. A day could consist of vaccinating new additions to the Zoo’s collection, diagnosing diseases, or performing life-saving surgery. However, a number of the species seen on a daily basis are not sick at all. Many animals come in for preventative medical exams, which are similar to a human checkup. As implied in the name, these exams enable vets to keep the animals in good health and catch or prevent diseases or injuries before they can cause future harm. The center also has a quarantine area, where new additions to the Zoo’s collection are kept and monitored by vets before being introduced to the Zoo to ensure no diseases are spread.
For some of the Zoo’s larger species, such as elephants and giraffes, the vets will often travel to their exhibits and perform treatments on site. For example, Elephant Odyssey has its own critical care area, which includes a huge padded stall in case sedation is necessary. Given that the animals in the Zoo’s collection are not domesticated, sedation is used to keep the interactions with the veterinarians as stress free as possible for the animals. This is done with a mask and anesthetics, or a with a dart for more flighty or aggressive animals.
After following Dr. Wright around the hospital, we were able to learn about the vital role he plays at the Zoo. The extensive schooling and long workdays seem well worth the impact he makes on these animals, and shouldn’t be a reason for discouragement to anyone considering a career such as his.
Olivia, Career Team
Week Six, Fall Session 2018
When you get sick, you go to the doctor. When your dog or cat gets sick, you take them to the vet. When an animal at the San Diego Zoo requires medical care, it is taken to the Zoo’s fully functioning hospital located right on Zoo grounds. The veterinarians who work here tend to the many species found at the Zoo, ensuring their health is maintained. These vets are specialists in their field, and have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are now. If you feel zoological medicine may be your calling, continue reading!
This week, interns met with Dr. Louden Wright, a second-year Veterinary Resident. Growing up in a small town in Tennessee, Dr. Wright always loved the outdoors and working with animals. He originally thought he wanted to pursue a career where he would get to care for animals, such as zoo keeping, and attended University of Tennessee to receive his bachelors in Animal Science. However, after volunteering in the field, Dr. Wright discovered that he loved the scientific/medical side of caring for animals, and enrolled in Veterinary School at the University of Tennessee where he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.
After graduating, Dr. Wright completed a year-long internship in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery at the University of Wisconsin’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and then a year-long specialty internship in Zoological and Exotic Animal Medicine at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Health Center. Now, he is a part of a three-year long residency program through UC Davis where he will gain a variety of experiences that will prepare him for just about any job in the realm of zoological medicine.
Every day is different for Dr. Wright at the Zoo’s Hospital. A day could consist of vaccinating new additions to the Zoo’s collection, diagnosing diseases, or performing life-saving surgery. However, a number of the species seen on a daily basis are not sick at all. Many animals come in for preventative medical exams, which are similar to a human checkup. As implied in the name, these exams enable vets to keep the animals in good health and catch or prevent diseases or injuries before they can cause future harm. The center also has a quarantine area, where new additions to the Zoo’s collection are kept and monitored by vets before being introduced to the Zoo to ensure no diseases are spread.
For some of the Zoo’s larger species, such as elephants and giraffes, the vets will often travel to their exhibits and perform treatments on site. For example, Elephant Odyssey has its own critical care area, which includes a huge padded stall in case sedation is necessary. Given that the animals in the Zoo’s collection are not domesticated, sedation is used to keep the interactions with the veterinarians as stress free as possible for the animals. This is done with a mask and anesthetics, or a with a dart for more flighty or aggressive animals.
After following Dr. Wright around the hospital, we were able to learn about the vital role he plays at the Zoo. The extensive schooling and long workdays seem well worth the impact he makes on these animals, and shouldn’t be a reason for discouragement to anyone considering a career such as his.
Olivia, Career Team
Week Six, Fall Session 2018
