This veterinary externship experience is specifically designed for students with an interest in animal welfare and how it applies to a large public aquarium setting. The student will work alongside our Animal Health Department with the core goal of evaluating the challenges and opportunities in assessing and maintaining the welfare of a wide range of exotic species including bony fish, sharks, bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians, sloths, and marine mammals.

The student will be exposed to discussions and evaluations of the environmental, economic, and ethical trade-offs involved in caring for a wide variety of animals. Additionally the student will have the opportunity to observe preventive and clinical medicine of the aquarium collection, and hands-on opportunities will be provided whenever possible depending on the experience of the student and the comfort level of the staff. In order for the student to successfully complete this externship, they will collect data for a retrospective review and present a presentation to the husbandry staff regarding an animal welfare issue. Due to the wide range of species and welfare topics pertaining to these species, the specific activities and issues the extern will be involved in will depend on the priorities of the Aquarium at the time and the specific area of interest or area of expertise of the student.

Applicants for this externship program must be a student in good standing enrolled in an AVMA- accredited school of veterinary medicine and must have completed the first two years of basic courses. Externs will be selected on the basis of interest in the field, quality of their course work in veterinary school, and strength of recommendations. Each student will be assigned a 2-4 week time block. Applications will be accepted on a rolling admission basis.