Wildlife Center of Virginia, VA

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.

Our state-of-the-art wildlife hospital contains a diagnostic lab; examination room; digital radiology suite; full surgery suite complete with endoscopy, fluoroscopy, and advanced surgical equipment; and indoor and outdoor housing facilities for the 2500+ native wildlife patients we admit each year. The majority of the animals admitted to the Wildlife Center are injured through human activity, and the veterinary department emphasizes measures to prevent human-related causes of morbidity and mortality. Students are supervised by three staff veterinarians, two technicians, and three wildlife rehabilitation staff during their stay.

Externs are selected on a first-come, first-serve basis and available positions often fill up six to 12 months in advance. Please note that pre-exposure rabies vaccination is required in order to be accepted for an externship.

Interested students should apply to vetexternship@wildlifecenter.org. Please include a résumé, a letter explaining career goals, and a completed WCV Externship Application Form. Following receipt of your application, we will confirm availability and proposed dates for the externship. Final confirmation will occur after we receive a $75 deposit to hold the externship dates. When accepted into the program, students will be sent a Veterinary Externship manual in Wildlife and Conservation Medicine.

If requested, the Center will provide shared, off-site, housing for a nominal cost ($75/week) and a student vehicle is available for travel to and from the Center if required. Food and personal expenses are not included. Unfortunately, pets are not allowed. 

PO Box 1557
Waynesboro, VA 22980
United States