Offsite Electives

We strive to provide a positive working enviroment hoping the individuals on externships will become better diagnosticians , more knowledgeable surgeons, and have better communication skills to outline their treatment plans. I hope by providing a positive experience working at a veterinary hospital that once they become veterinarians they will reciprocate the gesture  to future veterinary students and veterinarians. You may contact a fellow OSU alumni regarding her experience with us, Adriana Garcia, Ph#956-579-9018 @ email adriana.martinez-pena@vca.com

We welcome 3rd and 4th year veterinary students to our progressive mixed animal practice in Hobbs, New Mexico.  Externships are available year-round.  Our practice is 90% small animals (mainly canine, feline, and some hand pets), and 10% large animals (equine and bovine). 

Student will have a hands-on experience, working alongside two staff veterinarians. Double J Animal Hospital offers more services than your regular general practice.  We have an in-house laboratory and pharmacy, digital radiographs, digital ultrasound, and a start of the art surgical suite and anesthesia monitoring equipment.  Specialty Orthopedic procedures offered are Arthrex Tightrope System, Interlocking Nail fracture repair system, Luxating Patellar repair, and a plate system. 

While at the Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle students will join case transfer rounds each morning as well as didactic house officer rounds on Tuesday mornings and grand rounds on Wednesday mornings.

On elective students will be scheduled to work with a single service each week of his or her rotation.  Specific duties will vary per service and at the discretion of the overseeing doctor.  Examples of common externship responsibilities: 1) Students will be asked to SOAP in-house patients and provide their assessments of patient condition and recommendations for further diagnostics or treatments and review these with the clinician of record. 2) Students will scrub in an assist in surgical procedures. 3) Students will examine new patients, discuss the case and then accompany senior doctors into the examination rooms to speak with clients. 4) Students will be asked to interpret blood work and imaging data reported during a patient's stay in the hospital and provide a modified assessment of the case and plan moving forward.

The primary purpose of our proposed program is to provide a realistic learning experience for 4th year veterinary students.  The program is set up to run in 2 – 4 week blocks.  We currently operate four veterinary hospitals throughout the Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky region that offer small animal, mixed animal, large animal, and emergency services.  With the upcoming expansion of our main facility to a new 17,000 sq ft building, we are actively recruiting new and experienced veterinarians to join our team; and welcome to opportunity to provide mentorship or employment.  Furthermore, we are actively seeking mixed or large animal veterinarians to work at our satellite locations. Externs are encouraged to work primarily at the main location at Pet Wellness Center; however, if there is interest in large animal medicine, a rotation will be performed at our mixed animal facilities as well to obtain a well-rounded externship experience.

Student will be exposed to all facets of day-to-day small animal general practice.  She will be with either myself or any of the other 3 full time DVM's while we navigate days of surgery (soft tissue, dentistry, etc.), medicine, etc.

We are a two clinic mixed animal practice, with the majority of our work at both practices being with dairy cattle.  We do have some beef, swine, and small ruminant work, and occasional equine work as well.  Our other does small animal medicine where they predominantly see dogs and cats with the occasional exotic pet.

The majority of our work with bovine entails reproduction utilizing ultrasound, surgery, medicine, calf and young stock health, and consultation on vaccinations and protocols.

Students will be fully immersed in daily duties in a small animal general practice setting. Students will be expected to engage with veterinarians in clinical decision making, participate and assist in surgical procedures, help with in house treatments, and learn and utilize the medical documentation system. Students will be expected to gain as much hands- on experience as they can over the two weeks with guidance and supervision of the veterinarian. Opportunities to assist and perform spays, neuters and other elective procedures will be present. 

Our hospital is a busy six doctor AAHA Accredited practice in Northern Kentucky. We see a wide array of animals on a daily basis including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds, reptiles and occasionally an exotic animal from the Ark. We have a diverse group of doctors that all participate in general practice as well as their own specialties including exotics, behavior modifications, nutrition, reproduction, dentistry, surgery and orthopedics. We have in house lab equipment, radiology, ultrasonography and therapeutic laser therapy. We are a surgery center that performs surgeries including spay/neuter, tumor removal, dentistry (root canals, cleaning and tooth removal), exploratory, hemilaminectomies and more. We perform surgeries Monday-Friday in the mornings and see sick and well appointments all day Monday-Saturday. We usually have 2 - 3 doctors with appointments and 1 surgeon each day. 

Clinical Experience.  Not limited to but including surgery, dental, radiographs, bloodwork.  Canine and Feline vaccinations, testing when necessary.  Will have the opportunity to assist and/or view the doctors depending upon situation with general care and/or emergency.

This veterinary externship experience is specifically designed for students with an interest in animal welfare and how it applies to a large public aquarium setting. The student will work alongside our Animal Health Department with the core goal of evaluating the challenges and opportunities in assessing and maintaining the welfare of a wide range of exotic species including bony fish, sharks, bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians, sloths, and marine mammals.

The student will be exposed to discussions and evaluations of the environmental, economic, and ethical trade-offs involved in caring for a wide variety of animals. Additionally the student will have the opportunity to observe preventive and clinical medicine of the aquarium collection, and hands-on opportunities will be provided whenever possible depending on the experience of the student and the comfort level of the staff. In order for the student to successfully complete this externship, they will collect data for a retrospective review and present a presentation to the husbandry staff regarding an animal welfare issue. Due to the wide range of species and welfare topics pertaining to these species, the specific activities and issues the extern will be involved in will depend on the priorities of the Aquarium at the time and the specific area of interest or area of expertise of the student.

Applicants for this externship program must be a student in good standing enrolled in an AVMA- accredited school of veterinary medicine and must have completed the first two years of basic courses. Externs will be selected on the basis of interest in the field, quality of their course work in veterinary school, and strength of recommendations. Each student will be assigned a 2-4 week time block. Applications will be accepted on a rolling admission basis.