The externship is a 3 week hands-on opportunity for 3rd and 4th year veterinary students to work with Dr. Charlotte Lacroix on issues affecting veterinary medicine, including analysis of emerging business and legal issues, employer/employee contract negotiations, the buying and selling of veterinary practices, and the relationship between practice owners. Whether you are considering attending law or business school in the future, hope to learn more about running a successful practice or simply want to learn more about the challenges confronting the veterinary profession, your externship will broaden your view of veterinary medicine, the business, commercial, legal and ethical concerns it must address, and teach you about the practical “business” of being a veterinarian.
Veterinary Business Advisors has two attorneys, a Human Resource Specialist, Office Manager, Business Manager, and two administrative assistants that work to ensure Veterinarians and students are professionally informed about the details of business transactions necessary to yield a successful practice and career.
During your externship, you will participate in conferences with clients and learn first-hand the concerns faced by practice owners and their employees. You will analyze employment agreements and learn what makes a fair deal as well as what you, as a prospective employer or employee, will want to consider in your own contracts. Listening to clients and assisting with the drafting of new agreements, settlements, and legal communications, will offer you practical insight into how contract failures and disputes occur and how to resolve them. You may participate in practice purchase and sale negotiations, learning how practice sales are financed and conducted--it’s a lot more than just signing on a dotted line--and how to structure relationships among owners in practice buy-ins. You will gain valuable concrete experience as to what makes a successful veterinary practice and how to improve it, whether by increasing earnings, revamping compensation and/or profits, improving employee’ morale, leveraging staff, or achieving a higher quality of medicine. You will research emerging legal and ethical issues, evaluate how they may impact veterinarians and how you can influence the future of veterinary medicine. Besides working closely with Dr. Lacroix, you will research and write about a topic that interests you (recent projects have included: preparing for natural disaster, vaccine liability, electronic medical records, business ethics and profit-making, the emergence of holistic veterinary medicine, competing with internet pharmacies and pet guardianship vs. pet ownership). Depending on the length of your externship, you may write an article suitable for publication in a veterinary journal and develop a Power Point presentation.
The office is located in a historic Victorian Home in the central heart of Whitehouse Station, NJ. Housing is provided within the home in a private studio style living arrangement with a small sitting area. In addison there is a kitchen available for use. There is a grocery, pharmacy, Starbucks and other stores within walking distance. As a point of interest and since we are so close to New York City, many of our externs have enjoyed occasional weekends exploring the sites, utilizing the train which is very close to the office.