San Diego Humane Society, CA

DVM Student Externship Program

For more information about our externship Program for final-year DVM students or to request an externship reservation, please email externship@sdhumane.org.

San Diego Humane Society’s DVM student externship Program welcomes final-year DVM students interested in shelter medicine for approved school externship or independent study rotations. Official school documentation of rotation approval is required prior to confirming the rotation.

Those interested in an externship opportunity can look forward to:

• Center for Shelter Medicine full-service medical and surgical facility
• Annual intake of approximately 50,000 animals on an open-admission policy, affording students experience with a large variety of medical, surgical, emergency, and behavioral patients
• Team of experienced veterinary staff for mentorship
• Daily high-quality-high-volume (HQHV) spay-neuter surgeries, with hands-on surgical mentoring
• Observation of advanced surgical and dental procedures
• First-hand experience in infectious disease patient and shelter management
• Observation of investigation and management of Humane Law Enforcement investigation cases
• Participation in the 24-hour orphaned kitten nursery (March through November)
• Participation in veterinary didactic and case rounds
• Mentored preparation of case and subject presentation
• Comprehensive overview of shelter medicine in the context of animal shelter management and community support
• Opportunity to shadow other departments: Behavior Center, Project Wildlife, Humane Law Enforcement.

Current duties for DVM student externs from AVMA-accredited veterinary colleges include:

• Primary, mentored surgical and medical case responsibility, including patient examination, assessment, and formulation of a diagnostic and treatment plan
• Medical record keeping, S.O.A.P. format
• Care of hospitalized patients

Evaluation of imaging, laboratory, and other diagnostic findings

•  Spay/neuter surgeries, assistance with orthopedic, dental, or soft tissue surgeries, cystocentesis, venipuncture, benchtop laboratory procedures, placement of IV catheters, assistance with anesthesia, nerve blocks, , post-mortem examinations, ophthalmologic and otic examinations, administration of treatments, pre-surgical examinations, assistance with vaccine clinics, and other procedures, depending on opportunity.
• Participation in case and didactic rounds
• Preparation and presentation of a medical case or shelter medicine topic at the end of each two-week rotation.

Please note, the DVM externship program at San Diego Humane Society extends to DVM students enrolled at any AVMA-accredited veterinary college. Reservations are required for an externship opportunity. Please email externship@sdhumane.org for reservation availability.​

Our Medical department comprises of a large staff of veterinarians (~22), RVTs (~34) and veterinary assistants (~30) over 3 campuses. In addition, other staff in the Medical department includes a Chief Medical Officer, a Director of Veterinary Education, a hospital director for each campus, medical supervisors, and Wellness associates specifically for veterinary outreach and coordination. We also have 3 veterinary interns this year and intend to have 4 interns for 2020-2021.

Externs are scheduled Monday-Friday and are expected to be present around the shelter for the duration of operational hours. Operational hours in the Medical Department at the San Diego campus are 7:30am-6pm every day. DVM rounds are scheduled every day from 7:30-8:30am and biweekly intern rounds are scheduled from 1-2pm on rotating Tuesdays. Students are expected to participate in these rounds throughout the duration of their externship. Students are also expected to give 1 presentation every 2 weeks for the length of their visit. Presentation topics may include an interesting patient case in the shelter and/or a subject of interest related to shelter medicine. For the flow of each day, surgery starts every day around 8:30am and the goal is to conclude all scheduled surgeries by 1pm. Medicine occurs all throughout the day every day. Students will rotate through medicine and surgery during their externship period. Typically, each student is assigned to surgery for at least 2 out of 5 days each week. In surgery, each student will participate in a variety of dog/cat spays/neuters depending on the student's surgical level and proficiency. All medical and surgical cases are mentored directly by a staff DVM.

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San Diego Humane Society
5500 Gaines St
San Diego, CA 92110
United States