Learning about and choosing SA internships!

[shirabean]

Hi all,

I'm curious about how you learn about internships and ultimately rank them. The most important thing I want to consider for my internship is a positive work environment and strong mentorship. There are so many SA internships across the country, and I know some are soul-sucking. How do I go about learning the reputations of various internships, and the truth that isn't advertised?

If you had an amazing internship, please PM me with where!

Thanks
S

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[shirabean]

Follow up - if I have a dream internship, what do I do to build that relationship and make myself a familiar face? I've been trying to get in contact with alumni from the program and learn more, and recently had a chance to sit down with one of their doctors to chat, do a mock interview, and get feedback on my resume. I expect to graduate with a very solid GPA [edit: and rank], but I don't yet have any strong relationships with clinicians.

Should I try to do the majority of my externships with them? Should I contact their internship coordinator for a meeting? I attempted to shadow during the summer but they said they were too busy during the summers.

 

[SocialStigma]

VIRMP is where the majority of SA rotating internships are posted. The best thing to do is talk to former interns from each program. When I applied to internships through VIRMP, I also asked for the contact information of current/past interns. I also completed external rotations at the institutions I was most interested in, and that really helped me in deciding my final rank list.

Another thing to consider when looking at internship programs is if you are interested in specializing/pursuing a residency, the internship program should ideally have a specialist in that field. This becomes important for a private practice internship where many of them don't have a radiologist, ophthalmologist, dermatologist, etc if those are fields you are interested in.

 

[shirabean]

VIRMP is where the majority of SA rotating internships are posted. The best thing to do is talk to former interns from each program.

I've done a ton of browsing on VIRMP, and definitely want to reach out to past interns. However, there are SO MANY internships, I don't know how to even begin narrowing them down.

 

[SocialStigma]

I've done a ton of browsing on VIRMP, and definitely want to reach out to past interns. However, there are SO MANY internships, I don't know how to even begin narrowing them down.

Do you have any geographic restrictions? Preference for academic vs. private practice? Do you care if you are alone on ER shifts or not?

I narrowed it down based on geographic location and also eliminated all internships where I would be the only vet on ER the majority of the time. I also eliminated all programs that were new/not well established or ones that had poor residency match rates. Didn't look at any internships where I would have to rotate between satellite clinics (this is a personal preference). I knew that I wanted to specialize in surgery, so all internships that were very ER-heavy on rotations were eliminated, and I only applied to ones where I would have a decent chunk of time on surgery or a lot of elective time. IMO there is no need to apply to 10+ programs, particularly since you have a strong GPA, so I would start by figuring out what is most important to you out of academic vs. PP/location/types of specialties etc, since you won't know about the work environment or mentorship without speaking to someone who knows the program.

 

[shirabean]

Do you have any geographic restrictions? Preference for academic vs. private practice? Do you care if you are alone on ER shifts or not?

I narrowed it down based on geographic location and also eliminated all internships where I would be the only vet on ER the majority of the time. I also eliminated all programs that were new/not well established or ones that had poor residency match rates. Didn't look at any internships where I would have to rotate between satellite clinics (this is a personal preference). I knew that I wanted to specialize in surgery, so all internships that were very ER-heavy on rotations were eliminated, and I only applied to ones where I would have a decent chunk of time on surgery or a lot of elective time. IMO there is no need to apply to 10+ programs, particularly since you have a strong GPA, so I would start by figuring out what is most important to you out of academic vs. PP/location/types of specialties etc, since you won't know about the work environment or mentorship without speaking to someone who knows the program.

Thank you! This is incredibly helpful and makes the process seem more manageable. Do you have any advice on pursuing a dream internship if I already know my #1 choice? How aggressively should I go about making myself a familiar face?

 

[SocialStigma]

Thank you! This is incredibly helpful and makes the process seem more manageable. Do you have any advice on pursuing a dream internship if I already know my #1 choice? How aggressively should I go about making myself a familiar face?

No problem. I completed 3 external rotations in different specialties during my 4th year with my top choice, so they definitely got to know me around the clinic by the time match deadline came around. I also made sure to schedule those rotations early on (May-Sept) in the year so it would be before VIRMP applications opened in October. If you are able to, it won't hurt to shadow if you can prior to clerkship, but I don't think it's a necessity either. I had no connections with any of the clinicians at this clinic prior to my external rotations, and one of them ended up writing me a LOR for my internship application.