Overview:

United Veterinary Care is delighted to host veterinary students for externships!  This valuable clinical experience will let you take what you’ve learned in the classroom and put it to the test in an animal hospital of your choice.  Our hands-on externships are designed exclusively for veterinary students at AVMA-accredited veterinary schools in their clinical years, typically meaning their 3^rd or 4^th year of vet school.  Since every student has different interests, we are excited to offer these programs at a wide variety of our amazing partner hospitals.  We know that travel and lodging expenses for externships can often be cost-prohibitive on a student’s budget.  To make our externships as accessible as possible, we offer stipends to externs to help offset these costs (unless prohibited by the veterinary school you are attending). 

Eligibility requirements:

• Must be a current veterinary student at an AVMA-accredited veterinary school
• Priority scheduling is given to students in their clinical years on official externship blocks for school credit
• Must provide proof of professional liability insurance. SAVMA members qualify for no cost insurance by applying at the following link: SAVMA Member Benefit and Resources | AVMA PLIT

Auburn Students: we are also happy to host students for their preceptorships!

Hospital information:

Gailor Animal Hospital is full-service general practice hospital in charming Louisville, Kentucky.  We are pleased to provide comprehensive medical and surgical care for a wide array of species!  Our collaborative team of doctors have varied interests in exotics, orthopedics, ultrasound, acupuncture, and endocrine conditions.  We are delighted to provide orthopedic surgery on-site, including extracapsular CCL repair, TPLO, as well as FHO surgery.  After procedures like this, we commonly incorporate physical therapy techniques as well as cold laser therapy.  Our entire team enjoys working with veterinary students and new graduates and welcomes the opportunity to host externs.  If you are looking for a hospital that will support your development across a vast spectrum of veterinary medical avenues, Gailor Animal Hospital would make an exceptional choice for your externship experience!

Species treated:

Dogs; Cats; Pocket pets/small mammals; Reptiles; Birds; Potbellied pigs

Services offered:

Ultrasound; Endoscopy; Acupuncture; Holistic veterinary medicine; Soft tissue surgery; Orthopedic surgery; Dentistry; Physical therapy/Rehab services; Wellness/Preventative care; Medical appointments

Full-time doctors:

5-6

Part-time doctors:

1 to 2

What to expect from your externship:

We want to hear from you about your professional goals for your externship experience!  Please indicate your top priorities in your application, so we can tailor the experience to meet your needs.

During your externship, you can expect to actively participate in cases and further your development towards becoming a veterinarian.  Throughout your time with us, you will always be supervised by an experienced veterinarian and skilled support staff.  This team will serve as your mentors for your externship experience.  Expect to be included in surgical cases, dental procedures, emergencies, sick patient workups, and routine medical appointments.  If there are certain technical skills you are looking to improve on, let us know so we can place emphasis on these areas!  We encourage active participation from externs, introduce them to our clients, and truly make them part of our team.  Listening to the patient history, conducting a preliminary exam, and formulating a plan for diagnostics and treatment are a great way to put your education to the test and help prepare you for the real-world of veterinary medicine.  You will discuss these cases with your supervising veterinarian and have them confirm your exam findings to verify whether are on the right track with your plans before moving forward with the case as a team.  This dynamic creates the ideal environment for you to grow in your confidence and skill with managing both routine and complex cases.  We encourage externs to select one case per week to further research and engage the veterinarians in further case discussion with this additional information.  These case discussions help our teams learn and grow together; further emphasizing that mentorship is a two-way street. 

We truly enjoy hosting externs and having new graduates join our teams since with new team members always comes new shared knowledge!