Condor Project

Entry, Experiences
Jana Mazor-Thomas, Tufts

Last June, I was lucky enough to go on what is pretty much my dream externship: working with Dr. John Bryan of the National Park Service, on the California Condor recovery project at Pinnacles National Monument.

For those who are not obsessed with birds, the appeal of this is probably a little hard to imagine. Condors are huge, stinky, sometimes angry birds. They live primarily on carrion and the bacteria in their mouths are the ones that are nasty enough to out-compete all the bacteria that grow on dead animals. They're also unbelievably beautiful, critically endangered, the largest bird in North America - and a fantastic story about how medical care and the dedication of hundreds of people kept this apex species from extinction and now on the road to recovery. So for a bird nerd? Yes, the elective of a lifetime.

The biggest source of mortality for the condors is still lead poisoning from bullets left in carcasses by hunters. Medically, most of the work done revolves around treatment for lead poisoning. At least twice a year, the condor crew try to trap every condor in their management area and check their lead levels, then chelate them if need be. Sadly, their lower cutoff for birds that need chelation has to be well above what we consider acceptable in other raptors, because otherwise, nearly every condor would still be in captivity for treatment, and the goal of this project is to return these birds to a life in the wild that does not require human intervention. 

Capturing and restraining an easily-stressed bird with a ten-foot wing span is not a job for the faint of heart!

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City Of Tulsa Animal Welfare: My Experience as a Veterinary Extern in an Underserved Area

SAVMA's Public Health and Community Outreach Committee (PHCOC) grants Underserved Areas Stipends to multiple students each year. Awards cover externships that are carried out between September 1^, 2012 and August 31, 2013. A total of eight (8) $500 awards are available for each academic year and awards can be distributed in a retroactive manner. For more information, please see https://www.avma.org/About/SAVMA/Events/Documents/Underserved-Areas-Stipend-Application-2012-2013.doc

Read on to see how one student spent his externship.

By: Ken Sieranski, 4^th year Veterinary Student, Texas A & M University

During a cold two weeks in the January of my final year of veterinary school at Texas A & M, I traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to complete a two week externship at City of Tulsa Animal Welfare.  My experiences at this large municipal shelter impacted the lives of homeless pets in this underserved community and increased my confidence as a spay/neuter surgeon.  I worked under the supervision of Dr. Cathy Pienkos who is not only an exemplary shelter veterinarian, but a kind and patient mentor to many students, most of whom attend Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine. 

I selected this particular externship, because my intended career path is to become a shelter veterinarian.   I have obtained an Internship in Shelter Medicine for next year at University of Florida which will allow me to work towards becoming a specialist in this emerging discipline.  The Tulsa externship has undoubtedly helped me to prepare for my internship next year.  In addition to our typical daily routine described below, I also joined Dr. Pienkos on shelter rounds, experienced the management and flow of the large municipal shelter, and participated in an animal cruelty investigation.   While this experience was invaluable to me as a future shelter veterinarian, I believe that this externship is ideal for any student wishing to both help shelter animals and increase their surgical confidence.   The externship is largely surgery-based, and it was noted on the Association of Shelter Veterinarian’s Website that externs complete an average of 20 surgeries per week. 

A typical day at the shelter started with performing preoperative physical examinations on animals scheduled for surgery that day.

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Externship in South Africa

Entry, Experiences
Caitlin Parsley, Auburn Univeristy

I see youSunset on Signal HillThe old man

Thoughts on Externships

Entry, Experiences
Carla Rodrigues, Ross University

As veterinary students, we have all spent the last few years refining our skills and knowledge base as best as we can to better facilitate our introduction into the ‘real world’ as doctors.  All the sleepless nights, anxiety attacks, and true dedication, we are told, will all pay off. Although we all at one point or another are convinced we should be treated for Cushing’s disease, as our adrenal glands are on overload, we do, believe it or not, learn how to grow and transition from the student phase to the professional phase.

Whether we realize or not, a vital component of our progress through veterinary schooling, in addition to the admirable list of expectations, is our professional development.  Professionalism can encompass a wide array of meaning; but what it all comes down to is having the ability to handle a variety of situations, in a variety of different settings, with a variety of different people. This comes with time, experience and most importantly, exposure. What better way to combine variety and exposure than an externship!

This year I have set out on a few different trips seeking not only exposure, variability, and adventure, but expansion of my veterinary network and interaction with everyday veterinarians spending their days doing exactly what we have been aiming for these past few years.

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Up to my armpits

Winner, Experiences category
Justin Padgett, Auburn University 

 

The stories of James Herriot, Charlie Edwards, and other old country veterinarians fill the minds of each veterinary student as they set off on their pursuit of their veterinary career. Each pre-vet and veterinary student is encouraged by, and hopes to one day become, just like the veterinarians of old that were central pillars in their communities. The doctors of 50, 60, 70 years ago imparted important, helpful knowledge,  applied skills to save their neighbors beloved pet and/or farm, and were cornerstones of integrity and respect that helped build the veterinary profession into what it is today. I know firsthand of many of today’s students  who aspire to join a small farming community and carry on these romantic visions of a life as a skilled, helpful and respected mixed animal veterinarian. 

 

There is doubt, however, as to whether this life exists anymore. Growing up in the suburban South East, I was convinced that the life of the country gentlemen veterinarian was extinct. Often times it seemed that veterinary medicine was too specialized now and that much of it was becoming corporatized to the point that there may one day be a small animal clinic in a Super Wal-Mart. While many advances of specialized practice and big money from corporations are great, these kind of benefits come with the risk of rubbing a little of the soul out of the old county vet.  

 

Luckily for me, I was able to spend a short externship last winter with the veterinarians of Ashland Veterinary Hospital in Ashland, OH.  I came to know that the respected, needed, and recognized veterinarian still exists. In fact, they are alive and well. The small practice in North Central Ohio is home to three mixed animal practitioners (Drs. Gingrich, Brennan, and Yoakam) that have carved out the kind of life in the relatively small town of 20,000 that everyone reads about in the tales of old veterinary practitioners. They operate two offices, one that exclusively sees the small animal patients of Ashland, and another that is considered central operations for the herd health of just over 100 local dairies.  

 

I began my externship the minute I ran out of the finals in Auburn and booked it to OH. I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and was immediately assigned the task of heading to a local dairy to score teats with another veterinary extern, Dale, a student form The Ohio State University. Dale was kind enough to show me the ropes and give me a run-down as we hit the back roads in search of the dairy. From the time I arrived until my departure a short 11 days later, the work never really slowed down. 

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