Offsite Electives

Student will complete a clinical elective at our small animal practice, working with veterinarians and staff to gain advanced experience in companion animal medicine. She will participate in patient evaluation, case discussions, and development of diagnostic and treatment plans under supervision.

She will be exposed to a variety of medical and surgical cases and will have opportunities to assist with examinations, procedures, and client communication. This experience is intended to support their transition into clinical practice.

We are VEG ER for Pets, an organization founded on a single mission: helping people and their pets when they need it most. VEG's rapidly growing group of hospitals has revolutionized pet emergency and urgent care with a client-centered approach, rapid response times, and a highly focused-emergency-only staff. With multiple locations, we offer the flexibility, mentorship, and diverse learning experience you want. Our industry-leading compensation, unlimited CE, and growth opportunities are just part of what makes VEG the place for emergency doctors to work.

VEG's Externship Program allows students to gain hands-on experience in emergency medicine while working right alongside our skilled emergency doctors. Students will focus on learning how to effectively communicate with clients, diagnose a variety of emergency conditions, develop emergency treatment plans and collaborate with support staff in a fast-paced environment.

Humane Society that offers surgical experience with spay/neuter, entropion, enucleation, wound care, dentistry and extraction procedures. Also experience with kennel stress and medicinal intervention for behavior. 

The elective externship provides fourth-year veterinary students with an immersive clinical experience in a veterinary dentistry and oral surgery specialty practice. Students will participate in daily case management involving advanced dental and oral surgical procedures in small animals. Under direct supervision of board-certified dentists and experienced clinical staff, students will gain exposure to comprehensive oral examinations, dental radiography, treatment planning, anesthesia and pain management protocols, periodontal therapy, tooth extractions, oral mass management, maxillofacial procedures, and postoperative care.

Students are expected to actively participate in case discussions, patient assessments, surgical observation and assistance, and client communication. Emphasis is placed on development of clinical reasoning, surgical principles, anesthetic monitoring, dentistry techniques, and professional collaboration within a specialty referral setting. The externship is designed to enhance students’ understanding of veterinary dentistry and oral surgery while fostering confidence, technical skills, and professional growth in a high-volume specialty practice environment.

We will be conducting preventative medicine for 60-80 head of horses and mules in the Idaho back country.  Dental exams and floats,  vaccinations as well as lameness exams, radiographs and interarterial joint injections. 

New Hope Veterinary Clinic is a 4-doctor mixed-animal practice, 75% SA, 20% LA, 5% EQ in NW Illinois, two hours west of Chicago, 90 minutes south of Madison, WI. We are a very typical small-town/rural practice. We offer compassionate care for our clients and patients. We perform as much diagnostic work and treatment as possible in-house. We are able to refer orthopedic surgeries and cases in need of higher level care to clinics in Rockford, Madison, WI, and the Chicago suberbs.

Students participating in an elective experience at our veterinary clinic will gain hands-on exposure to small animal medicine in a fast-paced, team oriented environment. The  experience may include observing and assisting with physical exams, diagnostics, surgery preparation, dental procedures, client communication, treatment planning, and patient care. Students will work alongside veterinarians, technicians, and support staff to develop a better understanding of daily clinical operations, medical decision making, client communication, and compassionate patient care. Opportunities for learning are tailored to the student's level of experience and education goals. 

Iowa Select Farms is the 4th largest pork producer in the United States. The student will spend their time with various veterinarians throughout the system, as well as spend time with other support departments to learn what is involved in producing pork. The student will be hands on during farm visits, necropsies, sample submission, understanding vaccination and treatment protocols, participate in decision making, and follow-up on cases. In addition they will have the opportunity to spend time with other support departments as fits their interest, this could include: Health and Care Assurance, Transportation, Nutrition, Nutrient Management, Production, Supply Chain, and others.

The student will work with a veterinarian to get a comprehensive general practice experience. They will see appointments, report lab results, manage prescription refill requests + other miscellaneous tasks, do dental procedures, and do soft tissue surgery. During any downtime, students will be expected to come up with topics they wish to learn more about so the veterinarian can lead related discussions. 

All doctors except one doctor manage a caseload of approximately 50% dogs and 50% cats. One doctor largely sees exotics patients (small mammals, birds, and reptiles). The student may work with this doctor if they wish. 

Extern will see cases under the direct mentorship of our criticalists and experienced emergency clinicians. While the focus of this externship is emergency and critical care, our multi-specialty hospital offers exposure to and collaboration with internal medicine, nephrology/urology (including extracorporeal therapy), surgery, neurology, diagnostic imaging, oncology (medical/surgical/radiation), anesthesia, dentistry, and ophthalmology. Externs will work on developing into confident diagnosticians and strengthen their verbal/written communication skills.