Offsite Electives

Student is welcome to house with staff members and immerse himself in local culture.

Externship with our 24 hr small animal Emergency/Referral/Specialty hospital

Cow – Calf Herd Health Program – conception to marketing Heifer development Breeding Soundness – cows & bulls Ultra-sound pregnancy diagnosis Calving Fluid therapy regimes in scouring calves Pasture management Rotational grazing Preconditioning Weaning and Backgrounding calves Profit-Loss analysis of the cow-calf enterprise Feedlot Procurement history of calves entering feedlot Cattle identification programs Diagnostic intervention – parasites, PI-BVD, BRD Vaccination programs Carcass Ultrasound evaluation Starting cattle on feed Calculating breakeven projections How to handle a “wreck”. Beef Quality Assurance Equine Preventative Vaccination Program Soundness evaluation Radiographic analysis of lameness Ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis Managing the BLM wild horse program Foot care and corrective horse shoeing. Small Animal How a Large Animal Practice incorporates small animal services for their clients.

Observe, Assist, learn: from our Surgeons/Internist/Rehabilitation Therapist/Technical Staff and all others within our space.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) Laboratory Animal Medicine externship program is designed to be an introduction to Comparative
Medicine and/or Comparative Pathology. The experience can be matched to the extern's interests and culminates in a short project and presentation.

The student will gain hands on experience with veterinary medical skills commonly practiced in a small animal practice. Under the supervising veterinarian the student will prepare treatment plans and wellness strategies for small animal patients.  The student will also be exposed to and particpate in small animal wellness and sick appointments where the student will particpate in client discussions that help the pet owner make financial and medical decisions for their pet. The art of discussion in getting client approval on critical laboratory diagmnostic testing will be a prt of the experience. In addition, the student will interpret diagnostic testing and prepare a summary to be shared with the pet owner. Lastly the student will assist in surgical procedures that present themselves during the Elective Experience. Embedded in all of the experience, the student will gain awareness to the business side of managing a small animal veterinary practice.

Student will be exposed to all aspects of private practice including routine wellness examinations, sick, urgent, and emergency appointments, soft tissue surgery of all varieties, acupuncture, and dentistry.  

This is a busy mixed practice that sees emergencies in a resort area. 

Small animal full service hospital- community practice, urgent care, soft tissue surgery, orthopedic surgery and dental services. Mentorship and practice management/ownership experience provided. 

The veterinary externship at the South Florida Wildlife Center is designed to introduce the extern to wildlife medicine in a high-volume veterinary hospital and to expose the extern to the basics of wildlife handling, husbandry, and rehabilitation. The extern will be trained in the physical exam, triage, diagnostic testing, and surgery of a variety of wildlife species. They will gain knowledge of many common disease and injuries seen in willdife, be exposed to the operations of a wildlife center, and gain knowledge in humane coexistence with willdife.