New England Equine Medical & Surgical Center
Externship Program

Thank you for expressing an interest in our externship program.

New England Equine Medical & Surgical Center is a private referral and emergency clinic built and outfitted with state of the art equipment in 2005 to meet the increasing demand for specialized, integrated equine veterinary care.

Our externship program is structured to be an invaluable learning experience for undergraduate, technician and veterinary students. We make every effort possible to expose you to various aspects of equine veterinary medicine while allowing as much “hands on” opportunities when the situation allows. You will work closely with our patients, clients and staff and are valued an important part of the NEEMSC team. Our hope is that you regard your experience at New England Equine Medical & Surgical Center as an integral part of your journey toward a career in equine veterinary medicine.

Externships can range in duration from one to eight weeks. Most externs find that they get the most benefit and hands on experience from longer duration stays. In addition to the extern responsibilities outlined below, educational opportunities are also provided during morning and evening rounds and bi-monthly journal club.

Responsibilities/Daily schedule:
Basic responsibilities of an extern consist of administration of oral, intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous medications, drawing routine blood work, reading packed cell volumes and total solids, intensive care monitoring, fluid administration, supportive care, clipping and sterile preparation of patients and basic restraint for clinical procedures.

Morning and afternoon treatments consist of intensive care evaluations and medication administration. Externs are scheduled for after hours treatments on an as needed basis. Midnight treatments consist of feeding, watering, medication administration and assisting the intern or technician with any necessary procedures. The extern scheduled for midnight and/or after hours patient monitoring is expected to be available to assist the intern with emergency admissions, intensive case management and emergency surgery when necessary after regular business hours. Additional checks may be scheduled depending on a patient’s status. Of course, externs are certainly welcome to assist during any treatment times for which they have not been scheduled. During the weekend, externs are scheduled to assist the clinical staff with treatments and medical case management. Efforts are made to allow each extern time off during the weekends, scheduling and caseload permitting.

Daily scheduling for an extern is designed to provide varied clinical exposure and participation in hospital case management, outpatient case assistance, and surgery assistance. Externs are scheduled with a different primary clinician/intern team each day. This schedule allows an extern exposure to outpatient, hospital and surgical cases during their visit. Responsibilities in each of these areas are as follows:

Surgery: Responsibilities include assistance in preparation of the surgical patient (radiographs, clipping, blood work, IV catheterization), assisting in induction, surgical preps and intra-operative assistance. Externs are encouraged to ask questions in surgery to optimize their learning experience. Where the situation permits, an extern may have the opportunity to scrub into a surgery, provided they have completed their junior surgery rotation.

Hospital: Responsibilities are centered around routine care of patients in the hospital, from intensive care checks and fluid monitoring to walking, medication administration, wound and other supportive care.

Outpatient: Externs will observe and aid in scheduled outpatient appointments by jogging horses for lameness evaluation, assisting in radiology, endoscopy, ultrasonography, applying sterile preps and restraining horses for procedures.

Complete orientation/training of the above described responsibilities and expectations will be provided on the day of arrival.

Dress Code:
Overall, the dress code is casual however as externs will be interacting with clients, please dress professionally (i.e. clean jeans or khakis and appropriate work shoes). Scrubs are required when assisting in surgery. If you do not have scrubs, there are some available for your use at the clinic.

Accommodations:
The intern apartment located above the clinic has a guest room available for extern use. Each room comfortably accommodates two externs. The staff kitchen located just outside the intern apartment is available for extern use. It is fully stocked with cooking utensils and other necessities for your use during your stay with us. Washer/dryer, satellite TV and internet access are also available during your stay. Blankets and pillows are provided however it is best to bring a sleeping bag and/or sheets for a single bed. Please remember that the apartment is home to our interns. We ask that you show courtesy to those that you are living with during your stay at New England Equine.

How to Apply:
Because externs are awarded space on a first come, first served basis, externs may submit their choice of dates via email prior to returning the paperwork. If available, the space will be reserved and you will receive a confirmation. Since we request that veterinary students extern with us before applying for an internship, we are only selecting veterinary students as externs from May 1st to November 15th of each year. Occasionally we will make exceptions to this on a case-by-case scenario so please feel free to ask if you have a special circumstance.

Please complete the forms below and return them at your earliest convenience. Please include a current curriculum vitae or statement of pertinent experience. The rabies information form needs to be completed prior to the start of your externship. We require proof of vaccination or a waiver of liability if you have not been vaccinated.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact Linda Anderson at extern@newenglandequine.com any time.

We look forward to working with you!

Externship Coordinator

Click to Download a copy of the Externship .pdf document.