Wisconsin Equine Clinic and Hospital has a single goal – to provide the most up-to-date, comprehensive and compassionate treatment for our equine patients. Our Externship program is designed to give you a chance to learn from the diverse group of veterinarians and staff, as well as, for us to learn from your experiences and your education. At WECH, we provide both ambulatory and in hospital services to our clients and act as a referral center. We have a total of 11 veterinarians on staff, which consists of one surgeon, one boarded theriogenologist, 1 boarded internal medicine specialist, 5 ambulatory/hospital veterinarians and 2 Intern veterinarians. The Externship program at WECH will expose you to a wide range of cases and clientele however, being a private clinic and hospital your hands-on experience may be more limited than in academic settings. Please feel free to ask questions whenever they come up. We hope that your time with us is as fun as it is informative and don’t forget you get out of an experience what you put into it.
The students primary responsibilities include assisting the doctors when needed and performing in clinic treatments as directed.
The externs have the opportunity to work in hospital observing surgery and helping with cases, reproduction and MRI, as well as traveling with the field service veterinarians.
Treatments:
All externs are expected to help with morning, evening (6am and 6pm) and weekend treatments. Some overnight treatments may also be required depending on caseload. During foaling season, we have many high-risk mares that come to the clinic to foal out. You will be responsible for foal watch during this time. An orientation will be provided for the foal alert alarm system and the check list of what to do when a mare begins to foal.
You will be required to shadow a tech or intern with treatments until you are acquainted with our protocols for treatments and our patient record system. The hospital intern will need to observe you performing treatments prior to the extern doing treatments on their own.
Student housing is provided for up to two Externs at the hospital. We provide bedding and towels. We do not allow pets at the clinic and are unable to provide housing for animals. You are welcome to keep your food in our employee lounge refrigerator and/ or shelves in lounge. There is a shower/restroom. Grocery stores and restaurants are located in Oconomowoc which is approximately a five to ten minute drive. Parking is provided at the hospital. If you do not have a vehicle we will be happy to take you to the grocery store.