Do you care where the veterinary profession is going?  Do you read about the effects of changing laws, health insurance reforms and pharmaceuticals on human medicine and how they impact veterinary medicine?  Do you plan to own your veterinary practice and navigate the world of human resources on your own?  Do you plan to work in a veterinary practice?  Do you want to gain concrete experience in what makes a successful veterinary practice?  If so, we invite you to apply for an externship with Veterinary Business Advisors, Inc.

            The externship is a 3-4-week hands-on opportunity for 3rd and 4th year veterinary students to work with Dr. Charlotte Lacroix on issues affecting veterinary medicine, including analysis of emerging business and legal issues, employer/employee contract negotiations, the buying and selling of veterinary practices, and the relationship between practice owners.  Whether you are considering attending law or business school in the future, hope to learn more about running a successful practice or simply want to learn more about the challenges confronting the veterinary profession, your externship will broaden your view of veterinary medicine, the business, commercial, legal and ethical concerns it must address, and teach you about the practical “business” of being a veterinarian.

During your externship, you will participate in conferences with clients and learn first-hand the concerns faced by practice owners and their employees. You will analyze employment agreements and learn what makes a fair deal as well as what you, as a prospective employer or employee, will want to consider in your own contracts. Listening to clients and assisting with the drafting of new agreements, settlements, and legal communications, will offer you practical insight into how contract failures and disputes occur and how to resolve them. You may participate in practice purchase and sale negotiations, learning how practice sales are financed and conducted--it’s a lot more than just signing on a dotted line--and how to structure relationships among owners in practice buy-ins. You will gain valuable concrete experience as to what makes a successful veterinary practice and how to improve it, whether by increasing earnings, revamping compensation and/or profits, improving employee’ morale, leveraging staff, or achieving a higher quality of medicine. You will research emerging legal and ethical issues, evaluate how they may impact veterinarians and how you can influence the future of veterinary medicine.

Besides working closely with Dr. Lacroix, you will research and write about a topic that interests you (recent projects have included:  preparing for natural disaster, vaccine liability, electronic medical records, business ethics and profit-making, the emergence of holistic veterinary medicine, competing with internet pharmacies and pet guardianship vs. pet ownership).  Depending on the length of your externship, you may write an article suitable for publication in a veterinary journal and develop a Power Point presentation.

As a point of interest and since we are so close to New York City, many of our externs have enjoyed occasional weekends exploring the sites. 

Veterinary Business Advisors, Inc. is committed to teaching and strives to involve students and promote their participation in an interesting, diverse, and eye-opening practical learning opportunity.  In addition to receiving unique exposure to the business and legal aspects of the veterinary profession, you will be provided with free room, board and parking and depending on your school, you may also receive credits for the externship.

            Should you wish to apply for a position within our externship, please complete the application which can be found online by visiting the “About Us” page on our website at www.veterinarybusinessadvisors.com.