Applications are open for Summer 2023

6 Weeks. Hands-on Animal Experience. Career Readiness. Tropical Adventures. Pura Vida!

Create a summer of incredible memories on this unique 6-week adventure working hands-on with animals in beautiful Costa Rica!


This six-week program brings you to the tropical country of Costa Rica where you’ll work alongside veterinarians and researchers whose job is to help you learn and practice new skills while helping animals in need. Throughout the program, you’ll have the amazing opportunity to work with aquatics, exotics, wildlife and small animals, providing needed care and assisting in research vital to conservation work.

Beyond the valuable experience you’ll gain working with animals, this program also teaches you veterinary Spanish, gets you ready to apply to vet school, and builds your career readiness.

But it’s not all work! Your program will also include fun exploration and culture activities, including ziplining, kayaking, hiking and touring beautiful natural sites.

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. No prior Spanish skills are required. 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.

Highlights

•  
• Spend time living in the rainforest and on the beach in the beautiful Osa Peninsula
• Care for sloths, kinkajous, monkeys, parrots and other Costa Rican animals
• Study and research wild dolphins and whales
•  Assist in dog and cat spay-neuter surgeries
• Research and create enrichments for monkeys
• Observe sea turtles in the wild
• Perform veterinary labs such as coprological exams and necropsies
• Learn and practice veterinary Spanish
• Enjoy a fun weekend of exploring Manuel Antonio National Park, where you might see two-toed and three-toed sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel and spider monkeys, coatis, pacas, and anteaters in the wild
• Explore nature with fun kayaking adventures to national park hikes
• Go ziplining in the jungle
• Discover what it’s like to be a vet in the tropics
• Explore beautiful Costa Rica

Dates open for applications
May 28- July 8, 2023

These program sessions are covered by Loop Abroad’s COVID-19 100% Tuition Refund Policy. If a program is canceled by Loop Abroad due to COVID-19, we will refund 100% of any program tuition you have paid (including the deposit).