NEEMSC is housed in a 34,000 square-foot facility that includes two full surgical suites, a medical exam room (ophthalmology, cardiology, ultrasonography, and endoscopy), a neonatal intensive care unit, digital radiography suite, full service laboratory, a large general exam and main treatment room, medicine barn with stall space for 8 inpatients and ICU care, surgery and lameness barns with stall space for 18 horses, a lameness evaluation area on hard footing as well as a covered lameness evaluation area on soft footing, and a 4-stall isolation unit. A new and separate imaging center houses nuclear scintigraphy, CT, and MRI for cases requiring advanced imaging techniques for comprehensive lameness and neurologic evaluations.
Our externship program is structured to be an invaluable learning experience for undergraduate, technician and veterinary students. We make every effort to expose students to various aspects of equine veterinary medicine while allowing as many “hands on” opportunities as possible.
Our current staff includes 2 surgeons, 2 ambulatory DVMs, 3 interns per year, 4 full time technicians and barn / office support staff.
We have treatment rounds on our inpatients twice daily and encourage students to be involved and ask questions about our treatment plans. Students are able to observe all of our appointments and listen to discussions between DVMs & clients.
Responsibilities/Daily schedule: Basic responsibilities of an extern consist of administration of oral, intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous medications, drawing routine blood work, reading packed cell volumes and total solids, intensive care monitoring, fluid administration, supportive care, clipping and sterile preparation of patients and basic restraint for clinical procedures.
Morning and afternoon treatments consist of intensive care evaluations and medication administration. Externs are scheduled for after hours treatments on an as needed basis. Midnight treatments consist of feeding, watering, medication administration and assisting the intern or technician with any necessary procedures. The extern scheduled for midnight and/or after hours patient monitoring is expected to be available to assist the intern with emergency admissions, intensive case management and emergency surgery when necessary after regular business hours.
Additional checks may be scheduled depending on a patient’s status. Of course, externs are certainly welcome to assist during any treatment times for which they have not been scheduled. During the weekend, externs are scheduled to assist the clinical staff with treatments and medical case management. Efforts are made to allow each extern time off during the weekends, scheduling and caseload permitting.
Daily scheduling for an extern is designed to provide varied clinical exposure and participation in hospital case management, outpatient case assistance, and surgery assistance. Externs are able to shadow the cases they are interested in and get an exposure to many different types of cases.
Externs have an apartment directly above the clinic, adjacent to our intern apartment. There is 1 bedroom with 3 twin beds, an additional room with one bed, full kitchen (everything except oven) and private bathroom. Public transit is very easily accessible and externs are often able to catch rides with our staff to get groceries, etc.