Offsite Electives

The “Introduction to Wildlife Medicine” Course is presented to veterinary students. It touches on all aspects of conservation medicine, and comprises of about 20 hours of lectures, 20 hours of conservation orientated excursions and 40 hours of practical hands on experience, on our research farm, Ngongoni, and with many of our clients. 

Since 1997, we have had over 2500 students from 22 different countries attending our courses. Hands on experience will always remain important to students, and we go out of our way to ensure that our students get enough, under the supervision of our resident practice veterinarians. Call-outs obviously receive priority. Irrespective of the procedure, and guided safety aspects, students will participate in procedures like animal restraint, catheter placement, monitoring, administration of drugs, small surgery etc.

Course Schedule:

• Sunday: 
  • Group arrives; 
  • Initial briefing for the course
  • Students are given a set of comprehensive notes and are orientated at the lodge
  • Welcome dinner
• Monday: 
  • Introductory lectures by resident veterinarians: Dr Silke Pfitzer, Wildlife Specialist and Surgeon, and Dr Ben Muller dealing with:
  • Basic principles of immobilisation;
  • Species specific information;
  • Accidental human injection; 
  • Discussion on Game Industry in South Africa;
  • Role of Hunting and Sustainable Utilisation;
  • Kruger National Park management strategies regarding elephants;
  • Human/animal conflict areas and management thereof (Siyatutuka Farmers Community Project);
  • Rhino management introductory lecture.
  • Afternoon remote drug delivery lectures on 7 platforms;
  • Darting competition amongst participants; 
  • After dinner students are briefed for capture following day.
• Tuesday: 
  • Students will accompany veterinarians to a capture:
    • Species and nature of the capture will depend on work scheduled for practise;
    • They will have hands on experiences and NOT merely observe;
    • Possible captures includes all African species; not possible to pre-empt
• Wednesday: 
  • Siyatutuka Farmers Community Project - early start at dip tanks in one of the local communities;
  • Informal lecture on site regarding diseases of the greater Kruger/Mpumalanga areas;
  • Students will assist State Veterinary Services with Lumpy Skin vaccinations/Foot and Mouth vaccinations;
  • Students get a glimpse of the rural communities in South Africa;
  • Afternoon students will further assist State Veterinary Services with rabies vaccinations;
  • They can expect to work with approximately 200+ cattle and 150+ dogs/cats in a day;
  • This is a GREAT skills development opportunity for students.
• Thursday: 
  • Pathology lectures with Professor Leon Prozesky BVSc (Hons) MMedVet PhD – Paraclinical Sciences University of Pretoria – Section head Pathology;
  • After lunch they will perform a post mortem – hands on.
• Friday: 
  • Students will again accompany veterinarians to a capture
• Saturday: 
  • Open vehicle safari through Kruger National Park
• Sunday: 
  • Panoramic tour of Mpumalanga visiting God’s Window, Mac Mac Falls;
  • Shopping at local markets;
  • Afternoon Elephant Interaction at Elephant Whispers
• Monday: 
  • Pharmacology lectures:
    • Pharmacological principles from injection to recovery;
    • Current and new pharmacological preparations;
    • Afternoon practical immobilisation with various pharmacological preparations for comparative results.
• Tuesday: 
  • Crocodile expert and biologist - State Veterinary Services Mr Louis Le Grange will lecture on Nile Crocodile;
  •  After lunch students will capture and handle crocodiles under his supervision:
    • Blood draw
    • Sexing
    • If weather permits they will immobilise with drugs
• Wednesday: 
  • Students will again accompany veterinarians to a capture
• Thursday: 
  • Visits to rehabilitation centres:
    • Maholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
    • Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre
    • Jessica Hippo
  • On their return we will discuss the day and the Centres visited
• Friday: 
  • Early morning at diptanks again;
  • Visit to the Venom Centre where students will have lectures on South African snakes and have the opportunity to handle black mamba and puff-adder; 
  • Evening farewell party at the lodge
• Saturday: departure

Student will be able to shadow our Neurology team in each aspect of the service including appointments, surgery, xray and treatments.

Externship at a six doctor, feline only practice under the supervision of Dr. Elaine Wexler-Mitchell, ABVP feline practice.  The student will be involved with feline internal medicine and surgical cases.

The extern will have the opportunity to experience the husbandry of many animal types ranging from invertebrates to primates.  The majority of the students time will be spent shadowing world-class experts in their fields as they care for the collection.  The student will spend time with the veterinarian three days a week as he attends to the animals.....

Austin Equine’s externships are year-round for veterinary students regardless of class year. We encourage a minimum two-week commitment and we generally accommodate one student per externship, although two students are occasionally permitted. The externship program is very hands-on, and requires interactive participation. Externs are expected to assist with morning treatment, and observe and participate in all daily cases seen. Fourth year students on official externships are expected to help with after-hours emergency cases as needed. All students will be expected to take part in daily case rounds. The annual caseload is 6000–8000 cases and the average caseload per veterinarian is 100-150 per week. Austin Equine is an equine-only practice. Our veterinarian staff includes a board certified surgeon and doctors who focus on lameness, advanced dentistry, and theriogenology. Transportation is provided to and from the airport. Automobile use at the clinic can be provided for students who possess a current driver’s license. Modest, comfortable, on-site housing is provided. 

Pending student's capability and comfort, the extern student can work closely with clinicians to work through cases or take on individual cases with clinician guidance. Case load has a dynamic range due to the nature of emergency medicine. 

Animal Friends is a no-kill shelter located in Pittsburgh. Our organization takes in approximately 2500 animals (cats, dogs, rabbits) yearly. We provide spay and neuter surgeries, vaccines, and deworming of all our shelther residents. In addition, we perform many types of elective surgeries including mastectomies, enucleations, amputations, dentals (including dental radiographs) and a wide variety of other necessary procedures.

Animal Friends has a Low Cost Spay Neuter department that performs 10,000 spays and neuters of owned animals in the Pittsburgh area. They also provide vaccine clinics and wellness services for owned animals.

The veterinary student extern will be assisting and performing surgeries and dentals under the direct supervision of one of our shelter veterinarians. The extern will also get experience with herd-health management of common shelter diseases like CIRD, upper respiratory infections in cats, ringworm, and GIT parasites. The extern will learn how we utilize protocols to maintain the health of our foster animals (primarily kittens and puppies, as well as older animals with chronic medical or behavioral issues).

We are a mixed animal practice located in southwest Minnesota focused primarily on food animal. We provide traditional veterinary services along with consultation and production medicine for swine, dairy and feedlot producers. We have species specific veterinarians that practice in multiple states in the upper midwest.

We are an equine surgical referral hospital with one ACVS boarded large animal surgeon (Dr Tracey) and one GP that focuses on reproduction, dentistry and lameness (Dr Bottger).  We expect our externs to participate in day to day activities, treatments, and emergencies.   

Campus Veterinary Services provides both clinical and project support to the majority of research and teaching animals on campus which includes a large variety of species including the traditional rodent laboratory animal species but also includes fish, frogs, birds, sheep, cats, dogs and others. Students shadow our residents and staff clinicians during their externships and have assignments which include protocol review, journal seminar, resident seminar, wet lab participation, handout preparation and final presentation to staff on the last day of the rotation.