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Externship Opportunities

We now offer a shelter medicine rotation for students with a particular interest in working with shelters, rescue groups, and other small animal populations such as catteries or kennels, or for those with a particular interest in small animal infectious disease/population health. The student will spend the majority of time rotating through local and regional shelters (Yolo, Sacramento and Bay Area). The student will spend time in all areas of the shelter, including observation of animal relinquishment and adoption, field services, behavior programs and animal care functions. Students will spend part of their time working alongside shelter medicine program veterinarians and/or shelter veterinarians to provide primary care for shelter animals. This may include performing physical exams, providing preventive care such as vaccinations, and diagnosis and treatment of sick and injured animals. Surgical procedures such as spay and neuter may also be included, but will not be emphasized. The student will also accompany Shelter Medicine Program personnel on shelter visits for the purposes of consultation, outbreak investigation, training or other special projects as available. The student will generally spend one day each week in the office with shelter medicine residents answering emails, reading and familiarizing themselves with resources in shelter medicine . The student will participate in weekly Shelter Medicine Rounds while on this rotation. This rotation is primarily for UC Davis students, but students from other universities may be accomodated as space permits and are welcome to contact us for more information. Students looking for more primary care and surgical type experience are advised to seek an externship such as those listed below.

Ideally we would like to develop this page to include a list of shelters from across the country who are interested in having students extern at their shelter. If your shelter has a full time veterinarian, and a medical treatment and surgical area dedicated to providing care of your sheltered animals, please contact Mike Bannasch and I will begin a listing of shelters willing to accept student externs. Please be aware that this will only be a information list, any agreement reached will be between the listed shelter, the interested student and the students veterinary school academic curriculum department.

Available Shelter Externships

 

Arizona Humane Society
location 9226 N. 13th ave, Phoenix, AZ 85021
externship Arizona Humane Society is Arizona's largest, nonprofit full-service animal-welfare and protection agency. We are an open intake shelter and see approx 45,000 animals/yr. We employ eight full time veterinarians. Externs will have an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with shelter medicine, emergency and critical care,high volume spay/neuter, orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries. Externships are 2-4 weeks in duration and can be tailored to suit the student's needs. Externs are required to fill out a volunteer application form. Please visit our website at www.azhumane.org for more information regarding the shelter and the Second Chance Animal Hospital.
accomodations None available at this time.
contact name Kathleen Croteau, DVM
contact email Kcroteau@azhumane.org
contact phone (602) 997-7585
    
 

Humane Alliance
location Asheville, North Carolina
externship The externship is offered for a maximum of two weeks (ten regular business days, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM) at our campus in Asheville. The student will be expected to participate in the training of all medical positions (veterinarian, technician, assistant). Our 13,000-square foot facility has six surgery suites and can accommodate 250 patients. Our routine daily case load ranges from 80 to 160 surgeries. There were 22,994 sterilizations performed at this facility in 2008. Seven veterinarians and twenty-one support personnel comprise our full time staff.
accomodations Housing is provided on the premises at no cost.
contact name Quita Mazzina
contact email Download the information form at: http://www.ncvmb.org/assets/Forms/INTERN.pdf
contact phone (828) 252-2079
   
 

Humane Society of South Mississippi
location Gulfport, Mississippi
externship HSSM is an open admission shelter serving the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast, taking in >16,000 animals in 2008. We are privileged to have a large high volume high quality spay neuter clinic (Humane Alliance model) that acheived >11,000 sterilization surgeries last year. Externs may visit from 2 to 6 weeks and will participate in surgery on shelter animals, including spay/neuter, amputations, opthalmic ,and orthopedic procedures. Our externs spend a portion of each day following the staff DVM on shelter rounds and performing exams and diagnostic testing on shelter animals.
accomodations May be arranged with staff members. No on-site housing available at this time.
contact name Jenny Morris, DVM
contact email jmorris@hssm.org
contact phone 228-863-8610 ext. 132
   
 

Idaho Humane Society Veterinary Medical Center
location Boise, Idaho
externship The Idaho Humane Society provides externship opportunities to 3rd and 4th year veterinary students, particularly suited to those interested in shelter medicine, not-for-profit veterinary practice, high volume spay/neuter, and other careers in the animal welfare field. The I.H.S. Veterinary Medical Center provides an intensive hands-on medical and surgical experience which is difficult for students to obtain in typical veterinary practice extern programs. Students are immersed in the environment of a busy, high volume shelter handling over 14,000 animals per year and at the same time, a high quality, well equipped hospital serving the needs of a large public clientele. Our hope is that students leave our externship with skill sets making them much better prepared to begin their careers in practice, and that in whatever field of veterinary medicine they pursue, they will be fully cognizant of the animal overpopulation problem, the plight of financially disadvantaged pet owners, and the professional obligation to give back to the community. This externship helps the veterinary students gain a better understanding of the growing veterinary not-for-profit sector and how not-for-profit hospitals, such as the Idaho Humane Society Veterinary Medical Center, contribute to the communities they serve by providing quality care to pet owners with financial need, assisting other rescue organizations, and caring for shelter animals that have no owners to depend on.
accomodations A studio apartment with a minimalist but sufficient kitchenette is available for student use on this scenic property. Students are also encouraged to participate in bird center operations as our veterinary hospital provides the primary veterinary support for AIDA. At this time, we cannot accommodate student pets at our facility; if students elect to bring personal pets with them they must make their own housing arrangements.
contact name Jeff Rosenthal, DVM
contact email Jrosenthal@idahohumanesociety.org
contact phone 208-342-3515
   
 

Nebraska Humane Society
location Omaha, Nebraska
externship NHS is an open admission, private, non-profit shelter with an animal control contract for the entire Omaha metropolitan area. Our yearly intake is approximately 30,000 total animals. The medical/surgical staff consists of 3 full-time staff veterinarians and 8 full-time licensed veterinary technicians. Our shelter veterinarians are responsible for population animal health; individual animal health; spay/neuter surgeries for shelter animals and feral cats; non-elective surgeries and dentals for shelter animals; medical examinations, reports, and testimony for animal cruelty cases; and educating staff, volunteers, adopters, students, etc. regarding shelter medical issues. NHS has had a veterinary student extern program for several years but the program has been reorganized to provide a more extensive shelter medicine experience. Externs are scheduled Monday through Friday but are welcome to participate on Saturdays, as well. Students will begin each day by helping the technicians with treatment rounds. They will then perform their own spay/neuter surgeries under the supervision of the shelter veterinarians until the surgery list is completed for the day. After a lunch break, students will then spend their afternoons rotating throughout different areas of the shelter (medical rounds, behavior, intake, animal control, etc). We can accommodate 1 student extern at a time. Our extern program is designed for 4th-year veterinary students but we will consider underclassmen that are exceptional students and have a strong interest in shelter medicine. Only 4th-year students will be permitted to perform surgery. Students need to apply directly to NHS to be accepted into our externship program. To apply, please submit a completed application form, resume or curriculum vitae, and a letter of intent. Please contact us (email preferred) if you have any questions or to obtain an application form.
accomodations We do have dorm-style housing onsite that is currently available for $100 per week.
contact name Kiley Schawang, LVT
contact email kschawang@nehumanesociety.org
contact phone (402) 444-7800, ext. 279
   
 

Prorgressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
location Lynnwood, WA
externship We offer a 2 week externship for senior veterinary students. We have been offering the externship to students since 1999 and take between 6-9 students a year. Students gain experience with surgery, primarily spay/neuter, shelter medicine and behavior. Our shelter is a limited admission facility with an intake of about 4000 animals/year. We have stray contracts with a few areas and will accept healthy, adoptable owner surrendered animals on a space available basis.
contact name Dr. Liz Helmer
contact email LizH@paws.org
contact phone 425-787-2500 x262
   
 

Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center
location Tallahassee, Florida
externship Tallahassee-Leon Community Animal Service Center is a regional animal shelter owned by the City of Tallahassee, Florida, but serves the surrounding community. Our facility is an open-admission facility and took in over 10,000 animals in 2006. The veterinary team (one full-time veterinarian and two full-time veterinary technicians) deals with the issues of overpopulation, stray and abandoned animals, population medicine (over 400 animals on site daily), and animal neglect on a daily basis. The veterinary team was hired last year and was tasked with creating an in-house surgery program. After nearly a year of construction and planning our surgery suite opened last February. Now that our surgery program is up and running we are eager to assist the next generation of veterinarians with their education and training. As such, the Animal Service Center has started a veterinary student externship program at our facility. The primary purpose of the externship is to expose veterinary students to the many aspects of shelter medicine. Major objectives are to acquaint veterinary students with: · Disease prevention and control principals for animal shelter populations · The interaction of public policy and domestic animal health · High volume spay/neuter practices
contact name Rachel C. Reeves, DVM
contact email reevesr@talgov.com
contact phone 850.891.2980
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