Offsite Electives

Guided Mentorship

Work one‑on‑one with experienced veterinarians who help set goals aligned with your interests and future career plans. You’ll have the chance to discuss real cases, treatment options, and the reasoning behind clinical decisions.

Customized Learning

Your externship experience is tailored to meet both your academic requirements and personal learning goals—whether you’re interested in general practice, client communication, surgery, or clinical decision‑making within a spectrum‑of‑care framework.

Externship Details

• Open to DVM students who have completed their first year
• Must be currently enrolled in an accredited veterinary medicine program
• Ideal for students interested in general practice, community‑focused medicine, or exploring spectrum‑of‑care approaches

Assist in the examination of livestock and poultry for the purpose of detecting diseases or abnormalities which would render the meat unfit for human food purposes. Work with line inspectors to perform visual, tactile and incisory inspections of heads, viscera, carcasses, and edible offal.

• Assist a program veterinarian in making dispositions on abnormal animals, carcasses, or birds retained for veterinary examination. These dispositions will include infectious diseases, neoplasms, trauma, contamination, poisonings, residues, metabolic disorders, etc.

• Assist a program veterinarian in performing activities to verify that animals are handled and treated humanely.

• Observe conditions in the plant to ensure that sanitary conditions meet prescribed requirements.

• Observe conditions in the plant to ensure the plant is following its Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs).

This is a general practice in Huntington Beach, CA that has all of the services of a classic small animal GP clinic. 

TSVC is a high volume, fast paced clinic that acts as both a general practice and a secondary referral and emergency center. 

Over the course of your students 2 - 4 weeks at TSVC, we will have them shadowing doctors and participating in our clinic’s daily practices. They will rotate through general practice, surgery, emergency, and our spay/neuter clinic during their time here. They will help perform physical exams, create treatment plans and anesthesia protocols, perform vaccines and treatments, and take part in clinic rounds under the direction of the doctor they are assigned to shadow for the day. They will also get to observe and experience some of our unique treatment options such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Ozone therapies. 

Summit Pet Hospital is a private, independently owned veterinary office in Erie, PA.  We emphasize common sense veterinary medicine with a personal touch.   Building strong relationships that benefit our fuzzy clients and their owners. SPH caters primarily to dogs and cats, however, our doctor owns a working farm with over 100 head of cattle, goats, pigs, and chicken.  SPH also has occasional 'farm calls' or large animals brought to the clinic for care.  At Summit, we provided comprehensive care including wellness visits, sick patient management, emergency care, diagnostics, dentistry, and numerous types of surgery. We will immerse the student in the daily work of a single doctor veterinary office, where everyone is cross trained and wears many hats. This may include routine wellness exams, medical workups, emergency triage, surgical cases, diagnostics, building relationships, learning the business of owning a practice and 'selling' your services.  In addition, the student will have opportunities to work with large animals on reproduction and management on the doctor's farm.  SPH also runs a small animal rescue which will give the student's opportunities to possibly exam, work with neonatal animals, and dog training.    

The American Fondouk is a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to providing people-to-people aid through offering free veterinary care for the hard-working donkeys, mules, and horses of Morocco. Treating working animals in the developing world is considered to offer a significant contribution towards safeguarding the livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community, both in the towns and in the countryside

East Market Veterinary Center is a privately owned small animal general practice located in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. The practice focuses exclusively on dogs and cats and provides comprehensive care including wellness visits, sick patient management, diagnostics, dentistry, and soft tissue surgery. The clinic serves a diverse client base in a small-town community setting, offering students exposure to a wide variety of medical, surgical, and dental cases.

The goal of this elective experience is to provide veterinary students with hands-on exposure to general practice medicine while developing confidence in clinical reasoning, client communication, and surgical skills. Students are fully integrated into the daily workflow and work closely with the veterinarian and support staff throughout their time in the clinic.

Externs will participate in routine wellness visits, sick appointments, and urgent care cases. Students may assist with obtaining patient histories, performing physical examinations, and developing diagnostic and treatment plans under the guidance of the veterinarian. They will also gain experience interpreting laboratory results and understanding how diagnostics influence clinical decision-making.

Surgical experience is an important component of this externship. Students will have the opportunity to observe, assist with, and potentially perform surgical procedures—including spays, neuters, and other soft tissue surgeries—depending on their level of training and comfort. Emphasis is placed on surgical preparation, anesthesia protocols, and perioperative care.

Students will also be exposed to dental procedures, including prophylactic cleanings and extractions, with the use of a dedicated dental suite and dental radiography. This provides an opportunity to understand the role of dentistry in overall patient health and to gain familiarity with dental diagnostics and treatment.

Students who are further along in their program and demonstrate appropriate competency may take primary appointments under supervision, allowing them to lead cases, communicate directly with clients, and make clinical decisions with guidance.

The practice operates with a strong technical support team, allowing students to experience efficient workflow and team-based care. Teaching is incorporated into daily case management through discussion and real-time feedback. This elective is designed to be flexible and tailored to each student’s goals, whether they are seeking to strengthen foundational skills or gain more independence in a clinical setting.

Students would shadow a board certified dermatologist in both initial and recheck appointments. Cytology and skin scrapes would also be discussed and evaluated. 

Additionally, we would discuss current dermatology management strategies and treatment protocols for small animal practice. Other teaching experiences would include journal club or textbook rounds. 

Banfield is nationwide small animal hospital that primarily focuses on preventative care and surgeries. We also focus on diagnostics and medicine.

We are a private small animal general practice, 5 doctor, AAHA approved hospital with a Fear Free Certified Medical Director who trains all our staff on Fear Free practices.   We offer soft tissue surgery, limited orthopedics, dentistry, wellness and sick pet care.   On an externship, the vet student will scrub into all surgeries and dentistries in the morning with dvms, and in the afternoon, will see appointments with our doctor team.  We will do case reviews and have the student participate in planning for anesthesia drugs, post op care and recommendations and create a differential diagnosis and treatment plan for appointments.