Offsite Electives

River Valley is a busy general private practice that has vast opportunity for a variety of experience for students or new graduates alike. Our cases range from routine preventative care and vaccines to in depth medicine cases with hospitalization. We offer a wide variety of soft tissue surgeries and general practice dental procedures. Our support staff is experienced and extremely capable. We also handle emergencies during business hours. 

The Jefferson County Humane Society Clinic is a high volume low cost clinic that not only does public appointments and surgeries but also cares for all the animals at our shelter as well as works with the humane operations doing exams and work ups. 

We are Veterinary Emergency Group, 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.

Students with be paired with a clinician on various specialty services based on their interests, and have the opportunity to observe the daily operations of a busy referral hospital including doctor rounds, appointments, advanced imaging and other diagnostics, management of complicated cases, and a variety of procedures and surgeries. 

Extensive Lameness work in the TB racehorse and elective surgical procedures 

Veterinary Student Elective Description: Ensuring Livestock Health and Movement Compliance at Youth Livestock Exposition and Erie County Fair

Overview: Veterinary Student Elective is focused on regulatory medicine and livestock health management at the Youth Livestock Exposition and Erie County Fair in New York. This two-week program offers hands-on experience in ensuring the health and welfare of over 3000 animals participating in the event. As a key member of our team,  the student will gain practical insights into animal movement regulations, disease control measures, and the administration of the New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program (NYSCHAP).

Objectives:

1. Understand the regulatory framework governing intrastate and interstate movement of livestock in New York.
2. Learn to conduct health inspections, enforce biosecurity protocols, and ensure compliance with animal health regulations at large-scale events.
3. Gain practical experience in disease surveillance, outbreak response, and emergency management in livestock populations.
4. Acquire knowledge and skills related to the implementation and coordination of the NYSCHAP.
5. Develop communication and teamwork abilities by collaborating with veterinarians, exhibitors, event organizers, and other stakeholders.

Activities:

• Orientation: Introduction to the event, its scope, and your role as a veterinary student intern.
• Regulatory Overview: Comprehensive review of intrastate and interstate animal movement regulations in New York.
• Biosecurity Training: Hands-on sessions on biosecurity measures, disease prevention strategies, and emergency protocols.
• Facility Familiarization: Tour of the exposition grounds and Erie County Fair facilities to understand layout and logistical aspects.
• Collaborative Planning: Meetings with event organizers, exhibitors, and other veterinary professionals to discuss health management strategies and contingency plans.

• Livestock Health Monitoring: Conducting daily health checks, observing animal behavior, and identifying signs of illness or distress.
• Regulatory Compliance: Assisting in the verification of animal health certificates, vaccination records, and identification tags for intrastate and interstate movement.
• Disease Surveillance: Participating in surveillance activities, conducting physical exams on animals entering the grounds, as well as educating the public on biosecurity
• Emergency Response: Responding to health emergencies, coordinating with veterinary teams, and implementing containment measures in case of disease outbreaks.
• NYSCHAP Coordination: Shadowing the coordinator in administering the program, conducting herd health assessments, and providing support to participating producers.

Outcome: By the end of this elective, the student will have gained valuable experience in regulatory veterinary medicine, livestock health management, and emergency response strategies. They will also have gained a thorough understanding of the New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program and its role in promoting animal health and biosecurity. This immersive learning opportunity will prepare the student for a career in veterinary public health, regulatory medicine, or large-animal practice with a focus on livestock management and disease control.

We generally see a mixture of wellness/herd evaluations/annual VCPR visits and medical concerns daily for an average of about 4-5 farm visits per day serving anywhere from 10-35 patients per day. During the fall our practice does a fair amount of reproductive management, including genetic/breed planning, estrus synchronization protocols, artificial insemination, and early gestation management (ultrasound monitoring for pregnancy confirmation, estimated fetal numbers and nutrition planning)

Our student interns are paired with a DVM each shift they are in the hospital. They are able to observe and have their hands on the day to day tasks in the hospital. Students are able to shadow in appointments, surgery, dentistry and treatment. 

We are a full service small animal veterinary clinic. 

We are in the middle of breeding season. So we will be palpating, breeding, flushing, etc.