Internships, residencies continue practicle education

One of the options you'll have after graduation will be to consider an internship.

Internships are positions in (usually) large veterinary hospitals that can either be associated with a veterinary college, a large institution or a large referral-type hospital. To be able to provide internships, these hospitals should have a number of certified veterinarians on their staff with physical and technical resources to support them as well as an adequate caseload of patients.

Applicants for internship programs should be aware that there are hospitals with limited resources and limited numbers of board certified veterinarians on staff with physical and technical resources to support them as well as an adequate caseload of patients.

Do your homework. Internships can be in either large or small animal medicine and surgery, but rarely in a specific discipline. Internships are typically for one full year and pay poorly (about $20,000 to $25,000 per year).

In addition, interns are expected to work long hours that will almost always include night and weekend emergency coverage. In most case, internships and residencies do not allow you to delay student loan payments, but you can lower the amount of monthly payments while in them.

Why an internship?

There are two basic reasons to consider an internship after graduation.

1. The first would be if you want to continue after your internship into a residency program which, upon completion, would qualify you to become board certified in a specific discipline. If this is what you want, be aware that some internships provide a much better stepping stone into residencies than others.

2. The second reason would be if you feel that you are not ready for practice and would become fully involved in the business and medical aspects of the practice and for producing enough income to pay your salary. If you feel that an additional year of mentoring in a practice with board certified teachers and mentors would help you, an internship, not necessarily followed by a residency, might be for you.

What is residency program?

Residencies last two to four years, are almost always in veterinary colleges or large institutions and pay a little more, but not much more, than internships. To be accepted into a residency program, you will almost always be expected to have completed a one-year internship after graduation. An exception to this might be an individual who has been in private clinical practice for several years, and who has then decided to pursue a residency program leading to specialization.

Residencies are concentrated in one discipline such as surgery, internal medicine or ophthalmology and often, but not always, concentrate on either food animal, equine or small animal medicine. Disciplines such as radiology would be multi-species oriented. Lab animal medicine, poultry, avian and zoo animal medicine are other examples of residency programs. These might not always require prior internships. If you were interested in entering a basic science discipline such as pathology or pharmacology, you would more likely go into a Ph.D program. In some cases, residency programs and Ph.D. programs might be combined. After completion of a residency and passing the qualifying examinations for board certification, you would be considered a specialist in that discipline and would, more than likely, be employed in a veterinary college, a large institution or a specialty practice or hospital. You would expect a salary much higher than the typical associate salary, but not necessarily higher than that of a practice owner. Most important, for many of you, would be the opportunity to specialize in an area or discipline of great interest to human medicine for many years, veterinary medicine is rapidly becoming more specialty-oriented and animal owners are searching out, and are willing to pay for, the specialized care available from board certified specialists.

Where to find internships

Each year there are more than 100 internship opportunities in the 31 veterinary schools in the U.S. and Canada, in large public institutions such as the Animal Medical Center in New York City and Angell Memorial in Boston.

Internships are categorized by species and not by discipline, although some locations may have a stronger program in a specific discipline than others. Certain internship programs, particularly those in colleges and institutions, are more desirable stepping stones to future residency programs, leading to board certification.

The majority of internships, particularly those in academic settings and large referral practices, are allocated by a matching program, which is organized and conducted by the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians (AAVC). The AAVC maintains a Web site (www.virmp.org) that includes an annual listing, with complete information, of the internships and residencies available through this matching program.

The information available on the Web site lists the number of internships and residencies available, what species is involved, the number and specialties of the board-certified practitioners on staff, the annual caseload of the hospital or practice, the hours of work expected, a description of the program and the salary. Applications are also available on the Web site. To be considered for a match, an applicant, either having graduated or still in his or her fourth year, could apply to as many as 24 individual internships (the usual number is about five).

These applications are sent to the AAVC with the required supporting documents. The colleges, institutions and hospitals that want an intern, give this information to the AAVC. The AAVC then provides the colleges, institutions and practices with the applications of those wanting an internship that matches what they are seeking and then assists them to determine who is matched with what internship. Only one applicant is offered a particular position, and they are all notified simultaneously in February. Once the individual wanting an internship enters into the matching program, they agree to accept the internship if it is offered.

Each year, approximately 40 percent of those requesting a match are matched with one of their choices. After the matches have been decided, there are often unmatched internships that can be considered. The AAVC will supply, upon request, the list to those applicants who have not been matched, giving them an opportunity to find a suitable internship on their own. Other organizations that maintain information concerning internship opportunities are the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) (www.aaep.org) and the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV) (www.worldzoo.org/aazv.) Some large, multi-doctor animal hospitals and at least one veterinary college maintain internship programs independent of the AAVC matching program. These can be found on school bulletin boards, word of mouth and hospital Web sites.

Chances of a match

Approximately 40 percent of applicants in the AAVC program are matched with one of their choices for internships. Many more applicants find their way into one of the unmatched positions. The two most important requirements to be matched with one of your first choices are grades and recommendations. Most internships will require that you meet graduate school requirements with at least a 3.0 GPA. Excellent recommendations from clinical faculty members at your veterinary school are a must if you are to be considered for a match. The best way to get these recommendations is by an outstanding clinical performance in your senior year.

Residency programs

Residency programs normally follow the internship program. On occasion, an individual might complete an internship program, go into private, clinical practice and at a later date decide to pursue the residency program. Information concerning available residency programs can be found through the AAVC, the AAEP, the AAZV and the institutions providing the programs. The AAVC has a matching program for residencies similar to that for internships. There are less residencies available each year than there are internships, which means that they are more competitive. As with internships, grades and recommendations are important for acceptance.

Residency programs normally follow the internship program. On occasion, an individual might complete an internship program, go into private, clinical practice and at a later date decide to pursue the residency program. Information concerning available residency programs can be found through the AAVC, the AAEP, the AAZV and the institutions providing the programs. The AAVC has a matching program for residencies similar to that for internships. There are less residencies available each year than there are internships, which means that they are more competitive. As with internships, grades and recommendations are important for acceptance.

Word of advice

Your path to an internship or a residency should, in most respects, mirror the effort you would take for a practice position. Consider it the same as a job by preparing yourself and asking the same questions. Except for the compensation questions, most others will apply. Visiting the internship or residency site before making your application is, if practical, very important. Try to find out from others who have preceded you, what their experiences were. Even though you will not, in most cases, be making a lifetime decision, a year or more can be painful if you have made a bad decision. Although it is not impossible, leaving an internship or residency before completion can be difficult and make it nearly impossible to obtain another.

Timing

Individuals who do enter into private clinical practice and then decide to pursue internships and residencies at a later date may do so but are handicapped by having been out of the academic setting. With one major exception, the individual would have to leave his or her current employment and move to another location where the internship or residency was provided. Recommendations from clinical faculty members might be more difficult to obtain and, in most cases, there might be a problem leaving the comparable freedom of clinical practice and entering back into the structured setting of academia. The one exception is a specialty known as the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP). Applicants for ABVP examination, which leads to certification as a diplomate in the ABVP, must have had either a minimum of six years in clinical practice or two years in a residency program. ABVP certification can be gained in one of eight species-based categories. More information about the ABVP, as well as the prerequisites for examination can be found at www.abvp.com.

Dr. McCarthy is an internationally known author, speaker and teacher and currently serves St. George's School of Veterinary Medicine as visiting professor of ethics and jurisprudence and special lecturer on practice management.