French Veterinary Student Studying Zoological Medicine At Pittsburgh Zoo
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A lizard named Pei-Pei is getting a checkup in the animal treatment room at Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.
Animal health director Ginger Sturgeon works with Maxime Collin, a veterinary intern from France.
Max, as he's known here, travelled 4,000 miles from his home in Lyon for two months in Pittsburgh. He says modern facilities here offer top-notch training in zoological medicine.
"You have to achieve a very long specialization period," he says. "And I'm really interested in doing it in the United States because, for now, in Europe there aren't as many places where you can get specialized as the United States."
He says French and American zoos are similar in their care of the animals.
After the lizard's X-ray and weigh-in, the veterinary intern pronounces him fit.
"He doesn't seem to have any problems with his limbs, and he presents a good range of motion, so this animal is healthy," he says.
"Max has actually done phenomenally with the medical jargon," Sturgeon adds. "I think it's been my team. We've been a little slow learning the French medical terms. He gives us a French medical word of the day, and we try to guess what it means. We usually fail miserably."
Maxime still has one more year of veterinary school, back in France. And then?
"Maybe, if the opportunity presents itself, why not a career in the United States?" he smiles.
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