MARVET Roatán 2025
Bottlenose Dolphin Marine Clinical and Conservation Medicine Externship

Externship credit is offered for those students whose veterinary school recognizes MARVET Roatán 2025 course content as fulfilling curricular goals, either for summer externship or for 4th year clinical rotations credit. Requests for academic credit, along with the necessary paperwork, should be made to workshop coordinators prior to attending the workshop so that attendees can be evaluated in accordance with school guidelines.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

All positions for MARVET Roatán 2025 have been filled and we are no longer taking applications.

DATE: July 7 - 18, 2025 (inclusive of arrival and departure dates)
TUITION: $2,000 (includes transportation between workshop site and airport, all course activities, meals and lodging for 11 nights)
HOSTED BY: Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS)
ACADEMIC CREDIT: Externship credit is offered for those students whose veterinary school recognizes MARVET Roatán 2025 course content as fulfilling curricular goals, either for summer externships or for senior year clinical rotations credit. Requests for academic credit, along with the necessary paperwork, should be made to workshop coordinators prior to attending the workshop so that attendees can be evaluated in accordance with school guidelines.
TRAVEL: Roatán is a large island north of mainland Honduras and has its own international airport, served directly by the major airlines. It is the recommended port of arrival and departure for the course. Shuttle service between the airport and Anthony’s Key Resort (where RIMS is located) is included in course tuition.

Questions? Contact us at info@marvet.org

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Lecture Topics:

Contemporary concepts in marine conservation medicine, with a focus on the bottlenose dolphin, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, husbandry, nutrition, water quality clinical diagnostics and therapies in open water housing
Emerging issues in marine mammal conservation, as well as coral reef ecology and coral reef ecosystem health dysfunction.

Hands-on Activities

Under the direction of the RIMS veterinarian and dolphin trainers, students will generally have the opportunity for multiple hands-on activities:

Physical examination
Hematology and Cytology
Clinical pathology
Ultrasonography
Marine quarantine strategies
Food preparation

The RIMS coral reef ecologist will lead classroom and open ocean snorkeling exercises on the Mesoamerican Reef to study coral reef health and reconstruction.

Veterinary students examine a bottlenose dolphin
in a marine facility

Externship Participants

The MARVET Roatán externship is an introductory workshop in dolphin medicine and coral reef ecology designed for students who wish to explore career possibilities in clinical and conservation medicine through an interactive learning format that provides a broad introduction to dolphin medicine, ocean health and conservation.

Previous experience in marine animal medicine is not required or expected.
While most participants are veterinary students, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, biology and ecology students and others seeking an introduction to the field of marine conservation medicine are also welcome to apply.
The course is not intended for those who already have extensive experience in this field.
Enrollment is capped at 16 participants to best serve experiential learning.

MARVET Roatán
Enrich - Experience - Learn the Dolphin Way

mother and baby dolphin swimming together and studied by beginning veterinary marine students

Participate in an introductory class in the field of marine conservation medicine.

Explore career opportunities involving dolphins and marine health.

students performing hands-on exercises with dolphins

Learn about dolphin health with hands-on experiences.

Discover natural ocean system threats to dolphins and open ocean reef systems.

This is the third year that MARVET is offering an externship in Roatán. Since 1999, MARVET has conducted marine veterinary medicine workshops in a number of locations including Florida, California, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Read what our former participants have to say about their MARVET experiences.

“After my first year of vet school, I chose to attend MARVET Cayman, a two-week course focused on Aquatic Animal Medicine in the Cayman Islands to blend my love for marine biology and veterinary medicine. This experience immeasurably affected me and gave me the resources to further pursue my passion. I enthusiastically soaked up lectures about anatomy and physiology of marine species, wildlife ecotoxicology, aquaculture, coral reef restoration, sea turtle rehabilitation, and so much more. I was also fortunate enough to spend time with world-renowned aquatic animal veterinarians, conservationists, and researchers and learn from them in a small classroom setting with plenty of opportunities to socialize after class. MARVET gave me the opportunity to learn about the aquatic animal veterinarian's role in so many different aspects of veterinary science; from pathology, rehabilitation, water quality assessment, to preventative care and research. I also gained incredible friends from other vet schools whom I can collaborate with and support in starting our careers in this field. This was one of the most amazing experiences and I encourage anyone interested in aquatic animal medicine to go on a MARVET trip (especially under the supervision and management of Dr. Samantha Shields!).”

Celia Megdal, DVM
2020 graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Instructor testimonial . . .

“I have been involved with the Cayman MARVET course from the beginning. It has been an amazing experience to interact with these talented individuals and to see many of them successfully continue their careers in aquatic medicine. Having had the opportunity to participate in the course definitely helped them explore a wide variety of options and has provided them with life-long aquatic colleague contact.”

Ilze K. Berzins, PhD, DVM, MPH
One Water, One Health LLC

MARVET Roatán 2025Bottlenose Dolphin Marine Clinical and Conservation Medicine Externship