Shelter Medicine Externship Opportunities
Goals for Shelter Medicine Externships
- Understand the issues of animal homelessness, risk factors for relinquishment, and pet reunification
- Understand and apply the concepts of population management in shelters
- Apply concepts of quality of life and environmental enrichment in shelters
- Understand the principles of infection control, including surveillance, isolation, vaccination, cleaning and disinfection
- Develop skills in animal handling and examination
- Participate in shelter preventive health care protocols
- Perform medical and behavioral assessments
- Participate in cruelty and abuse evaluations as appropriate
Approved Agencies
Animal Rescue League of Boston
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The Animal Rescue League of Boston, to quote our founder Anna Harris Smith, believes that kindness uplifts the world. We embody this sentiment with respectful interactions with our clients, colleagues and the animals that we help. We put the alleviation of pain, suffering and stress before all other concerns. Fortunately, due to a very special fund, the Cece fund, we are able to provide extensive care to homeless animals in need. However, we also hold the understanding that humane euthanasia may be at times the kindest and most appropriate choice for a particular animal.
We operate three animal shelters in Boston, Brewster (Cape Cod) and Dedham(metro west of Boston). We provide veterinary care to privately owned pets through an outpatient clinic in Boston’s South End, Boston Veterinary Care. We operate a subsidized mobile spay/neuter service, the Spay Waggin’. We have an active rescue department and Law Enforcement department which rescue animals from peril. Our Dedham facility also houses horses and livestock and operates an animal cemetery.
The Animal Rescue League of Boston offers a two week externship in shelter medicine on a limited basis.
This rotation will include observation of shelter medicine principles in practice to include:
- Shelter wellness rounds – Working directly with an Animal Rescue League of Boston shelter veterinarian, you will assist with general screening for health of incoming animals. Animals will be triaged into adoptable and treatable categories. Applied principles of preventive medicine will be discussed.
- Sick rounds – Working directly with an ARL shelter veterinarian, you will assist in treatment and recheck physical examinations of animals under treatment, on the path to adoptability. Issues related to herd health, infectious diseases in the animal shelter setting and the concept of ‘treatability’ within Asilomar Accords language will be reviewed. Issues of quality of life in the animal shelter and capacity of housing will also be covered.
- Shelter surgery – observation of high volume, high quality spay neuter, to include early age spay/neuter. Techniques to be discussed include common practices encountered in responsible shelter surgery such as flank spay, open scrotal castration in the dog, autoligation of the ovarian pedicle, responsible feral cat colony management, ear tipping, tattooing, microchipping and proactive pain prevention measures.
- Shelter behavior – students will assist in the temperament assessment of shelter dogs and behavioral rehabilitation through shelter dog obedience classes. Topics such as enrichment and stress reduction will be covered. A separate, more intensive Animal Behavior rotation is also offered.
- Additionally, an understanding of the issues of the shelter populations may be gained through rotations in Rescue, Law Enforcement, the Spay Waggin’, intake and adoption.
- Rescue – ride along with a highly trained Rescue Specialist and accompany them on calls to rescue animals from peril. Our rescue technicians are highly trained in technical rescue including climbing trees, high angle rescue, swift water rescue and ice rescue. Typical calls include cats in trees, hit by car wildlife, entanglements and other unanticipated situations. Depending on the situation, the rescued animals may be returned to an owner, transported for emergency care at a local veterinary hospital or wildlife facility, transported to the animal shelter for evaluation or in where necessary, humanely euthanized.
- Law Enforcement – ride along with an Animal Rescue League Law Enforcement Officer responding to complaints of animal cruelty or neglect. Our officers are fully licensed special state troopers with the Massachusetts State Police. Most cases are handled through education, resource identification and coaching on proper animal care, however cases requiring intervention such as animal hoarding, extreme neglect or intentional cruelty may be encountered. Animal advocacy and legislation may also be discussed. Shelter medicine support of Law Enforcement cases carries an additional responsibility of requiring detailed documentation. Testifying in court as an expert witness and forensic examination of the animal victim will be covered.
- Spay Waggin’ – accompany an ARL veterinarian to this mobile spay/neuter vehicle. The Spay Waggin offers subsidized spay or neuter surgery to low income clients. The vehicle travels to sites in the greater Boston area, and also works directly with the Law Enforcement department to assist overwhelmed animal caregivers. The Spay Waggin also offers spay/neuter service to smaller local animal shelters, both private and municipal where spay/neuter services are difficult to come by. Issues discussed include the impact of the economy on pet ownership, financial needs screening processes and high volume, high quality surgical issues.
- Intake – observe and discuss the intake of animals surrendered to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Issues covered will include reasons for surrender, adoptability, finances and euthanasia. Also, shelter philosophy and types will be discussed including the ”no-kill” movement, limited admissions, open admissions, sanctuary, hospice and planned admission shelters. Breed rescue groups and geographic pressures on animal shelters will be discussed. Alternatively, if intake is slow, time may be scheduled with shelter managers to discuss sheltering issues.
- Adoption – observe and discuss the adoption of animals. Issues discussed include adopter screening and counseling, new pet issues, microchipping and post adoption support.
- Advancement – Students will spend time in the advancement department, learning about fundraising and how non-profit animal welfare organizations get money to operate.
- Opportunities to enjoy professional interaction include participation in the Department of Animal Welfare and Protection (DAWP) weekly meeting. This meeting brings together the shelter managers, representatives from rescue, Law Enforcement and shelter medicine to discuss current issues. Also the veterinarians (Behavior, Boston Veterinary Care, Shelter Medicine) meet once a month at the Doctor’s Meeting to discuss current issues, new practices and to socialize.
Each student’s experience will vary depending on the activities of the various departments during their visit. Every attempt will be made to accommodate specific requests for experience, but there can be no guarantee that every experience will be available every rotation.
ASPCA NY
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The purpose of the ASPCA shelter externship program is to provide veterinary students with an opportunity to learn about animal sheltering and population medicine in an environment that is geared toward animal welfare.
The ASPCA is a national animal welfare organization that offers local hands-on program in New York City in addition to its national activities of animal advocacy. The ASPCA operates a placement program, behavior center and a full service hospital. It offers a unique opportunity that is not available at other shelters because of the numerous resources that are gathered in one place.
- The ASPCA’s full service hospital, the Bergh Memorial Hospital, is open to the community in addition to serving the needs of the animals in our animal placement center. Its staff of 12 veterinarians sees a case load of over 20,000 animals per year. The case load is predominantly small animal, but many of the cases involve animal abuse, which will give the student an opportunity to learn how to handle these cases differently from those seen in a typical small animal private practice
- The Animal Placement program deals with the re-homing of animals that have been rescued from abuse as well as those that have been relinquished or abandoned by their owners. Stray animals are also transferred from other local shelters. The ASPCA lends considerable resources to the medical and behavioral rehabilitation of these animals for appropriate re-homing. Minimal euthanasia takes place.
- The Behavior Center evaluates and modifies animal behavior in shelter animals. Students spend half a day observing behavior and working with staff to modify problems in order to make the animals more adoptable
- Opportunity exists for students to visit the large municipal animal shelter, the NY Animal Care and Control for a first hand view of the impact of pet overpopulation.
- The ASPCA operates a community outreach program, CARES, in the form of a spay neuter van that operates in communities under-served by veterinarians. Students spend half a day on the van.
- Students attend daily rounds in the hospital, various lectures and participate in any other special events that may be scheduled during their externship.
Externs are expected to work 40-hour weeks, generally from Monday to Friday or Tuesday to Saturday, depending on what is convenient for the student and the veterinarian’s schedule. Much of the work in the animal placement center and behavior center is hands-on for examinations, treatment, behavior evaluation and modification. The students may occasionally spend time in the Bergh Hospital attending rounds and assisting in the treatment room in accordance with their skills. They are also included in the weekly staff meeting to review the cases that are being evaluated by the staff for their re-homing.
Best Friends Animal Society
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
Please contact us for more details.
Charleston Animal Society
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The Charleston Animal Society is pleased to offer 2-4 week externships to veterinary students entering their clinical year. Our organization is one of the oldest humane organizations in the south, sheltering hundreds of thousands of animals since our founding in 1874. Originally named the John Ancrum SPCA, the Charleston Animal Society is a private, non-profit shelter with a county contract. We operate an open-admissions shelter, receiving any and all animals from Charleston County. Our average intake is between 11 and 12,000 animals per year. In addition to sheltering, we operate a high-volume spay/neuter clinic six days a week, performing spays and neuters on dog, cats, and rabbits. We have about 50 employees, including 4 veterinarians. Your externship will include shelter medicine, high-volume spay/neuter training, and exposure to animal behavior analysis and animal control methods. If you require lodging while in Charleston, it may be available with a staff member for a small weekly fee.
Hillsborough County Animal Services
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
Senior veterinary students are invited to spend a two week externship in SHELTER MEDICINE at Hillsborough County Animal Services (HCAS) for exposure to the issues of pet overpopulation, stray and abandoned animals, population medicine, and animal cruelty and neglect.
HCAS sees over 22,000 animals per year. The veterinary services section of the department is composed of two full time veterinarians, one part time veterinarian, and six veterinary technicians. Our section assesses and treats every animal that arrives sick or injured or that becomes sick or injured during its stay. That is our number one job responsibility.
Our number two priority is handling animal investigation cases which deal with issues such as medical neglect, improper confinement, dangerous dogs, and Pit Bull fighting. These are often owned animals that need to be evaluated when they arrive, receive treatment if warranted, and monitored on a daily basis. We usually have between 50 to 140 cases of pending investigations.
The veterinary services section is also responsible for health screening and treatment of the animals selected for the shelter’s adoption and foster programs. Animals selected for these programs are screened for heartworms (dogs), tested for FeLV-FIV (cats), vaccinated, dewormed, and sterilized if at least 8 weeks of age and 2 lbs in weight. We usually perform surgery on a daily basis, usually a block of four – five hours per day. However, surgery is not the focus of this externship.
During the externship, you will also be exposed to some of the duties of the department’s shelter and investigations sections, to include spending time at animal intake and going on calls with a department animal cruelty investigator. The majority of your time, however, will be spent with a veterinarian performing shelter medicine.
Humane Society of Boulder Valley
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The first week(s) will focus on the processes around impoundment and adoption of companion animals, providing students the opportunity to hone physical exam skills, learn about behavior evaluation and disease control in the shelter environment. Practices will include treatment and vaccination of shelter animals, physical exams, behavior assessment, involvement in adoption counseling, overview of animal control services in our community, euthanasia, and didactic information available. 1-2 weeks is spent in the veterinary clinic where students perform sterilization surgery and general medical care for shelter/foster animals. The weeks do not have to be consecutive but it is preferred.
Humane Society of Central Oregon
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The externship would entail shadowing and participating in the care and welfare of sheltered animals. We are an open-admission shelter. We do our best to treat and care for all animals coming into the shelter with disease or illness and for those that develop issues during their shelter stay.
Our mission in the veterinary clinic is to alleviate pain/suffering, perform spay/neuter surgeries to all adopted and adoptable animals, provide additional treatment/surgery to improve adoptability or create adoptability in an animal that is otherwise less adoptable. We do perform euthanasias at this shelter, but they are almost entirely for medical or behavioral issues. During the externship, the student could expect experience in the following areas: medicine, surgery, adoptions, intake, behavioral assessments, animal control officer ride-along, protocols, and rounds. The externship can be what the student makes it, as I am flexible and want to engender a love of shelter medicine in new students.
Humane Society of South Mississippi
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
Externs at HSSM have the opportunity to experience three of the major areas of work in shelters: high-volume high-quality spay/neuter, shelter medicine and herd health, and forensic veterinary medicine. The students’ time will be divided between surgery and shelter animal care. Cruelty cases and large-scale rescue/hoarding operations are fielded as they are received. Students will have to opportunity to interact with HSSM’s large staff and participate in all aspects of shelter and programs management including adoptions, volunteer, foster, animal care/surrender, and spay/neuter departments. Previous externs have commented that they have left HSSM with a new perspective on how a shelter operates and what can be accomplished at a large open-admission facility.
Humane Society of Tampa Bay
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The Humane Society of Tampa Bay is a limited admission shelter. We only accept animals that we feel we can adopt. We do not take in stray animals. They need to be taken to the county facility where their owners can look for them. We are a “No Kill for Space” shelter. That means our shelter will not euthanize an animal to make space for another animal. We do euthanize animals that are too sick to be treated, have signs of disease requiring a length of treatment too long to enable successful adoption, or are too aggressive or behaviorally unsound to be suitable for adoption. We at The Humane Society of Tampa Bay do our best to find homes for as many animals as possible. We are committed to a community approach to help lower the euthanasia in our county. We have an aggressive transfer program which takes in animals from other shelters that are open admission and house animals that are at risk of being euthanized. The extern will be provided with surgical and medical experience in a busy shelter situation. Typically, there are 20 to 30 animals daily for spay/neuter surgery and 5 to 20 examinations on shelter animals daily. The extern would assist and perform duties of a shelter veterinarian under the direct supervision of a shelter veterinarian.
Jacksonville Humane Society
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
A veterinary externship at the Jacksonville Humane Society will expose students to a limited admission, no kill for space facility for a two week period. While there will be some opportunity for surgical experience everyday, this will not be the primary purpose of this externship. Students will receive a well rounded view of shelter medicine by shadowing our shelter veterinarian and assisting with cases. We have one full time veterinarian and one relief veterinarian each week that students will be able to work with. In addition to daily sterilization surgeries, our facility performs a large number of soft tissue and orthopedic procedures that students may be able to assist with. After daily morning surgery, the student can assist the veterinarian with new intake examinations, medical cases, rechecks on animals being treated for infectious disease as well as rechecks on animals currently in foster homes. If the student has a strong interest in a particular area there is opportunity for observing some behavior testing and modification, animal intake, and transfer of animals from Jacksonville Animal Care and Protective Services.
Monmouth County SPCA
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
We are a non-for profit open admission shelter. Intake is around 2000 cats and 500 dogs per year. On any given day, we care directly for 60 dogs and 300 + cats. This does not include our foster network. Our spay clinic sterilizes and performs other procedures on shelter animals. It also is involved in community TNR and reduced cost S/N to the public.
Goals:
- To explore all aspects of shelter medicine- including intake, medical workups and treatment, infectious disease management, behavior problems, population medicine.
- Observe, assist and perform sterilizations of shelter and TNR animals.
- Become more comfortable with all steps of anesthesia induction, maintenance, and recovery.
- Become familiar with surgical complications and how to properly address them.
- Become familiar with local TNR efforts.
- Learn about the importance of spay and neuter, and discuss hwo to sell this message to the public.
- Learn about behavior evaluations like SAFER and Felinality.
- Overview of shelter management- open dialogue of common issues that shelters face such as resource management, community education, staff education and training, increasing live release, biosecurity, working with local private practices, and addressing quality of life concerns for animals.
- Review standard of care guidelines for shelter animals provided by American Association of Feline Practitioners and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians
Pennsylvania SPCA
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The PSPCA offers a fourth year student veterinary externship. This is an exciting opportunity to experience caring for the abused and neglected animals in our shelter hospital, doing “ride-alongs” with our humane law enforcement officers, working in our front clinic with Philadelphia residents, working at Philadelphia’s animal control, performing spays and neuters on our shelter population and learning as much as possible about shelter medicine.
Our primary mission is to provide advocacy for animals that lack a caregiver. We do what we can to give them the best care possible and students are an integral part of helping us to do that.
Richmond SPCA
View detailed externship information. Visit the agency website.
The Richmond SPCA hosts fourth year veterinary students for two or three week blocks to allow them exposure to the field of Shelter Medicine. We are a private, non-profit, no-kill shelter with an average yearly admission of approximately 3500 dogs and cats. No two days are alike and we feel that we offer a wonderfully broad overview of the field. We have on average 300 animals in the system at any given time. The dogs and cats at the facility are afforded everything that veterinary medicine has to offer. We have relationships with local specialists including board certified surgeons, ophthalmologists, dermatologists and cardiologists that welcome our students shadowing when they see one of our patients.
Our staff of four veterinarians and five licensed technicians operate a high quality, high volume spay neuter clinic and wellness clinic that serve the low income community of Richmond and the surrounding areas. The Richmond SPCA has a full behavior staff on site, a behavior helpline and operates an extensive humane education department. The education team operates summer camps with various themes and focuses as well hosts parties, tours and events that expose the community to animal welfare issues. Our adoption facility is open seven days a week and offers many offsite adoption possibilities as well. We have an enormous volunteer program with over 200 active participants. Volunteers serve in all capacities at the Richmond SPCA. Our development department works tirelessly to raise the funds needed to care for our animals as well as offer affordable veterinary care to the public.
We make every effort to expose veterinary students to all aspects of the operations here at the Richmond SPCA. Often times students come to us with particular interests but we feel that the field of shelter medicine benefits the most from teaching students at every level of our organization. The veterinary side of a shelter is intricately tied to the management and fund raising goals. Admissions directly impact adoptions and the veterinary team plays a crucial role in bringing in healthy animals, keeping them well or rehabilitating them and getting them into permanent loving homes. Behavioral challenges occur everyday and are a big part of what ultimately ends up in the shelter system. Working with these animals helps the student that becomes a shelter veterinarian directly but also the student that becomes a private practitioner and uses the same skills to keep the behavior challenge in a home. Students will also leave with a good understanding of how the different specialties can work together to benefit the shelter population. So on any given day a student may do physical exams, surgery, help with a critter camp, vaccinate foster care kittens, treat kennel cough or ringworm, write a blog about heartworms, attend staff training, assist the behavior team with a dog exhibiting barrier frustration, accompany the transfer team to another shelter, teach an adopter to give insulin injections to their new cat or bottle feed puppies. We sincerely strive for the students to leave with an understanding of the challenges facing shelter medicine but to also be exposed to the deep rewards and fulfillment that it affords us all.
Helpful Links
UF College of Veterinary Medicine Externship Page
Association of Shelter Veterinarians‘ Externship Listing
Shelter Medicine Stipend Information
Spay/Neuter Externship Opportunities