What question did this study set out to answer?

This Viewpoint aims to highlight how international veterinary service-learning fosters essential skills and professional identity in veterinary students.

June 8, 2026

International veterinary service-learning: FARVets as a model for global competency development

Key Points

This Viewpoint aims to highlight how international veterinary service-learning fosters essential skills and professional identity in veterinary students.
Describes FARVets International's 54 clinic trips in resource-limited settings across 7 regions.
Highlights approximately 350 veterinary students trained through hands-on experiences in surgical and clinical practices.
Mentions prospective studies on surgical skills and perceptions of the human-animal bond.
Demonstrates that international service-learning enhances competencies not typically developed in domestic rotations.
Indicates that students experience significant growth in professional identity and cross-cultural understanding.

Abstract

International veterinary service-learning programs offer educational experiences that can enhance and reach beyond what domestic clinical rotations provide. FARVets International, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded in 2010 and affiliated with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, has conducted 54 clinic trips across 7 global regions over 15 years, training approximately 350 veterinary students through hands-on surgical, anesthetic, and clinical experiences in resource-limited settings abroad. This Viewpoint introduces the idea that international service-learning can occupy a distinct and underrepresented place in veterinary curricula-one that produces competency development, professional identity formation, and cross-cultural learning that structured programs elsewhere may not routinely achieve. Prospective empirical studies examining surgical skills development and student perceptions of the human-animal bond are currently in preparation.

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