Offsite Electives

Externship at thriving small animal practice in Central Indiana.  Practice is privately owned and consists of three conveniently located clinics.

All three clinics are located along a 20 mile span of Highway 67 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. The clinics share many similarities at the operational level, but serve diverse client bases.   We have learned that each client base requires a different approach in order to establish an effective and trusting veterinarian-client bond.

1. Our Centeron clinic, located on a horse farm, serves a rural and hobby farming clientele.
2. Our Mooresville clinic, located in the town of Mooresville/Camby, serves a suburban clientele.
3. Our Holt Road clinic, located in Indianapolis, serves an inner city & urban population.

Our externship program is designed to accommodate students for a 2, 4, 6 or 8 week block.  Each student will be assigned to one supervising veterinarian, however if the college’s program permits students may be given the opportunity to work with different vets within our practice so they can experience different techniques and approaches to medicine. This will allow them to learn, firsthand, that while each doctor approaches a case differently, the underlying principles learned in veterinary school  are the foundation in the development of successful diagnostic and treatment protocol.

Students will have opportunity to assist in routine and complex cases, by examinig patients and then going over diagnosis and treatment options with their supervising veterinarian.  Due to the relationship we have with the local animal shelter students will be able to perform a number of supervised spays/neuters.  While we do not offer after hours emergency care we can also set up shadowing at the Airport Animal Emergi-Center.

Dairy Cows

Bovine Embryo Transfer - in vivo and in vitro

Student will accompany veterinarians on dairy or beef visits.  Experience will consist of: bovine palpation/pregnancy diagnosis, brucellosis vaccination, DA surgery, records analysis and consulting, employee training, OB assist, BSE exams, embryo transfer, ect. 

The objectives of this rotation are:

1. To educate the senior veterinary student through exposure to the requisite veterinary care for top athletes in 8 sports: dressage, eventing, show jumping, driving, endurance, reining, vaulting and para equestrian. This will be achieved through assisting the veterinarians at the competition as well as presentations to the students covering the physical demands of each sport, review of the most common injuries, overview of the rules of each discipline of competition, biosecurity and triage of athletic injuries.
2. To provide motivated, talented veterinary students to work as assistants to the veterinarians at the competition. The veterinarians will provide mentorship to the students.
3. To gain clinical experience as part of the veterinary hospital team on site that will provide the medical and surgical needs of the horses at the competition.

Depends upon time of year.  Fully equipped mixed animal practice with pregnancy examination, obstetrics, feedlot consultation, sick animal exams, production medicine, small animal wellness, surgery, and internal medicine, equine wellness, surgery and internal medicine, and reproductive services.

The Epidemiology Elective Program (EEP) introduces senior medical and veterinary students to preventive medicine, public health, and applied epidemiology through hands-on experience and mentorship by CDC epidemiologists. This year-round program offers 6 to 8 week assignments, depending on the student’s program of study and elective schedule. Most assignments are based at CDC in Atlanta, GA. More information is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/epielective/

Individual elective experiences vary depending on circumstances, but our goal is to provide students with exposure to the core public health functions of surveillance and outbreak response. Some students are able to participat in Epi-Aid field investigations.

The University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory's Fish Disease Diagnostic Lab offers 4 - 8 week externship opportunities to veterinary students interested in aquatic animal medicine. Veterinary externs assist faculty and staff with all diagnostic lab duties and may assist with aquaculture and non-native species related activities at the laboratory when necessary. Because the Lab is in the heart of the aquarium fish industry, our veterinary externship allows for full engagement with ornamental (aquarium fish) and other aquaculture producers, including assistance with on-farm and laboratory diagnostics, fish health management recommendations, and extension outreach programs. Externs may spend time working one-on-one with farmers, faculty, and staff and gain direct exposure to aquaculture medicine, aquaculture production techniques, non-native species, and regulatory concerns. The importance of water quality, production systems and methodology, biosecurity, and herd health management are emphasized throughout the rotation.

The Diagnostic Lab serves commercial Florida fish producers, wholesalers, and retailers as well as state agencies. Services offered include water chemistry testing, parasitology, bacteriology, histology, and virology.  The laboratory has a full-time veterinary staff and also works collaboratively with other veterinary specialists and laboratories throughout the state and U.S. The Lab sees approximately 250 - 300 cases a year.  Ornamental fish species comprise the largest number of cases, though foodfish, gamefish, and baitfish cases are also seen throughout the year.  Other cases may include aquatic frogs, shrimp (especially ornamental species), and alligators.

Educational opportunities and responsibilities include developing an understanding and basic proficiency in:

• Obtaining a thorough case history
• Testing and interpreting water chemistry
• Fish necropsy and microbiology techniques
• Non-lethal fish examination techniques
• Histological sampling
• Medical case interpretation
• Developing medical and management recommendations
• Client interaction both in the diagnostic lab and on farm and facility site visits
• Common aquaculture fish health management methods and chemotherapeutics
• Basic ornamental aquaculture production and husbandry techniques, including system design and management
• Common fish reproduction strategies and techniques, including induced spawning methods
• Common aquarium fish families and species, as well as their general husbandry and production methodology

Field work with staff may include site visits to one or more local facilities including ornamental fish farms, state fish hatcheries, and/or public aquaria.

Oral examinations/reviews are conducted on a routine basis to assess the progress of externs.  Students are provided with an extensive digital resource of publications and are expected to review this information throughout the duration of the externship. Externs will work Monday through Friday and are on-call during weekends and holidays to assist with disease diagnostics, research, and outreach as necessary. 

24 hour referral specialty and emergency and critical care center. Externs spend most of the experiece working alongside seasoned ER docs and see a wide variety of cases. There is a heavy ER and specialty case load.

They will also have exposure to IM, surgery, imaging  and oncology

Students will be able to gain insight into the daily functions of a shelter veterinarian, including diagnosis and treatment of illness, preventative care, and herd health discussions and decisions.  Additionally, students spend a significant amount of time working in the high volume spay and neuter clinic.

Veterinary externs will work closely with the Vancouver Aquarium’s veterinary staff, which includes a board-certified veterinarian, veterinary fellow, two registered veterinary technicians, and one veterinary assistant, in the medical management of a large captive display collection that includes marine mammals, terrestrial mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and a large variety of native and tropical fish. The veterinary extern will also assist the veterinary medical staff in providing medical management for approximately 150 live-stranded marine mammals (mostly harbour seals) which are cared for by the Vancouver Aquarium.