25 Apr 2023
Staff at a Cumbrian practice have given their old textbooks to one of their colleagues to help students in her native Lithuania.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Veterinary students in Lithuania are being helped to pursue their career aims by one of their colleagues who is now based in the UK.
Staff at Kentdale Referrals in Cumbria have donated veterinary textbooks they no longer use to support the efforts of one of their colleagues, surgical intern Indre Petrauske.
Mrs Petrauske, who graduated from Lithuania’s only veterinary school in 2017, moved to the UK three years ago and aims to become a European College of Veterinary Surgeons diplomate.
But she explained a reunion had inspired her to help future vets training in her homeland.
Mrs Petrauske said: “Last summer, I met a few former classmates from university and shared my experience of working as a vet in Britain.
“They then told me what it means to be a young, newly graduated veterinary professional in eastern Europe.
“It might not be a surprise that they struggle a lot. They told me even ordering veterinary books in English is a challenging task as international shipping is a long and complex process, which adds significantly to the price of already expensive textbooks.
“Thanks to all my brilliant colleagues, suddenly I had 30kg of veterinary books to ship home.
“I used a Lithuanian veterinary society Facebook group to spread the news to anyone interested in getting free books and I got massive feedback from a variety of veterinary professionals, including students and young specialists.”
The books were shipped to Mrs Petrauske’s mother in Lithuania, who then organised individual deliveries.
She added: “One of the recipient practices in Lithuania was so grateful they generously paid the delivery fee, which was nearly £100.
“I’m very happy to have helped in this way, but the people who matter the most are my friends and colleagues here at Kentdale, who donated all the books. I’m extremely grateful to them all.”
