AVMA GRD Externship

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AVMA Government Relations
Student Externship Program

AVMA Government Relations Division 

Are you a veterinary student who wants to impact public policy and expand your professional network? You may be interested in the AVMA’s 2019 Government Relations Student Externship Program!

During the four-week program, students live in Washington, D.C. and learn more about public policy issues facing the veterinary profession. Externs will work with AVMA’s government relations team to perform tasks such as educating congressional staffers on the AVMA’s legislative priorities, attending congressional hearings and briefings, and meeting with a variety of veterinarians in sectors of the federal government and nonprofit organizations. During their externships, students will discover the scope of veterinary medicine in government and expand their understanding of the legislative process.

Applications are due October 12, 2018. Please visit the AVMA website for application information and if you have any questions please email externship@avma.org or call 800.321.1473.

Veterinary Career Network Online Career Fair

Online Career Fair
Veterinary Career Network

Attention fourth year students! Here is an opportunity to meet employers live online. The AVMA along with partners from the Veterinary Career Network is hosting its first online career fair, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, Sept. 27. Interact via online chat sessions and connect real-time with employers seeking veterinary team members. 

Register here. 

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AVMA Headquarters Externship

Get a new perspective on veterinary medicine with an AVMA student externship opportunity. The deadline is quickly approaching on January 18th for the AVMA Headquarters Externship, so apply soon here.

Warm Heart of Africa

Read this wonderful experience piece written by Hana Henry from University of Tennessee about her externship at the Lilongwe Wildlife Center in Malawi.

  Over the summer, I spent two and a half weeks in the “Warm Heart of Africa” working as a vet extern at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre (LWC) in Lilongwe, Malawi. The LWC is a wildlife sanctuary that is home to approximately 200 animals on average, most of whom are primates. LWC is recognized for having some of the highest welfare standards in Africa and is able to maintain a high level of care for both their rehabilitating and resident animals. Although it’s located in the bustling capital, LWC sits on a 180-hectare wildlife reserve that provides a home for numerous urban wildlife species and also serves as an important conservation education center for the country’s schoolchildren and public. Truly, this was a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity for me because I was exposed to two very different sides of wildlife medicine.

My first week I took part in LWC’s rehabilitation course that welcomes students from all over the world. We had lectures covering a range of topics including parasitology, triage, orphan care, preventative medicine, and the rehabilitation process from intake to release. I even learned how to do behavioral observations on primate troops and use a blow dart during some of our practical workshops! [My aim needs some serious work though…] As part of the course, we also traveled to Kuti Wildlife Reserve where we practiced our radio-telemetry tracking skills and helped conduct population surveys on zebras. Once the course ended, I was able to work in all of the different areas of the Centre. I collected browse for the antelopes and learned to chop food with a machete with the animal care team. I helped prepare milk to feed my two baby primate charges (a yellow baboon and blue monkey) with the orphan care team. My favorite time at LWC was spent in the veterinary clinic where the wonderful sanctuary vet not only tested our knowledge of fecal parasites and suturing skills, but also, turned every opportunity into teaching moment. During the regular quarantine health checks, she made sure to give us as much hands-on experience as possible and assigned us each a task monitoring anesthesia, drawing blood, etc. The time I spent working with each of the different teams gave me insight into the daily life of a wildlife veterinarian in the sanctuary and rehabilitation setting. I found it to be hectic and challenging, but also extremely rewarding each time I realized my volunteered time might help an animal to return to the wild.

In addition to working closely with the sanctuary vet, I also got the chance to work with the head veterinarian in charge of the Wildlife Emergency Response Unit (WERU), a mobile unit that serves all of Malawi’s national parks and reserves. As vet externs, we were able to go out on a 3-day WERU call to Thuma Forest Reserve with the goal to dart a juvenile hyena that had a snare caught around its neck. This was simply one of the most amazing experiences of my professional career so far! For two nights, we went out with the reserve’s manager, rangers, and the research team of Carnivore Research Malawi and did a call-in. We used rotting dead goat bait and the recorded calls of various prey species and hyena vocalizations in an attempt to lure the hyena pack close enough to dart our target juvenile. It was a lot of silently waiting around being as still as possible and the excitement did wear off after a few hours, but I found it very peaceful and surreal. Each time I looked outside the rover’s windows, there were massive Baobao trees framed against a night sky filled with the most brilliant stars I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, we were not able to capture and treat the hyena, but this taught me how wildlife work out in the field is often unpredictable! I learned the importance of being flexible and how to always stay on your toes with a back-up to your back-up plan. However, the trip to Thuma was definitely not a complete waste - we went on a half-day hike through the forest reserve hunting for hyena tracks and I saw my first elephants in the wild! Thuma’s manager said that we couldn’t come all the way to Africa and not see elephants so she asked her rangers to take us out on our final morning to view them from a distance. It was so incredible to observe these magnificent creatures roaming free in the wild and was an adventure that will always stay with me. Finally, since we were truly out in the African bush with no electricity or running water, me and my friends were put to the survival test. None of us minded the open air bush shower with its refreshingly cool water or lack of technology, but we were surprised to learn that we could in fact cook a rudimentary meal for eleven people over an open fire. All of us were more or less ‘city’ girls who never learned to cook properly and were quite proud of this relatively small accomplishment. Working at LWC solidified my goal to become a wildlife veterinarian and work in the field of conservation medicine during my career. I recognize that it will be a challenging road and will take many years, but I am now more determined than ever to strive for my dreams. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity which would not have been possible without the support of the International Veterinary Experience Committee! Zikomo kwambili (Thank you very much) IVEC, the team at LWC, and the lifelong friends I made along the way - someday, I will return to work for conservation in Africa!

Thinking about a Trip to Belize.....

Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic (BWRC) and Belize Wildlife Institute

Internship April 24 - May 5, 2017

Bec Crawford, DVM Candidate

Central America, maybe not the first place one may think of when it comes to wildlife conservation. Africa and Australia may come to mind before Belize or Guatemala. One may be surprised to discover the dwindling habitats and populations that citizens, scientists and veterinarians fight to protect on a daily basis. I was curious to discover what Central America had in store, so I set out on an adventure with my peers from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine to experience it for myself. We travelled from St. Kitts in the Caribbean, our home in veterinary school, to Miami, Florida, where we connected through to Belize City. From there, we spent two weeks in Belize and Guatemala learning from specialists in the field. This experience was facilitated and organized by the Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic and the Belize Wildlife Institute.

Jaguar, Panthera oncaThe Belize Zoo is home to many native Central American species, some victims of the illegal wildlife pet and poaching trade. From the various species of wild parrots to the Keel-billed toucan, American crocodile, Northern Tamandua and Jaguarundi, more than a few species with unfortunate stories stuck with me.Belize is home to one of the healthiest populationsof Jaguar remaining in Central America. Populations have been decimated widely due to deforestation and hunting, forcing these big cats into areas inhabited by humans. Belize Zoo is home to jaguars that are no longer releasable; some because their teeth were torn from their jaws by poachers, others following loss of food or habitat forced out of their territory where they were involved in a negative interaction. These “problem jaguars” are not releasable because they pose potential danger to people and to themselves. The Belize Zoo provides a spectacular habitat for these victim cats.

The charismatic Scarlet Macaw is one of my favourite species in Central America. It is estimated that 100-200 individual Scarlet Macaws are left alive in the tropical rainforests of Belize. It is one of the most endangered populations of animals on the planet today. Threats to the Scarlet Macaw are greater in Belize than in other places around the world. Chicks are taken from their nests by poachers within hours after hatching. Veterinarians and rainforest rangers now plot macaw nests each season and spend weeks guarding the nests. To prevent poachers from stealing the chicks, the team removes the chicks from their nests after they have hatched for relocation to places of refuge. There they are reared under the watchful eye of caretakers specializing in the conservation of this species. Each year, the team releases the reared fledglings back into the wild who otherwise would have been victims of the illegal parrot trade if left alone to the mercy of poachers. In 2015, fifteen fledglings were released back into the wild.

At the Belize Bird Rescue, we met hundreds of birds, victims of the illegal pet trade, condemned by the Belizean government. These birds have found a place of refuge where they will live out their lives. We attended a film screening for endangered wild parrot conservation efforts and awareness in Central America. It became evident to me just how dangerous and destructive wildlife trade is, not only for the animals involved, but for the individuals and families involved, struggling to survive in an unforgiving economy.

At the Belize Wildlife & Referral Clinic, we learned techniques in blow darting and practiced handling, husbandry and procedures for birds, mammals and reptiles. Diagnostic techniques including autopsy, parasite screening, physical examinations and radiology were a substantial portion of our experience in the hospital. These experiences provided us a greater appreciation for the anatomical biodiversity found among the various species we treat, and the associated adaptability acquired as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Time and time again, we were reminded of unfortunate consequences resulting from human-wildlife interactions. In addition to administering oral medications and injections, wrapping wings, and tube feeding an emaciated, injured seven-foot American crocodile, our experience with the Crocodile Research Coalition in Belize was unforgettable. Midnight croc shining for capture and release to obtain morphometric data culminated in events similar to those one might expect on an adventure with the late Steve Irwin. It was one of the most adrenalin-filled experiences I’ve ever taken part in.

At The Iguana Project, we participated in husbandry for sixty green iguanas who live ou their lives in a sanctuary away from the poaching dangers of the rainforest. The iguanas of Belize are on the brink of extinction due to demands for leather and meat, in addition to the misconception that these creatures are harmful to humans.

At Parque Nacional Yaxhá in Guatemala, we explored Mayan archaeological sites and enjoyed the opportunity to discover another country and its culture. We travelled across Lake Peten Itza in Flores, Guatemala to meet the team at ARCAS, asociaciòn de rescate y conservaciòn de vida silvestre. The team of conservationists, veterinarians, students and volunteers working to protect and rehabilitate threatened species in scorching temperatures around the clock are true warriors of our time.

As an avid diver with a passion for the underwater world, I was thrilled to spend a day at sea. From Placencia, Belize, we travelled to Gladden Spit and Silk Caye Marine Reserve, a one hour and thirty minute sail culminating 26 nautical miles. Far offshore we happened upon an oasis, Silk Caye Marine Reserve, a protected marine area home to the endangered whale shark and loggerhead sea turtle. We spent a full day diving and snorkeling around the caye, discovering coral restoration farms and a plethora of colourful fishes and invertebrates. Dolphins swam around the caye and frigate birds, gulls and terns soared above. For me personally, Silk Caye is the most beautiful place that I’ve discovered on earth through my travels to date. Diving and snorkeling with nurse sharks was thrilling; they were very interested in my camera and repeatedly swam in close to check it out. It is well known that Belize ranks in the top ten dive destinations in the world, and for good reason. The pristine barrier reef is thriving and teaming with endangered coral colonies, sharks, turtles, triggerfish; the list goes on...

Amongst our various excursions, lectures and workshops, we were able to fit in an early morning bird watching tour, a late night amphibian and reptile identification tour, a day in the Belizean Mountains spent cliff jumping into a waterfall pool, paddleboard yoga and races around an island on Lake Peten Itza, and of course enjoyed the local cuisine! I met many colleagues and friends that will last a lifetime. I urge you to discover Central America for yourself! The adventure awaits you...

Special thanks to Dr. Isabelle Paquet-Durand & Justin Ford for hosting Ross University DVM students in 2017... a WILD spring break! as well as Ross University's SAVMA chapter's Professional Development Funding Grant.

To experience Belize for yourself, please visit:

www.wildlife-institute.com

www.facebook.com/bzwildlifeclinic