AbbVie is a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. We generally provide two veterinary exterships per calendar year that are meant specifically for 4th year veterinary students with an interest in pathology and/or laboratory animal medicine. Our goal is to expose the students to these specialties within a pharmaceutical company setting. The students generally spend the first three weeks in the pathology section where they interact with anatomic and clinical pathologist involved in both drug safety evaluation and investigative toxicologic pathology. They also meet scientists in other areas within Preclinical Safety (PCS), such as toxicologists, to learn about the variety of roles within the department. The students participate in meetings and discussions regarding drug discovery and drug development, and are also exposed to some histopathologic evaluation of tissues from laboratory animal species. In the comparative medicine section, the students work with laboratory animal veterinarians and veterinary technicians in their daily duties. The students generally select a topic or project to research that they then present to both departments at the end of their externships.
The students are hosted by the Pathology Department and Comparative Medicine within PCS. There are approximately 13 anatomic and clinical pathologists and 8 laboratory animal veterinarians on site within PCS and most interact with the students during their externships.
The students are expected to be at AbbVie for approximately 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday (with most externships being 6 weeks in duration). Occasionally special opportunities arise locally that the students are encouraged to attend. The students' responsibilities in pathology include interacting with anatomic and clinical pathologists on a daily basis. They are expected to be engaged and participate in departmental activities as appropriate. The student will be assigned to examine histopathology slides as well as review written data and reports. In Comparative Medicine, the students receive training on common laboratory animal techniques, including husbandry and housing standards for a variety of species. The students work alongside staff veterinarians and veterinary technicians and are able to provide support, such as performing physical examinations of different laboratory animal species.
AbbVie provides housing for veterinary externs at a local extended stay hotel for the duration of their 6 week externship.