India Travels

By: Carrie Wang

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Class of 2012

Here are some photos from Carrie's trip with classmates to India for a 6 week Infectious Disease Externship. What better way to subsidize your travel than by making it a study experience?

Lessons for Life

By: Tiffany Beck

Mississippi State University, Class of 2013

I stood off to the side, feeling very out-of-place.  I wished I could melt into the floor, or at least surreptitiously run out the door and vanish for a couple hours.  The still form of a dog lay on the radiography table, surrounded by the almost equally still forms of the technicians and doctors.  After a sudden illness and a frustrating diagnosis, this pet had finally lost the fight.  I can still see as clear as day in my mind's eye the doctor who had worked the case, my internship mentor, leaning against the wall, his eyes bright with tears, frustration hardening the lines of his face.  He had just lost a patient...and he did not know why.

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There's a First for Everything

By: Megan Cassels-Conway

University of Georgia, Class of 2012

A first-hand account of Ruffian Equine Medical Center’s first extern and her first experience with orthopedic surgery

When you first get to an externship, you don’t really know what to expect. Of course, you’ve done your research- read the website, looked at brochures and talked to other students who have been there.  But what if you are the practice’s very first extern? How do you know what to expect?

            When I was looking for externships, a friend had told me about a new equine hospital that was being built in Long Island, NY. Living in northwest Pennsylvania, where I am originally from and spend my holidays and summers, there are no equine hospitals for hours. In fact, there are no equine vets at all within 90 minutes. Potential surgeries are taken five hours to the University of Pennsylvania or four hours to Cornell University Veterinary Schools. With the severe lack of opportunities for a hopeful equine surgeon, I was excited to hear about a state-of-the-art equine hospital being built five hours away.

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The Wide Open Range

By: Elizabeth Homerosky

The Ohio State University, Class of 2012

Here are some shots from Elizabeth's trip out to Montana and Wyoming working on some cattle ranches. 

AVMA HQ Externship

By: Trina Schey

Iowa State University, Class of 2013

The summer of 2010, I participated in the AVMA headquarters externship at the Schaumburg, Illinois location.  I was assigned to the Education and Research division and quickly became familiar with the role of the AVMA in college accreditation within the states and abroad.  The first day at the office was filled with excitement as well as a bit of apprehension.  I was introduced to all the key players in the division starting with Dr. David Granstrom and Dr. Elizabeth Sabin, both in which were very influential in the role that I was to play as an AVMA extern.  Dr. Granstrom gave me a tour of the building introducing me to everyone at the facility, many names and faces that I would try to keep together, and then had me settle down in my office and begin the research for my project. 

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