Externships During Clinical Year

Kaitie Ban, Ross University

Externships during your clinical year are like the little prizes that come with a kid’s meal. Your clinical year in general is the time you finally get to touch things, do things, and put all the hours of memorizing into practice. Realistically, at your university, you will often be writing SOAPs, surgery reports, and treatment sheets for post-operative orders. You’ll be reading literature relevant to your current cases and learning how to use a professional medical library. All of this is important to your education in fourth year, even if it means more paperwork than hands on experience. That’s where externships come in. More often than not, you’ll be even more hands- on with your patients and your cases than at your clinical affiliate. While on an externship you may find yourself as the only other assistant scrubbed into surgery or even performing your first solo spay! 

I have been lucky enough to do the majority of my externships at different veterinary universities on either their anesthesia services or their emergency services. As I am planning to become a veterinary anesthesiologist, it is important to me to see how other universities perform the same tasks/procedures that my clinical affiliate has taught me. I have appreciated the varied exposure to familiar disease processes and procedural work-flow. Each new clinician and house officer I have worked with has taught me something new and that is my favorite part of externships - the never-ending learning. 

I have also used these externship weeks as working interviews or meet-and-greets. I have chosen my externship sites based on where I think I would like to pursue an anesthesia residency. Many classmates have similarly scheduled externships in places they may want to apply to work as a new grad. This has been beneficial in many ways, as I have been able to rule in or rule out programs as well as adjust how each program falls on my rank list. I have heard good and bad reports from students externing with possible future employers. Truthfully, the only way to really get to know the vets, support staff, and workflow of a hospital is to spend time there. That is what makes externships so fruitful! 

Choose your externships wisely, my friends! Make sure that you know what the two to three weeks will entail. Will you be able to touch patients, write treatment plans, take histories? Will you be able to work one on one with a clinician or will you work with a technician? It’s always best to go in with eyes wide open and with a good understanding of what will be expected of you. Consider, also, what you will want to pay attention to and what questions you would like to ask of them. Most externship locations are expecting an inquisitive student and will offer time to answer any questions you have. Take advantage of these opportunities to get to know the kind of clinic or hospital you are considering! These externship weeks are what you make of them, so do your research beforehand and most importantly - have fun!