Wildlife veterinary medicine in a research setting. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is the largest wildlife research institution in the US. We have a staff of 150 doing many differenct types of wildlife research. To support this research, we have animal colonies, primarily birds, numbering about 1200 animals. Currently we have 80 endangered whooping cranes, 100 sandhill cranes, 250 American kestrels, 100 screech owls, 110 seaducks of 5 different species, and several hundred quail. Veterinary students will work with the veterinary staff on the day to day medical needs of these animals and participate in any ongoing research projects.
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is the largest wildlife research institution in the Department of Interior. We have colonies of whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, kestrels, screech owls, and various diving duck species. Work is 40 hours weekly, usually weekends off. Work centers around colony animals (medicine, clinical pathology, necropsies, limited surgery) and needs of research staff. Housing is available, but needs to be arranged in advance. No compensation or stipend. April through
November preferred as there is little research and no breeding activity in winter.
We have a full service veterinary hospital with a clinical pathology laboratory. We run all hematology, serum chemistry and parasite analysis in house. We have an I-stat analyzer. We have a fully equipped surgery area with isoflurane anesthesia, laproscopes from miniature 7 mm diameter to large gastroscope for removing foreign bodies from whooping crane gizzards, orthopedic and soft tissue surgery capabilities, radiology, nubulization therapy, etc.
Patuxent has a library facility with one of the largest collections of books and other materials on avian subjects, including a veterinary section. The research facility is housed on a 12,840 acre National Wildlife Refuge with one of the largest visitor centers in the US Department of Interior highlighting wildlife research work done at the
Center.
The hospital staff currently consists of one veterinarian and several technicians. The staff, who in addition to seeing to the daily health needs of the wildlife research animals, conduct their own research programs.
As mentioned above, the institution houses a large library collection of works on various aspects of avian biology or ornithology, including a section of veterinary books and journals. Other journals are available online or through inter-library loan. The National Agriculture Library is 20 minutes away, and the National Library of Medicine about 40 minutes away at the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Olsen has taught veterinary students at Louisiana State University and continues to teach in a class on wildlife diseases at the nearby University of Maryland in College Park. He offers students one-on-one lectures on avian and wildlife disease subjects of interest to the student.
There is a monthly zoonotic disease continuing education meeting and occasional resident rounds at a nearby zoo.
Students are asked to assist with the medical care of patients as their capabilities and skill levels allow and as they are trained to administer medications and treatments. Students will assist in surgery, though our surgical case load is usually not heavy. Students would be encouraged to perform simple surgical procedures such as wound repair, under supervision. Students will have opportunites to perform many avian physical examinations, obtain diagnositc samples such as blood, and to evaluate clinical pathology samples. Students will have the opportunity to perform necropsies. In the spring and early summer this will include evaluating eggs that fail to hatch. We ask students to prepare a short (30 minute) talk on some aspect of avian medicine to share with our veterinary and animal caretaking staff at the end of their time with us. Time and
resources such as Powerpoint are available for this project.
Housing is available, but needs to be arranged in advance. Student housing is provided free of cost. There are two locations for student housing, a set of duplex apartments each consisting of 3 bedrooms with one student per bedroom, a common living room, dining room and kitchen. Veterinary students would share the apartment with 1 or 2 other students working in other areas of wildlife biology. The other alternative is intern quarters (bedroom) at the veterinary hospital with a kitchen and bathroom facilties (including shower) in the building. Housing, especially during the summer months, is tight and planning for housing well in advance is recommended. We usually ask students if they need housing when they sign up for the elective.
No pets are allowed in the housing. No overnight guests are allowed without checking with the person in charge of housing.