Externship: Greensboro Science Center

Greensboro Science Center Veterinary Externship

Laci Taylor, DVM Candidate ‘22

Over winter break, I had the privilege of externing at the Greensboro Science Center

(GSC), an aquarium, museum, zoo, and treetop adventure park located in Greensboro, North

Carolina. Unfamiliar with Greensboro, I learned about the Greensboro Science Center’s

externship through a Zoom meeting organized by the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians

(AAZV). The meeting was open to veterinary students interested in zoo, wildlife, and aquatic

externships and several representatives from a variety of AZA accredited institutions joined the

call. The discussion was focused on how these institutions have had to adapt their veterinary

externship programs amidst the current pandemic.

When I arrived at the Greensboro Science Center on my first day, I was both nervous and

excited as it was my first veterinary externship. Although I knew I would be working with a

variety of different species and that I would be participating in many different aspects of

veterinary care, I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Upon my arrival I was greeted by Sam,

the GSC’s veterinary technician. She gave me a tour of the facilities, outlined what was expected

of me as an extern, and then introduced me to Dr. Sam, the GSC’s veterinarian. On my first day,

I participated in Vet Rounds which allowed me to sit down with Dr. Sam, Sam, the aquarium

curator and zoo curator to discuss what animals needed care and this really made me feel like I

was a part of the team. As the first extern of the new year and the first extern after the holidays,

there was a lot to do as far as caseload. I really felt like I was able to hit the ground running and

with the help of the animal care team, I was able to perform annual physical examinations on a

cottonmouth snake, Caiman lizard, spotfin porcupine fish and several cownose stingrays, within

the first week of my externship. Each of these experiences was worthwhile as I learned how and

where to perform venipuncture, how to restrain, how to administer and monitor anesthesia and

how to perform ultrasound in each of these species. Working with the aquatic animals was

especially eye-opening because I got to perform new to me methods of sample collection such as

coelomic flushes in the stingrays to check for any coelomic parasites.

During my second week, I was able to take a step back from clinical procedures and was

provided the opportunity to shadow zookeepers and aquarists, learn about quarantine procedures,

research pre-ship requests, and tour the GSC’s new expansion that was under construction. I

really appreciated these opportunities because they gave me a more holistic view of what it takes

to manage zoo, aquarium, and herpetological species. When I shadowed the zookeepers and

aquarists, I was able to learn about the husbandry of several species such as their nutritional

requirements and enrichment needs. My favorite shadowing experience was helping to prepare

and administer diets to the GSC’s colony of African penguins. It was incredible to observe all the

planning and hard work that goes into training the animals and witness the level of trust that the

zookeepers have built with their animals.

It was an exciting time to extern at the GSC because they were in the process of a new

expansion and adding several different animal species to their managed collection. They were

adding Caribbean flamingos, pygmy hippos, a kookaburra, and an okapi, and each of these

species were coming from other facilities all over the US. This gave me the opportunity to learn

about the GSC’s quarantine protocols and complete a pre-ship request exercise with Dr. Sam. In

the pre-ship exercise, my focus was on the flamingos. It was my goal to identify major diseases

of concern in this species and come up with suggestions for diagnostics that we would want

performed before the flamingos arrive, to ensure that they are healthy. Such diagnostics included

things like bloodwork, fecal testing, and imaging. For me, this was a great research exercise as I

was not very familiar with Caribbean flamingos. I was also able to tour the construction site for

the new expansion. This was a unique experience because I was able to see all the planning that

goes into designing suitable enclosures for the animals – an aspect of managing species in a zoo

setting that I had not thought much about before.

For the third and last week of my externship, I was back to clinical procedures. I

performed annual physical examinations on screaming hairy armadillos, a green moray eel, an

alligator snapping turtle and several tentacled snakes. I was also able to necropsy a spiny lobster,

several chromis fish, a seahorse, and a Mexican red-kneed tarantula. Necropsying the lobster,

seahorse and tarantula required a bit of research as I was not familiar with the anatomy, so I

learned a lot while in the necropsy lab. Lastly, I was able to spend some time with a giant Pacific

octopus, which was probably my favorite animal to work with at the GSC. It was fascinating to

work with her because she was undergoing senescence, a period of programmed death that

occurs at the end of a mature octopus’s natural life span. During senescence, octopuses can

become anorexic, develop uncoordinated movement, and self-mutilate their body parts, leaving

white unhealing lesions all over the body. This is a huge welfare concern and because of this, we

performed twice weekly quality of life exams on her where we assessed several different

parameters from her eating habits to monitoring her lesions to assessing her interest in

enrichment. Lastly, as part of the externship experience, students are required to present a lunch

and learn talk for the GSC staff and volunteers, so I spent a bit of my last week finishing up my

presentation. I chose capture myopathy as my topic because of its increased prevalence in

ungulates and long-legged birds and its relevance to the pygmy hippos, okapi and flamingos that

the GSC is adding to their managed collection.

My time at the Greensboro Science Center was nothing short of amazing and it was clear

that the animal care team was enthusiastic about teaching! This externship is an experience I

would recommend to any veterinary student pursuing a career in zoological medicine or looking

to gain more experience with zoo, aquarium, and herpetological species. I hope to go back

someday to see the new hospital and the okapi, pygmy hippos, kookaburra, and flamingos

thriving in their new exhibits!