Offsite Electives

Students are immersed in shelter and community medicine.  There are limited surgical and dental opportunities, those are limited to students that come with strong surgical training.

Students work with Head of Veterinary Services and APL Surgeons.  They work on herd health issues and individual care.  An outpatient community service exists and the student may spend time in the outpatient clinic with a DVM.

The Wildlife Center’s veterinary externship program is designed to provide students with practical experience in many aspects of wild animal handling, medical management, and husbandry.

Throughout the three-to-twelve week externship, externs will receive instruction and hands-on experience in anatomy, physical restraint, anesthesia, radiography, laboratory analysis, emergency triage, therapeutics, nutrition, wound management, surgery, and necropsy procedures. This externship emphasizes hands-on experience mentored by qualified wildlife veterinarians. This is a challenging program and we expect hard work and dedication from our students. In return, the Center promises to introduce externs to many aspects of clinical wildlife and conservation medicine in a friendly and professional teaching environment.

The veterinary extern must be a fourth/fifth year student registered in a veterinary medicine degree program and is expected to achieve the following goals:

• Be able to identify the common wildlife species of Virginia and have some understanding of their natural history.
• Know the techniques used to restrain wild animals, and perform physical restraint of wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• Perform physical examinations, basic clinical techniques (such as venipuncture), and treatment of wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• Be able to perform and interpret basic diagnostic procedures such as hematology and radiography of reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• Perform both inhalation and, if appropriate, injectable anesthesia on wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• Perform surgical procedures such as wound repair on appropriate cases.
• Know the humane methods of euthanasia used in wildlife species.
• Perform gross necropsies on wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• Have a basic knowledge of the important diseases of North American wildlife, especially wildlife zoonoses.
• Understand the medical and ethical issues regarding the treatment, rehabilitation, and conservation of wildlife.
• Understand the concept of conservation medicine, and the role the Wildlife Center can play in wildlife disease monitoring, ecosystem health, conservation, and public education.
• Develop communication skills by presenting a seminar on a case report or topic of interest to the staff of the Wildlife Center.

To spend a couple of weeks interning here at Natomas Veterinary Hospital would give the participant an opportunity to see what it is like to work in a small animal veterinary hospital, including some of the background duties and challenges a practice owner has to deal with regarding clients, employees, and some economics of running a practice. Also the student would also gain appreciation of the practical experience of working up and treating typical small animal patients, and a few exotics, in the "real world" where we can still offer the ideal care but may be constrained financially and how a small animal hospital veterinarian would approach these cases on a day to day basis.

Ethos is a group of specialty referral and emergency care practices, with locations in New England, Denver, San Diego and Chicago.  We welcome student externs.  Externs will actively participate in daily hospital rounds and case discussions. We want to hear your thoughts and questions about cases, and appreciate the perspective you will bring. You will also have opportunities to observe outpatient receiving, emergency case management, hospital treatments, surgery, diagnostic procedures and client communications.  Because the program is intended to be observational rather than hands-on, you will not be doing surgery on your own, receiving patients or having primary responsibility for treatments. 

Below is a description of specialties and location:

1. Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital
   • Services offered include anesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, emergency, critical care, internal medicine, neurology, oncology (medical and surgical), ophthalmology, surgery, physical rehabilitation and sports medicine.
   • Please see the link for criteria for applying and links to applications. http://wheatridgeanimal.com/vets/ed_opps.html
2. Veterinary Specialty Hospital (2 locations, to be described together, Sorrento Valley and North County)
   • Services offered include anesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, neurology, oncology (medical and radiation), ophthalmology, surgery. All services are available in both locations except radiation oncology, which is in Sorrento Valley. Some services, such as anesthesia, diagnostic imaging and ophthalmology, may not be available for externships.
   • Externs are taken on a first come, first served basis. Please email Ann Ong at aong@ethosvet.com. Please contact jorvalho@ucdavis.edu to schedule a visit with cardiology.
3. Premier (4 locations in Chicago: Kane County, Grayslake, Belmont and Crestwood)
   • Services offered include cardiology, emergency, internal medicine, neurology, oncology and surgery, depending on the location.
   • Please email Dr Amanda Full at afull@ethosvet.com to schedule a visit.
4. IVG Hospitals  (4 locations in New England: MassVet, Bulger, Port City and MetroWest)
   • Services offered include anesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, emergency, critical care, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, surgery, and physical rehabilitation.
   • Externs are taken on a first come, first served basis.Please email Jana Gabarro at jgabarro@ethosvet.com.