Summer Programs/Opportunities for Current Students

[puppydogtor]

Starting this thread to serve as a place for discussing and sharing summer opportunities for current vet students. If there is another thread/site that lists opportunities, please drop the link 🙂

-Banfield and VCA have paid summer programs and many locations across the US. I've heard good things about these programs especially for first years or students with little tech experience.
-VEG offers externships to students who have completed their 2nd year. Located all over the US.
-AZPetVet offers a similar program to Banfield/VCA, except limited to AZ. The program is 4 weeks long and paid.
-Thrive offers externships for a wide variety of specialties (surgery, sports medicine, LA medicine, etc.). Located all over the US. This is the first year they aren't paying for student housing so I'm not sure if they will offer that again in the future.

Please add to the list if you can. Hopefully other students find this useful.

I myself am looking for programs relating to shelter medicine if any exist. I've reached out to shelter vets but the programs they are aware of haven't started up again since covid-19.

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[battie]

My NVA hospital does allow students to extern and has housing at our new location. I believe that externship info can be gained through the generalized NVA website, but not 100% sure. We have two 100% 24/7 ER hospitals in CO

 

[supershorty]

Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors a veterinary scholars program every year for DVM students interested in pursuing research. Many of the US-based veterinary schools participate in it, and it's a paid, 10-week program culminating in presenting a poster at the national symposium. Of note, while you certainly can do it at your home institution (and most people do), there are some circumstances where you can do it at a different program if there's an available project that really interests you.

More info here: https://veterinaryscholars.boehringer-ingelheim.com/students/participating-schools

I had to participate in the program as a condition of my school's dual degree program, but it's very much geared for veterinary students who are not pursuing PhDs and is a great opportunity to get your feet wet in research, get paid for doing so, and get the experience of presenting a scientific poster at a national meeting.

 

[puppydogtor]

I've heard such good things about that program! Some second years told me they loved it, never liked research before, and actually wish they got involved with research sooner. For anyone interested in it, it looks like they haven't updated it for 2023 and the app deadlines are inaccurate. The deadline to apply at my school has already passed

 

[WonderingStudent]

Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors a veterinary scholars program every year for DVM students interested in pursuing research. Many of the US-based veterinary schools participate in it, and it's a paid, 10-week program culminating in presenting a poster at the national symposium. Of note, while you certainly can do it at your home institution (and most people do), there are some circumstances where you can do it at a different program if there's an available project that really interests you.

More info here: https://veterinaryscholars.boehringer-ingelheim.com/students/participating-schools

I had to participate in the program as a condition of my school's dual degree program, but it's very much geared for veterinary students who are not pursuing PhDs and is a great opportunity to get your feet wet in research, get paid for doing so, and get the experience of presenting a scientific poster at a national meeting.

Plus the symposium is supposed to be in Puerto Rico this year which is an added bonus. I participated in the program this last summer. It can be a good program also if you want to learn more about pursuing a masters or PhD after vet school since there were booths at the event for different schools that you can speak to regarding their degree programs.

 

[WonderingStudent]

The deadline for apply for this has passed but RAVS (Rural Area Veterinary Service) has spay/neuter/wellness trips over the summer that are great. Highly recommend.

 

[Bonfuturedvm]

I dont know if anyone else is experiencing this but I applied for the student job program through Banfield back in October, interviewed in November, and still haven’t heard back. They emailed me twice stating there was a delay but when I asked for more information on multiple occasions I got no reply. Kinda disheartening since they have the most locations out of other programs in the area i want to be at over the summer :/

 

[puppydogtor]

@Bonfuturedvm who have you emailed? If you haven't already, try the person who interviewed you (for me it was the recruitment coordinator of student programs) or the more general student job program email ([email protected]). They send out some automated emails so make sure you're not replying to those accidentally

I'm still debating on doing the SJP. Originally I was going to do the full 10 weeks but they just reached out to me this week saying the doctor I'd be working with is leaving the practice and that they found a new Banfield location for me but the commute is far. I'd only want to do a few weeks now but am unsure of what to do with the rest of my summer hence me starting this thread.

 

[Bonfuturedvm]

@Bonfuturedvm who have you emailed? If you haven't already, try the person who interviewed you (for me it was the recruitment coordinator of student programs) or the more general student job program email ([email protected]). They send out some automated emails so make sure you're not replying to those accidentally

I'm still debating on doing the SJP. Originally I was going to do the full 10 weeks but they just reached out to me this week saying the doctor I'd be working with is leaving the practice and that they found a new Banfield location for me but the commute is far. I'd only want to do a few weeks now but am unsure of what to do with the rest of my summer hence me starting this thread.

Yes! I emailed both the person that interviewed me and the one who let me know there was a delay! I’m still hopeful but theyll probably be getting more emails from me in the meantime! I hope it works out for you though too!

 

[popzilla]

My NVA hospital does allow students to extern and has housing at our new location. I believe that externship info can be gained through the generalized NVA website, but not 100% sure. We have two 100% 24/7 ER hospitals in CO

Would you mind sharing the name of your hospital with housing? I don’t live in CO so that would be great! if you want to send info in private message that’s fine or if you’d rather not disclose I understand! Thanks!

 

[Bonfuturedvm]

Update on my banfield situation: i finally got a reply last week letting me know they were waiting for my first choice hospital to respond after i sent any contact i could find an email or two. Then I got an email this morning letting me know my first choice is no longer a host and that my other choices have already been taken. This is so frustrating that I’ve had to wait months and can’t even be placed in a location where I’ll be at over the summer, plus the person that emailed me let me know it was a done deal that i would get one location since i applied right when the application began. Very disappointed but i guess this is a sign for me! Hopefully anyone else who applied has better results than i did!

 

[WonderingStudent]

Update on my banfield situation: i finally got a reply last week letting me know they were waiting for my first choice hospital to respond after i sent any contact i could find an email or two. Then I got an email this morning letting me know my first choice is no longer a host and that my other choices have already been taken. This is so frustrating that I’ve had to wait months and can’t even be placed in a location where I’ll be at over the summer, plus the person that emailed me let me know it was a done deal that i would get one location since i applied right when the application began. Very disappointed but i guess this is a sign for me! Hopefully anyone else who applied has better results than i did!

Definitely a frustrating position to be in but there are a ton of other jobs out there and experiences to be had. Good luck!

 

[martaeb22]

Boehringer Ingelheim sponsors a veterinary scholars program every year for DVM students interested in pursuing research. Many of the US-based veterinary schools participate in it, and it's a paid, 10-week program culminating in presenting a poster at the national symposium. Of note, while you certainly can do it at your home institution (and most people do), there are some circumstances where you can do it at a different program if there's an available project that really interests you.

More info here: https://veterinaryscholars.boehringer-ingelheim.com/students/participating-schools

I had to participate in the program as a condition of my school's dual degree program, but it's very much geared for veterinary students who are not pursuing PhDs and is a great opportunity to get your feet wet in research, get paid for doing so, and get the experience of presenting a scientific poster at a national meeting.

This sounds like a really great experience! Whenever I try to look at that website it asks me to log in. Any suggestions for getting in?

 

[martaeb22]

Hey everyone! I wanted to ask if anyone knows of any exotics experiences for this coming summer (preferably paid if possible). I really want to gain more exotics experience since it's my primary area of interest. I'm starting to freak out a little that I'm late to the game in planning my summer.

 

[WonderingStudent]

This sounds like a really great experience! Whenever I try to look at that website it asks me to log in. Any suggestions for getting in?

I believe it depends on your school. For myself, I applied to do research at my school and my school decided which student was going to be sponsored by what.

https://veterinaryscholars.boehringer-ingelheim.com/howtoapply

 

[puppydogtor]

Has anyone gone to VLE (Veterinary Leadership Experience)? Just wondering what I should expect and if you thought it was a valuable experience.

 

[battie]

Has anyone gone to VLE (Veterinary Leadership Experience)? Just wondering what I should expect and if you thought it was a valuable experience.

The gals from my class that went absolutely loved it and still talk about it years later.

 

[supershorty]

The gals from my class that went absolutely loved it and still talk about it years later.

Same, I don't think anyone in my actual class went, but a couple students in the year behind me did and rave about the experience.