by DMV Ezequiel Salas (San Jose, Costa Rica), Award Winner 2022
Currently, there are great challenges for professionals in charge of animal health, especially in tilapia production in Latin America. For this reason, the externship focused on production and pathology allowed me to acquire new knowledge, optimizing the management and importance of a breeding program and production animal health plan. This knowledge was strengthened through virtual diagnostic activities, tilapia health research, and pathology in CORPAVET, Colombia. In addition, operational management activities such as feeding, biometrics, egg collection and selection criteria for the generation of future families were done in the hatchery of Spring Genetics in Miami, FL, US.
For me, the externship was an enriching experience in many aspects. Not only in my field of work but also on a personal level. Working with other professionals from various disciplines allowed me to enrich the knowledge acquired. It was very important to consider the points of view and experiences of those professionals with whom I worked. Now, I have the moral and ethical responsibility to carry out a job in which I contribute to the knowledge acquired for the benefit of the industry. In addition, I launch a challenge to the new generations of professionals so that they take advantage of these spaces to grow and develop professionally. In this way, they can contribute to the development of our Latin American countries.
Finally, I want to give my sincere thanks to LCPG, Spring Genetics Bechnmark, CORPAVET, and MSD Animal Health, all of them sponsors without whom this type of externship would not be possible.
