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

Hospital information:

Suncoast Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center is a state-of-the-art 24-hour facility serving the specialty and emergency needs of clients and patients in gorgeous Sarasota, Florida.  Our board-certified veterinary surgeon offers a wide array of both soft tissue surgery and orthopedic surgeries, including minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, and arthroscopy.  As one of the only local emergency hospitals, our experienced team excels at managing complex cases as well as providing superb communication to very concerned pet parents.  In addition to skilled emergency and specialty surgical care, our hospital offers advanced imaging including CT, as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy and regenerative medicine.  If you would like to spend your externship in sunny Florida, expanding your skills in the advanced areas of surgical and emergency care, Suncoast would make an ideal choice!

Species treated:

Dogs; Cats

Services offered:

Ultrasound; Endoscopy; Soft tissue surgery; Regenerative medicine; Orthopedic surgery; Emergency care

Full-time doctors:

5

Part-time doctors:

3

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.  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.  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!