We are a very busy mixed animal practice in rural montana. We try to educate and give as much hands on experience of what it is like to be a rural mixed animal practitioner. Spring and Fall is our busy seasons for large animals and the small animal side of the practice is always busy. Students are able to see and be involved in many different types of cases.
Our practice is nestled along two mountain ranges and the Yellowstone River in south central Montana, which offers numerous outdoor recreational activities for students to do on there downtime.
Our practice consists of 4 full time mixed animal veterinarians and 1 part time relief veterinarian. We have 9 other support staff. Practice is equipped with digital radiography, 3 digital ultrasounds, in-house blood and urine analyzers, and digital dental x-ray. We have a hydraulic cattle chute, hydraulic tilt foot trimming chute and equine stocks.
Our business hours are 8-5 Monday thru Friday and Saturday 8-Noon. Hours for the student is usually determined by the school for which they are coming from. We also also are on-call 24 hours a day and provide emergency service for both large and small animals for our community as our closest referral emergency center is over an hour away. We try to provide as much hands on experience as possible and much of that is determined by students desire and ability.
We have had a few different options over the years for students that have done externships with us. We do not have housing on site at our facility. Options that we have done in the past have included: using an owner's RV and utilizing a local bed and breakfast. The RV availability depends on the time of year as it is not available during the winter months. There has been no cost to the student when the RV is used and the clinic has usually helped with a stipend when the bed and breakfast is utilized. Students will need to contact us prior to the start of the externship so housing options can be discussed.