Going into equine med WITHOUT an internship? looking for mentors & inspiration

[horsegirlx]

Has anyone successfully transitioned into equine practice from vet school without completing an internship?

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[WildZoo]

Has anyone successfully transitioned into equine practice from vet school without completing an internship?

I have a friend who does mixed and has a decent equine caseload, she went to that practice right after graduation. I'm not sure how common it is to go into equine-only straight from school though. I bet even if that's less feasible, you could do it after getting experience at a practice that sees a good number of horses and use that to show your experience if you didn't want to go the internship route. Probably depends on what kind of practice you're ultimately looking to end up at too. Like, you're less likely to be able to get into an academic or specialty equine practice without that extra training.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

Not me, but I know more than a few who have. Going into equine GP work after vet school is no different than going into dog and cat GP work - no internship required.

 

[yogapony]

I have friends who went into mixed practice and see horses without doing an internship, but everyone I know who is equine-only has completed an internship. In my practice area, you won't be hired without one. I think there are probably regional differences, and it depends on what the patient load is. My practice is heavily sporthorse slanted; we do a lot of sports med/lameness work. I did an internship and have never regretted it - I definitely would not have gotten the case exposure in GP that I did at the equine hospital I interned at.

 

[altadama]

Not me, but the practice that takes care of my horse hired a new doctor last Summer who was straight out of school and she's done really well with them. But as mentioned above, I think it really depends on the region and what type of caseload the practice sees. The practice I use is a smaller practice and they also see small ruminants. If you could find a smaller practice or one where the caseload is a lot of hobbyists and "pet" horses it could be doable, but it seems like at least around me the bigger practices, or ones with a heavy sport horse caseload usually want an internship.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Has anyone successfully transitioned into equine practice from vet school without completing an internship?

I think it’s more possible/accepted if you want to do mixed, but all my equine-only classmates/friends are doing internships.