Offsite Electives

We offer students the chance to follow and get hands on experience with a clinician throughout all aspects of their day. Experiences would include large and small diagnostics, surgery/dentals, and medicine. Large animal will primarily consits of horses, beef cattle, pigs, alpacas, llamas and other small rominents. 

Mixed animal medicine and surgery consisting of small animal diagnosis, treatment, surgery and large animal diagnosis, treatment, surgery.  Large animal will also consist of reproductive work, primarily pregnancy diagnosis and open cow management.  Also, livestock market work will be included for beef cows and feeder cattle.

Students will shadow clinicians in all aspects of their day with hands on experience at the discretion of the attending clinican. Experiences include participation in daily appointments and client communications, treatments and procedures, case discussions and treatment decisions. 

Big Creek Veterinary Hosptial is a progressive, exclusively small animal practice in Northeast Ohio. Big Creek provides experiences in all aspects of small animal medicine, from soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries and dental health medicine to internal medicine and ophthomolgy services. We currently have 7 veterinarians on staff and will soon be expanding our clinic further. 

Description of Elective Experience: 

An interactive student externship offering unique experience in a corporate practice setting.  The student should gain experience with decision-making, diagnostics, physical exams, hands-on and technical skills.

Small animal primary care facility for dogs, cats, mammalian exotics, and non-mammalian exotics such as reptiles, amphibians, and birds.

Student will assit doctor with patient appointments, elective and non elective surgeries, perform routine dentals, blood collection, IV catheter placement, radiographs, etc.

Externs are assigned to a clinician on a rotating basis every day, and are expected to participate in hospital treatments, clinic appointments, mobile appointments, night checks, and emergencies.  All of the Reata clinicians will quiz the students, and guide them through basic hands on skills.

Data analysis and field data collection in different US and international locations.  Each student will enter the rotation with a planned research project that includes analysis of data, computer modeling of infectious diseases, machine learning, and/ or data collection in a particular cultural setting.  Activities will be designed to complete the project and the student will have regular meetings with the PIs and advanced graduate students in the laboratory to complete the project.  There may also be aspects of bench research and research team training/ management depending on the project.  An oral and written project report will be completed at the end of the rotation as summative evaluation of the experience.  

2 week externship working at an avian and exotic center. Learning to properly restrain, triage, and treat various species in hopes of expanding veterinary knowledge.