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PVPC Job Directory

Welcome to the PVPC Summer Experience Directory!

summer jobsIf you are looking for alternative, non-traditional summer internships, jobs, or volunteer opportunities, then you've come to the right place. There are thousands of possibilities out there, but sometimes they are hard to find, or you don't realize how soon you need to apply. Below is a list of experiences of fellow vet students, listed by state.

I would like to thank Sarah Beck, Class of 2007, and Bom Inman, Class of 2008 for their help in putting this together! Good Luck!

-Rebecca Greene, Class of 2007, PVPC International Liaison

Other useful links

ALASKA

Alaska Sealife Center- Research (also have Vet Internship program)

http://www.alaskasealife.org/

I helped compile and analyze blood work collected on the resident Steller sea lions at the ASLC. This species is endangered in Alaska and much of the research at ASLC focuses on endangered wildlife like Steller sea lions and eiders (birds). They also do research on orcas. A veterinarian actually heads the eider research program. I had minimal hands on experience with my position, but they have an excellent rehabilitation department and rehabilitation internships specifically for veterinary students. I had a wonderful experience in Alaska and interested students should visit the website and send in an application.

Student Contact: Kristie Conner, Class of 2007 krstcnnr@vt.edu

ARKANSAS

Turpentine Creek Exotic Wildlife Refuge, Eureka Springs, Arkansas - Animal Caretaker Internship-volunteer

Duties included animal care including feeding, cleaning cages and habitats, administration of medical treatments, and enrichment. Animals were primarily rescued exotic felines such as tigers, lions, and cougars along with other exotic species of wildlife. Opportunity for hands on contact with large felines. Also responsible for educating public with guided tours.

Recommended: if you want to touch tigers, lions, cougars, want to learn general husbandry of large animals and wildlife, want to experience life in the Ozarks, or want to participate in a non-profit organization this would be a great experience. Warning: it is 7 miles from the nearest town and that is even further from the next town. Temperatures reach 100-110 degrees with high humidity so if you don't like sweating and manual labor outside this isn't for you.

Student Contact: Laura Kretchmer, Class of 2008 lkretchm@vt.edu

CALIFORNIA

The Marine Mammal Center, Sausalito, CA

http://www.tmmc.org

Volunteering on 4 day crews. In the morning I'd help clean, prep food, clean, etc. and then I would go to rounds. On the days that we weren't overly busy up top, Dr. Haulena was usually kind enough to let me shadow him and help out some. This was not a vet specific experience, and there is not specific vet student thing you can set up with them unless you want to do a senior clerkship with them (which needs to be set up 18 months in advance). It would be either hit or miss on how much vet related stuff one would be able to do, or if they would let me follow them around for the day - the vet intern and student externs had first priority with the doctors.

Student Contact:

DELAWARE

Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Wildlife rehab in Newark, DE

Full summer Paid, or 3 weeks volunteer (4th year externships also available)

Student Contact:

INDIANA

Indianapolis Zoo: Deserts Biome

http://www.aza.org

The Deserts Biome position involved working with the zoos reptile and avian collections. My jobentailed caring for the zoos non-venomous reptiles as well as their breedingfinches and red fodeys. I did a lot of the dirty work--cleaning enclosures,preparing diets, feeding, maintaining exhibit integrity, etc. However, I alsoparticipated in much of the veterinary care of the collection and wasresponsible for medicating several of the animals on hand. This job providedan excellent opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes of a zoo and inparticular in the zoo's veterinary hospital. I worked with a variety ofspecies some of which included Aldabra tortoises, radiated tortoises, AfricanPancake tortoises, Desert Tortoises, Snake Necked Turtles, Jamaican,Rhinoceros, and Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas, Desert Monitors, Malaysian BloodPythons, Tentacled Snakes, Black-headed Python, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, BlueCapped Cordon Bleu Finches, and Red Fodeys to give you a sampling. This was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend to others. If anyone is interested in a zoo position I would recommend looking at the AZA website under employment or at each respective zoo's website. If anyone has further questions please feel free to contact me. The AZA's websiteis http://www.aza.org. My advice for getting a zoo position is look early and often.

Student Contact: Emily Anderson, class of 2007 eja134@vt.edu

MAINE

SummerDodge Foundation Frontiers Fellowship

summer jobs http://www.grdodge.org/frontiers_main.htm

Studied environmental mercury in birds (loons, eagles). For more information, contact student or check out the website for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Student Contact: Jesse Fallon, Class of 2008 jfallon@vt.edu

MASSACHUSETTS

Cape Wildlife Center, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

There is a house on site where interns live (at the time it was free, they may charge a nominal fee now), they also hired a few paid students each summer to work full time and live on site in addition to the volunteer interns. They see a wide variety of animals- birds, reptiles, mammals- everything from box turtles and songbirds and squirrels to raptors and mink and foxes. Interns are involved in all aspects of animal care, which means you have to clean cages and prepare diets, but you also get to administer treatments, give exams, take radiographs, and assist in surgery. We also did some acupuncture and homeopathy. It is hard work, and physically tiring with long hours (sometimes returning late at night to feed babies), but it is worth it. You get a lot of hands on experience with handling, tube feeding, giving fluids, and more. The area is also beautiful, although your free time is somewhat limited.It was a wonderful experience and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in wildlife rehab.For further information, or if you're interested in volunteering orparticipating in a student externship, please give us a call. You can reach by phone at 508-362-0111, by fax at 508-362-0268, or by e-mail atcapewildlife@hsus.org.

Student Contact: Jessie Keay, Class of 2007 jkeay@vt.edu

Aquavet

Summer course in aquatic vet med at Wood's Hole. Program through U Penn and Cornell.

Student Contact:

MARYLAND

United Stated Public Health Service,-JRCOSTEP at Poolesville, MD at the NIH Animal Center

http://www.usphs.gov/html/jrcostep.html

This was the first summer that applied for the JRCOSTEP position through the United Stated Public Health Service, and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. That having been said, it was a very worthwhile experience. I worked under Dr. Doug Powell at the animal center primarily with the primates at the quarantine facility. My main duties were to assist with the delivery of medications and performing physical examinations. This job provides the unique opportunity to gain a lot of hands on clinical experience with primates doing blood draws, giving injections, and administering medications. I also observed surgeries as well as helped out with daily cases during clinical rounds. In addition to the primates, the animal center houses sheep, pigs, dogs, rabbits, mice, a cow and a llama, so there was plenty of opportunity to work with a variety of species. The summer COSTEP often is asked to help with some of the larger animals, so I spent a significant portion of time assisting with physical exams on sheep and pigs. I definitely learned a lot!

Student Contact: Sarah Beck, Class of 2007

United Stated Public Health Service,-JRCOSTEP at Bethesda, MD at NIH with Pathology Services under the Department of Veterinary Services

http://www.usphs.gov/html/jrcostep.html

I was stationed for my second summer as a COSTEP at NIH in Bethesda with the veterinary pathologists in Pathology Services. This last summer my job involved assisting with afternoon necropsy service as well as preparing two pathology cases to be presented at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Wednesday slide conference. Being surrounded by extremely intelligent, accomplished pathologists all day long, I definitely learned a lot this summer!! They prefer to have students that have finished two years of vet school so that the student is farther along in their education, which I think does help some; however, a first year student will still gain a great deal from this experience and should not hesitate to apply if interested. There is a fair amount of research that is involved with this job, so if you don't like research and writing this might not be the best choice. There is also a LOT of hands on experience with necropsy, so if pathology is an interest at all for a student this would be a great choice for summer work! Personally, I thought that this summer was challenging but very worthwhile and enjoyable. It also provides a great opportunity to make great connections with veterinarians.

Student Contact: Sarah Beck, Class of 2007

Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology Summer Fellowship at the University of Maryland, Baltimore

3 students chosen for summer 2005, Short application is required

Stipend: $5,000

Great opportunity to learn research in epidemiology and public health. Numerous networking opportunities. Highly RecommendedMentors-

Project: Salmonella Enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104A in a collection of Australian Finches. Performed an outbreak investigation, investigated using a surrogate species to raise pathogen free offspring, gave recommendations for colony management, gave power point presentation, currently in the process of publishing an outbreak report in the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery.

Activities, Events, Seminars Attended:

Project: Salmonella Enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104A in a collection of Australian Finches. Performed an outbreak investigation, investigated using a surrogate species to raise pathogen free offspring, gave recommendations for colony management, gave power point presentation, currently in the process of publishing an outbreak report in the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery.

Activities, Events, Seminars Attended:

Student Contact: Laura Kretchmer, Class of 2008 lkretchm@vt.edu

NEW YORK

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/training/smith-kilborne/smith-kilborne.htmll

The Smith-Kilborne Program is designed to acquaint veterinary students with various foreign animal diseases which potentially threaten our domestic animal population. The program includes both classroom presentations on diseases and their implications combined with laboratory experiences. Following the seminar, students are expected to share their new knowledge with others. The Smith-Kilborne Program is conducted at two locations: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, Plum Island, NY

Student Contact: Laura Wier, Class of 2007 lswier@vt.edu

NORTH CAROLINA

Wake Forest University- Summer Fellowship in Laboratory Animal Medicine

Student Contact: JoAnna Perry, Class of 2007 jazzbio@vt.edu

OHIO

The Cincinnati Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW)

This was set up through Dr. Bill Swanson (department head of animal research, CREW). I did reproductive research directly under him. Much of my time was spent in the lab evaluating semen of small cats. I went with Dr. Swanson and his post-doc students to Michigan state to collect ooctyes from cats they had up there, and I also got to ultrasound andrectally palpate their Indian Rhino, to help determine her cycle and AI her. I got to see lots of behind the scenes stuff at the zoo and hung out with their zoo vets a few times. This was very much a research internship (not paid, but housing was provided across the street from the zoo). Out of it, I have a paper that won the AAZV student manuscript competition, and I will be presenting my research at their meeting this October. Pretty much all of the research they do here is reproductive related, and their main foci arewith rhinos (Indian and Sumatran), small cats (Pallas cats, Fishing cats, Sand cats, and Ocelots), Otters, and I know they're thinking about starting stuff with their polar bears. They also have a post-doc doing work with disease models. They do lots of AI, embryo transfer, and gamete collections. If anyone would want to do this, I would suggest going through Dr. Mashima or possibly contacting Dr. Swanson directly if small cat stuff is what you want to do: william.swanson@cincinnatizoo.org. The zoo's website is cincinnatizoo.org and to get to CREW, go to the conservation link.

Student Contact:

VIRGINIA

Conservation Management Institute- Virgina Tech

http://www.cmiweb.org/

Variety of Wildlife Research Field Projects to get involved with.

Student Contact:

Roanoke Wildlife Rescue

Volunteer with animal care.

Student Contact:

VMRCVM- Summer research fellow at the Center for Comparative Oncology with Dr. John Robertson

I worked with Dr. Bob during the summer of 2004 doing equine melanomaand other cutaneous cancer research. We harvested tumor cells fromvarious horses to grow them in tissue culture. It was the idea thatonce we had colonies firmly established we would then treat them withessential oils to see what effect that caused in the hopes of developinga new type of cancer treatment.

Paid fellowship.

Student Contact: Emily Venn, Class of 2007 evenn@vt.edu

VMRCVM- Summer research fellow at the Aquatic Medicine Lab with Dr. Stephen Smith

I worked with Dr. Stephen Smith in the Aquatic Medicine Lab over at CMMID. I worked on an environmental toxicology project, researching sublethal effects of the gasoline additive, MTBE on aquatic species. I learned a lot about aquatic medicine, lab research, designing and implementing a study, and histopathology prep and interpretation. I highly recommend the Summer Oncology Fellowships: they are paid, they are in Blacksburg, and you get research experience (which is good to see if you like it, great for your resume, and you might love it unexpectedly!).

Student Contact: Rebecca Greene, Class of 2007 rebeccag@vt.edu

VMRCVM- Miles-Igert Program, Student research fellowship

Working with horses and respiratory disease. Contact student for more information.

Student Contact: Kerri Cooper, Class of 2008 kecooper@vt.edu

VMRCVM-Dual degree program DVM/PHd

Yes- it can be done! Mike Nolan is doing his in Aquatic Medicine with Dr. Stephen Smith, Dani Weinstein with Dr. Steve Holladay.

Student Contact: Mike Nolan, Class of 2009 mwnolan@vt.edu or Dani Weinstein, Class of 2008 dweinste@vt.edu

VMRCVM- Student research

Worked with Dr. Gogal and Dr. Ahmed

Student Contact: Lidja Gill, Class of 2008 lng@vt.edu

Wildlife Center of Virginia

Research and Clinical Experience

Student Contact:

WASHINGTON, DC/ GOVERNMENT/ MILITARY/ NONPROFITS

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

http://www.grdodge.org/frontiers_main.htm

You pick your topic- apply for paid grant/stipend

Student Contact:

Summer Fellowship in Public Policy

2 weeks, coordinated by Dr. Ted Mashima at the Center for Public and Corporate Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM's University of Maryland's campus)

Student Contact:

United Stated Public Health Service- COSTEP program- see listing under Maryland

NIH- United Stated Public Health Service,-JRCOSTEP

Paid summer pathology job at NIH

Student Contact: Kerry Collins, Class of 2007 collinsk@vt.edu

Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)-Veterinary Student Employment Program

FSIS is the public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

Veterinary Student Employment Program provides paid summer experience that is directly related to the student's educational program and career goals. We have developed this program to provide students with a valuable career-related work experience in our Public Health Agency. Students will work directly under the supervision of a Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) Public Health Veterinarian (PHV) acquiring knowledge of what PHV's do throughout the Agency. Students will learn what our in-plant PHV's do to ensure the meat and poultry products that reach the consuming public are safe, wholesome and correctly labeled. Students will spend time with several PHV's in the Agency to gain an understanding of the variety of roles PHV's have in our Public Health Regulatory Agency.

At a minimum, students will be asked to be available and commit to 6 weeks of full-time employment (max 10 weeks) during the summer. It doesn't matter when the student starts, it just depends on the student's schedule. Students may also work during subsequent school breaks prior to graduation.

Student Contact: Kerry Collins, Class of 2007 collinsk@vt.edu

USAMRICD (US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense)

Paid summer internship. Contact student for details.

Student Contact:

USDA, APHIS- Veterinary Services Summer Internship

Paid summer internship. Contact student for details.

Student Contact:

Fr. Sam Houston for Army Health Professions Scholarship

http://vets.amedd.army.mil/opportunity/index.html

http://vets.amedd.army.mil/vetcom/index.html

Training requirement for Army Health Professions Scholarship. I was with 308 other veterinary, medical and dental students learning how to be an officer in the U.S. Army and also gaining more insight in theimportant role veterinarians play in helping maintain our Armed Forces.Veterinarians in the Army are heavily involved in research, especiallywhat effect emerging zoonotic diseases can have on populations as a whole, food safety and of course being responsible for the treatment ofgovernment-owned animals (military working dogs, ceremonial horses, labanimals, dolphins, etc...).

It was a great experience. I'm more than willing to answer whatquestions I can. Dr. Reardon is also a good source of info on this since he was in the Army for a very long time.

Student Contact: Emily Venn, Class of 2007 evenn8@vt.edu

INTERNATIONAL

Island Wildlife Natural Care Center, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada- Wildlife Internship

http://www.islandnet.com/~wildlife/

Unpaid internship, housing and food allowance provided. Beautiful campus with hospital, small lab, outdoor enclosures, indoor "ICU". Salt Spring Island is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and it was a great place to be for the summer, even if I worked 6 days a week. I got experience with a huge variety of avian and mammalian species, and of course with the main focus of rehabilitation of harbor seal pups.

An intern can expect to be part of most aspects of the rehab process. Working closely with our staff you will gain hands-on experience of basic rehab techniques such as handling, diet preparation, feeding methods, charting, cleaning and maintenance. Interns may also take part in rescues and releases and, depending upon experience, may assist with some technical work such as administering meds, x-rays and microscopic exams.

Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre is a registered charity dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned wild animals. We have earned permits from The Ministry of the Environment, Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Island Wildlife cares for all indigenous species from the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.

The emphasis is on alternative, nontoxic treatments such as homeopathy, herbal remedies and physical therapies. We feel that these treatments, in combination with conventional veterinary protocols, offer our wild patients the best chance for survival.

Student Contact: Rebecca Greene, Class of 2007 rebeccag@vt.edu