After a week, I’m used to having an internship at Kadoorie Farm. On the daily schedule, meeting at 8.30 am, having a vegetarian lunch at noon, and then working until five o’clock.

Most of the time here is rescue birds and post-snake or wildlife detection and treatment. Birds are usually injured because they encounter glass or glued by rat traps; Snakes are usually found by the public, then the police or animal organizations pick snakes to the farm for classification. If it is a local species, after stability will carry out, if not, it will be considered to be exhibit and sending to various and suitable places.

Then, another duty is having inspection and treatment of animals in the park, such as the removal of the fingers of various animals’ dung-checking round-nosed lizards due to necrosis, skin infections of the skin of the red-knuckle turtles and the wound treatment of the tortoises, water worms, macaques, etc.

One of the unforgettable experiences is to give two mules a walk, the day the weather is extremely hot, sand tools also have weight, which is not an easy task. After team cooperation, we completed the mission within the scheduled time. When you can see two mules were happy to roll on the sand, you will feel that all the hard work is worth it.

The three-week internship ended, and I learned a lot of practical knowledge. I am appreciated that I having an internship learn. Thank you all veterinarians, paramedics and staff to teach me patiently. The deepest feeling is to experience ” Everyone have a responsibility to protect the environment “. It is not just a slogan, everyone should do their best to protect the environment, so that wild animals have room to live, mutual respect. For instance, six cans of beer placed on the plastic ring, and were found in the wild, there were pythons passed through the plastic ring, almost strangled. After the rescue of the body still have scars and deformation, and still left in the garden; Another example is the frequent delivery of birds that were glued by rats trap, which unfortunately must be anaesthetized by the birds during the clean-up process in long duration, resulting in a certain mortality rate. Actually, each of us pays more effort, such as reduce the use of plastic, adhere to garbage classification, cherish resources. The amount of rescued animals is lower than the vet saved.

—Yoki Chau

This month I started my externship in iTrust vet clinic in Mongkok. I initially wanted to go back to the previous clinic, but I felt that there was not much I can learn there anymore so I wanted to have new challenges. Initially, I wanted to travel to other places like Japan to know more about what vet practice is like in other places. However, my Japanese level is only N4 which is not proficient enough for me to live in Japan for a long period of time and the vet schools in the universities do not offer summer externships, so I decided to stay in Hong Kong. I have heard that iTrust has really good doctors and I found that one of the doctors was my friend, who was a member of the NTU vet soccer team. So I contacted him and asked if I can have my externship there and that was how I got there. There are three main doctors, Dr Wu (My friend), Dr Yip and Dr Liu, who is the most experienced vet in the clinic and is also an NTU graduate. I learn a lot of things about how to prepare for the national vet exam from Dr Wu and the challenges I may face after graduating. Dr Yip is a very good surgeon and he is always calm when facing urgent situations. I learnt a lot of surgical techniques from him. For Dr Liu, he doesn’t accept new clients anymore and I got to know a lot of diagnostic skills and knowledge regarding internal medicine. But what’s more important is that he taught me how to be a vet. He said that his teacher once said don’t be a person who studied veterinarian medicine but be a veterinarian. The difference between them is that a true vet can incorporate his/her knowledge and experience into curing and helping animals, instead of just acquiring all the knowledge but doesn’t know how to use them. Also, he told me I have to be courageous and not afraid to make mistakes, don’t just be a traffic warden, just directing clients to specialists and do nothing at all to help the animals. If I want to go ahead of others I need to step out of my comfort zone and learn from the mistakes I make. Lastly, he told me I have to always question myself, question every decision I make, that way I can be a better vet. I am glad that I have the opportunity to stay in this clinic to learn not just how to be a vet, but how to be a vet.

—Ernest Yeu