Our 2023 externship schedule is open and we do have limited availability for the fall of 2022!  If you’re looking for an externship for your 3^rd and 4^th year (1^st and 2^nd year students would be considered based on availability) that provides a lot of hands-on primary care experience in small animal, exotic and wildlife medicine then an externship at Arbor View Animal Hospital is your place to go.  

Our externship is unique in that we allow our externs to have a lot of hands-on experience and customize your externship towards areas you want to further your skill set.  Arbor Views client base is also unique, as we see not only dogs and cats but a large number of exotic pets and wildlife patients.  In fact, more than 35% of our clients are exotic pets and all of our doctors are passionate about treating these non-traditional species.  Our clinic is also the only clinic in Northwest Indiana that sees exotic pet emergencies after hours, which if you’re interested in ER medicine this is a great way to get additional experience with exotic pet emergencies.  Participation with after-hour exotic pet emergencies is not required for our externship but it is available if you’re interested.

Dr. Herbert also has a wildlife rehabilitation license, which allows us to treat and rehabilitate local injured wildlife at Arbor View Animal Hospital.  Depending on the year, we have between 300-500 wildlife cases brought to our clinic.  We also have a working relationship with a local wildlife rehabilitation center, which works with us when medical care is needed for their wildlife cases and we provide medical care for their education ambassador raptors and mammals.  As we mentioned before, all of our doctors are very passionate about exotic/wildlife medicine. 

Students who come to our hospital for an externship can expect:

• A customized externship based on what you want to focus on and your school requirements.  Dr. Herbert will reach out to you prior to your externship to go over your goals, what are your strengths and your weakness’, and what do you want to gain from this externship. She will then create an externship experience catered toward the information you provided her.

• At our externship you will get hands-on experience working with exotic pets, including in depth husbandry discussions, handling skills, learning the appropriate tools and medications to work with exotic pets and wildlife, and potentially hands-on surgical and treatment skills. The amount of hands-on learning when dealing with exotic patients is based on the patient species, clinical signs, if they’re stable and overseeing veterinarians comfort level with an externs skill set. 

• Because we see a large amount of wildlife our externs will triage incoming wildlife and develop treatment plans, run diagnostics, interpret these diagnostics and follow these cases as if they were the overseeing veterinarian. Our wildlife caseload does vary throughout the year and tends to be heaviest in the spring, summer and early fall for those interested in wildlife medicine.  These wildlife cases are as hands-on as you can get because as the extern these are your cases to manage with the help of our veterinarians and staff.

• We know we have talked a lot of about our exotic client base but we do have plenty of opportunities for individuals interested in canine and feline medicine. Our focus at Arbor View is to still give you as much hands-on experience as we can treating dogs and cats.  Our veterinarians will guide you in diagnosing, interpreting and implementing treatment plans for the dogs and cats we see.  They will also teach you valuable client communication skills because after all every pet that comes in is attached to an owner and without their approval, we can’t help their pets. 

• Finally, our externships are typically 2-6 weeks long, they do include a stipend, and housing is available.

Arbor View Animal Hospital is privately owned and located in NW Indiana.  

Arbor View is a 7 doctor practice, appointment based and we are open 6 days a week, which does give your externship flexibility in arranging what hours you will spend at the clinic. 

We are accredited with the American Animal Hospital Association, and it is our goal to provide high quality evidenced based medicine.  To list a few of our bells and whistles, we have a full in-house Idexx lab, Abaxis VetScan, digital radiographs, endoscopy, ultrasound, dental radiographs, and all the special equipment needed to appropriately see exotic pets.  

When not at the clinic our location allows you to have a break and enjoy some recreational activities our area has to offer, such as visiting Chicago, the Indiana Dunes, Lake Michigan, hiking, fine dining, and more.  Vet school can be stressful and we want you to know there are great avenues to take a mental health break in our area when you’re not at the clinic.

If you are interested in an externship at Arbor View Animal Hospital or would like to learn more please reach out to us at https://arborviewah.com/avah-externship/