At Pet Community Center, we believe every pet deserves access to high-quality, affordable veterinary care, and we work hard to make that possible for all pets in our community. Pet Community Center is a non-profit veterinary clinic and is dedicated to strengthening the human-animal bond through accessible veterinary care and support services. Pet Community Center provides low-cost, high-quality care and offers spay/neuter surgery, in-clinic wellness services, and community outreach services. We are considered a HQHVSN (high-quality, high-volume, spay/neuter) Clinic as a member of the ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance and partner closely with Nashville’s Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC). PCC also participates in the Pet’s for Life Program founded by the Humane Society of the United States, and we operate an independent Community Cat (Trap, Neuter Return) Program.
The student will experience our wellness clinic which consists of physical exams, vaccinations, heartworm testing, FeLV/FIV testing, microchips, and dispensing parasite preventatives. The student will also observe surgery rechecks, heartworm treatment with melarsomine, and occasional sick visits (we do not see public animals for sick/injured visits, however we will assess Pets For Life pets and community cats for illness/injury).
The student will also experience our surgery clinic while at PCC. This will include preoperative examinations of all surgery patients, premedication/induction/intubation of surgery patients, IV catheter placement, and mentorship on HQHVSN surgery techniques. The student will be allowed to perform surgery under the supervision of the Medical Director. The student will become familiar with our TNR/community cat program as they are a large portion of our surgery patients.
We strive to educate our students on the importance of HQHVSN programs. We hope they leave with an understanding that our work decreases animal overpopulation, improves the quality of life of both our patients and their families, and increases access to care for underserved populations.
Staffing:
Managers: 6 staff members(CEO, Director of Clinic Operations, Director of Development (fundraising), Medical Director, Human Resources, Director of the Community Cat Program)
Veterinarians: 3 full-time vets
CSAs: 3 staff members
Techs/Assistants: 6 staff members
Programs: Community Cat Program (2 staff members), Development (3 staff members), Pets for Life Program (1 staff member), Food Security Program (1 staff member)
Education resources: We are a member of the ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance and have access to all of their amazing resources. They have also recently released a learning center called "ASNA Learn" that will use for continuing education. The student is allowed to access this information as well. Each team member here is also open to mentoring on any of their jobs or programs if the student is interested, and we will always be open to the student reaching out to us with any questions even after they leave our clinic. Because we are a high-volume, non-profit clinic, our resources are very limited, therefore we do not have any diagnostic equipment here. There will strictly be focus on wellness and spay/neuter surgery services.
Schedule: PCC is open Monday-Thursday from 7:30am-5:00pm.
Our wellness clinic runs Monday-Thursday from 8:30am-3:00pm.
Our surgery clinic starts with checking in animals at 7:30am, starting surgery by 9:00am, and usually ending the day between 3:00-3:30pm.
One week of the student's externship will be spent in the wellness clinic, and the other week will be spent in the surgery clinic. The student will be expected to come in each day (Monday through Thursday) between 7:45-8:00am and will work until 5:00pm. They should wear scrubs, comfortable shoes, bring a stethoscope, and bring lunch/snacks. During their week of surgery, they will be paired with the Medical Director. She will provide mentorship and support throughout the entire externship. During their week of wellness, they will work with all 3 veterinarians who will provide mentorship and support. We are all willing to help the student in any way possible and are all open to teaching and mentoring.
At this time, student housing is not available. However, we are working hard to get a housing option in place over the next several months. We may potentially have housing available by mid-2025.
5233 Harding Place
Suite 5247
Nashville, TN 37217
United States