VIN Rounds: Rotating Internships

On Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 9pm ET join VIN Student Rounds for Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match: What You Need to Know about Rotating Internships.

In this rounds you will learn about:

• Factors to consider when deciding if an internship is right for you
• What a rotating internship involves and how the internship match works
• How to evaluate internship programs
• Strategies to help improve your chances of getting the internship you want

*You must be a student member of the Veterinary Information Network in order to login and join the live session (or to watch the recording if you can’t make it on Sunday). Membership is always free as a student!

Small Animal/Exotics Work

Cassie Hoy, Ross University

Hello! 5th semester student at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine hoping to go into mixed animal medicine after graduation here. I had the opportunity to intern at a Small Animal/Exotics practice over break with a PDF Scholarship. The veterinarians and technicians I worked with were incredibly supportive of my learning more hands-on skills, I'm much more confident with phlebotomy and placing endotracheal tubes now! Every day was something different: allergy dogs, diabetic cats, bird wing clips and even a rabbit neuter - seeing concepts learned in classes like Clinical Pathology and Immunology in the real clinic setting was exciting. While I didn't know everything going on, this was the first time I was able to follow why certain diagnostic tests were being run or how the medication was going to help our patients. We even went over disaster preparedness rules from my Public Health course with hurricane Dorian looming in, that was the only clinic I've been in that was built for evacuation use. The practice owner gave me some awesome tips for handling problems with panicky pet owners - everyone needs to stay calm in situations like that! Overall, I truly enjoyed having the chance to intern and would love to go back. I'm incredibly thankful for the experience and I know what to expect from my future career!

Entry, Life as a Vet Student
Stephanie Silberstang, Cornell

I honestly believed up until the first day of orientation at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, that I wanted to be a veterinarian. Not a large animal veterinarian or a small animal veterinarian, not an ophthalmologist or a cardiologist, just a plain old veterinarian. I never got the memo that said there were options! Either that or I did not read that memo.

From that day on I began identifying my interests. I had always enjoyed working with horses. I rode as a child and worked at a therapeutic horseback riding camp before attending vet school so there was equine medicine. And of course, I loved dogs. But when I joined the Shelter Medicine Club I realized that I was passionate about animal rescue and adoption. I have also had a cockatiel since I was thirteen and did not realize that avian medicine was a career choice I could make and that peaked my interest. In the early days of vet school I also shadowed in the emergency clinic and loved the thrill. So I gathered all of these interests: equine, avian, emergency, and shelter medicine. When asked my interests, I typically get some funny looks at my reply.

I had to decide where to go from there. What career choice would allow me to pursue all of my interests? During an externship at the Houston SPCA I worked with horses and parrots that were shelter animals and we often saw emergencies, such as, heat stroke and trauma. However, this was a very rare combination and I knew that I would not be able to fully pursue these interests together. I decided to do a small animal rotating internship at a private practice to further my clinical skills, especially in emergency medicine. This practice also has an avian and exotic service that will allow me to hone my parrot knowledge and skills.

My advice to anyone who has numerous interests or does not know what their interests are yet: pursue everything. The amount of general knowledge I gained from taking mixed animal rotations, going on shelter medicine and equine externships, and being a member of a broad range of clubs is indispensable. Although I chose a more specific career, my interests remain the same.