VN July 2023

Vetnuus | July 2023 12 Commserv, a year filled with an abundance of opportunities, is the year when YOU have to lay the foundation for the path of your development as a veterinarian. I can still vividly remember the day we got to submit our choices of CCS placements and the consideration behind my submission - “Go to parts of the country you’ve never been to before”, even if it meant that I might need to exchange placements. I was raised on a farm in northern KwaZulu-Natal close to Piet Retief. Growing up, I knew from the get-go that Veterinary would be my career of choice. I have always received a lot of support from my family, the community and our local vets in town. Growing up and being used to the more rural lifestyle, I knew I wanted to do my year of CCS in a more rural setting with the majority production of animal cases, and that’s how I ended up in Giyani, Limpopo. Since the start of CCS in 2016, a lot of different opinions, perceptions, experiences and mindsets have been shared with students over the years. When asking a Commserv vet if they enjoyed their year of CCS, the majority of the time, they will share their memorable moments but will, unfortunately, almost always mention the struggles they’ve had during the year. We all are well aware of the challenges the CCS vets have faced in the past years, and I don’t think these need mentioning. These challenges, however, do sometimes overshadow the good that the year of Commserv or a specific CCS post has to offer. When I started my year of community service in March of 2022 at the Giyani Animal Clinic, I had one goal in mind, if I could make a difference in one person’s farming setup, I would be satisfied. I must admit the first month of Commserv was mentally taxing at first. During our first month, we were without electricity due to a greater bushbaby that shorted the major power supply to our clinic and prefab house. This timing could not have been worse as we were without water as well, and the summer temperatures in Giyani are on a regular 40˚ C; the prefabs became unbearably hot. At least this was my kickstart towards my attempt to tick items on my CCS Kruger National Park bucket list. The first month of CCS is most definitely the hardest; taking responsibility for cases is now on you, and needing to adjust with the bare minimum in terms of medication, equipment and consumables andnot being able toperformat the golden standards we have been taught. This is probably a skill set that many of us had to acquire quickly for us to manage our cases. As the weeks went past, I quickly came to the realisation and made a mental shift. Commserv is a mental game, and it’s only you who can determine the outcome of this baptism of fire. Community Service: a year of opportunity… Dr Veon Kuhn