Freddy Samuntu
Q1; Describe your education in your country. For example; how many years do you study, how long are you on rotations, do you have a hospital in the vet school, do you specialize in a species?
My faculty is fairly new, as am I. Veterinary medicine was introduced in Namibia, 30km outside the capital city (which is Windhoek), early last year. I am currently in the pioneering class, which is the 2nd year Vet class. So as of now, we are building new roadmaps and moving forward as we advance in our studies. Unfortunately, we do not have a vet hospital as of yet but it is currently under construction.
Q2: What are some of the struggles being a vet student in your country? Where do you see room for improvement?
As we are a new and recently introduced course, there are no “footsteps” from previous batches to follow. We currently do not have a proper school of veterinary medicine as of yet, and we are lacking in teaching staff and other materials to help us reinforce taught veterinary skills and knowledge.
Q3: Why is being a vet student in your country awesome?
It’s so awesome because it is the first course of its kind being introduced here in Namibia and we get the bragging rights for being hopefully the first ever batch of graduates from the course. Plus, dissections and field trips are just that much fun.
Q4: Do you have any plans for when you graduate?
I want to do a Masters in wildlife medicine or follow a route in cardiology.
Q5: Describe your experience/feelings towards IVSA in 1 to 3 sentences
Absolutely mind blowing. I have attended 2 events so far in Japan and Italy respectively and I look forward to attend more.
“I am currently in the pioneering class, which is the 2nd year Vet class. So as of now, we are building new roadmaps and moving forward as we advance in our studies.”
Student Interviews