Sidi Thabet Veterinary School Tour

When we returned to the Sidi Thabet Veterinary School the day after our initial meeting with Director Samir Ben Romdhane, we were welcomed as honored guests. Tricia was treated to a thorough tour of the school, clinic, and laboratories. Along the way, her questions were answered and Jaber had the chance to catch up with his former professors and say hello to friends.

the welcoming faculty of Sidi Thabet Veterinary School

The students are accepted after achieving excellent scores on their entrance tests, and each class has an average of 60 students. Interestingly, we saw a similar trend of more women than men enrolled here as in the United States. The students receive training for six years, with the last two years focusing on clinic rotations. There are competitive internships available where the students choose a track to specialize in.

Today was the first day of school and the students were already learning and we were invited into a lecture on the respiratory system.

Jaber fondly remembers sitting at these desks

The clinic activities were just beginning to get in full service but we saw a sheep consultation on the front steps of the hospital and a donkey in the back of a pickup truck. Sadly, the donkey had been hit by a car and had a completely broken hind leg.

students consult on a sick sheep

small ruminant pens await patients

students and faculty discuss a radiograph and Jaber added his diagnosis, too

Jaber points out the large animal surgery suite on the other side of the padded recovery room.

The tour included at stop in the necropsy area where students were examining a young horse who had died from colic complications. There were gastric ulcerations and his intestines were filled with sand (he probably ate the sand to try to relieve the pain from the ulcers). Yes, like humans, horses and donkeys can get ulcers from stress. (let us know if you want to see the picture)

Tricia especially liked spending time in the anatomy lab where she saw many unusual things.

camels, gazelles and giraffes

Tricia makes a new friend

can anyone guess who this foot belonged to? (answer will be in next post)

In addition to training students, the school also conducts research and has a vibrant parasitology department. It was exciting to see the scientific posters hung on the walls, evidence of hard work by dedicated faculty under modest conditions.


Jaber can see the improvements the school has made and new opportunities for students. There is an effort to expose the students to more aspects of veterinary medicine. There are still limitations with older furnishings and equipment but this singular Tunisian veterinary school is looking to the future to continue to update their offerings, establish collaborations and to graduate capable veterinarians.

In the interest of educational enrichment, we had a meeting with Director Samir Ben Romdhane, Dr. Lilia Messadi, Dr. Nacer Sliman, Dr.Mohamed Jemly, and Dr. Fethi Ouali.

Jaber explained our donkey welfare project activities and the progress we've made so far in developing a network of trained individuals to continue our work. The faculty supports the project sustainability and is encouraging the students to participate. Arrangements were made to provide four students and a truck to join our effort this coming Sunday in Mashreq Shams for our community donkey treatment event.

We also discussed potential collaborations between the veterinary schools of Sidi Thabet and University of California, Davis for student exchanges, visiting faculty and research activities. We were invited to present our project, a lecture and a demonstration on dental and hoof care. This was a very exciting invitation and we are honored to be the first presenters from America. (We were assured presenting in English is not an issue, as most students understand English even though they may be reluctant to speak in their non-native language.)

No day would be complete without a little extra touring. So before we left, we took a walk to the nearby town center where it was market day. Of course, we saw a working equine and the varied items sold from clothes, soap and food. Tricia found a great plastic brush to scrub the dental floats.

no doubt this horse was used to cart a vendor to the market

Tricia can never resist rummaging through boxes of tools

On the way home, Jaber purchased a live rooster from a roadside vendor for his mother for dinner. He also slaughtered, plucked and butchered it when we got home - all by himself because this was one task Tricia declined the invitation to help with.