Creating an Exceptional Externship Experience

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is an extern
Application process, waiver, liability insurance, and volunteer accident insurance
Scheduling
Communication
What is an extern allowed to do
Paid Externships
Evaluations
School Paperwork

United Veterinary Care supports both veterinary student externs and hospital teams through the process of creating an exceptional externship experience.

If you have any questions regarding UVC's externship program, suggestions for improvement, or success stories, please feel free to share them by emailing Laura Leinen at lauradvm@unitedvetcare.com. Or contact your Recruiting Specialist, who facilitated the scheduling process, for guidance.

What is an extern

Veterinary student externs are typically in their clinical years (4th year +/- 3rd year) at an AVMA accredited veterinary school. These students have had ample classroom education, hands-on surgical training, and time spent in clinical rotations at their veterinary teaching hospital. Many of these students have been technicians or assistants prior to veterinary school. Some 4th year students are just a rotation away from becoming a doctor. Some students request these opportunities earlier in their schooling, and if you have availability and interest in hosting these earlier students, we support and encourage that! It's important to understand how far through their schooling your extern is, develop realistic expectations of their abilities, and meet their goals for the externship.

Application process, waiver, liability insurance, and volunteer accident insurance

When viewing UVC externship locations, students will learn key details about your individual hospital, such as the number of doctors working there, services offered, and specific interests of your team so that they can find the ideal externship site for their interests and goals.
Interested students will complete a brief application at our centralized externship application site: United Veterinary Care Careers.
Along with their application, students will complete an externship waiver, indicate that they have medical insurance, and have the student version of AVMA-PLIT insurance. Instructions for obtaining the student version of AVMA-PLIT, which is free for veterinary students at AVMA accredited veterinary schools, are provided within the application.
UVC has obtained Volunteer Accident Insurance for all our partner hospitals through Berkley Accident and Health. If an extern is injured during their time at a UVC hospital, we will use this policy rather than Worker's Compensation, since some states do not allow volunteers/externs to be covered via Worker's Compensation. Our Volunteer Accident Insurance means that we can offer externs a hands-on experience in our hospitals! We wish to offer valuable clinical experience to externs and encourage them to participate as much as possible.

Scheduling

Students will indicate in their application the dates that they are available for an externship. To make opportunities as accessible as possible, we ask that participating hospitals accommodate their requested dates to the best of their abilities. If you can't host a student for their requested dates, your Recruiting Manager will discuss whether the student has alternate dates available or assist them in finding another externship location.
Most externships are 2-4 weeks long. Some veterinary schools have extended periods available for student externships. For example, Auburn University has an 8 weeklong preceptorship opportunity in the students' 4th year, just prior to graduation.

Communication

As with most things, communication is key to creating a great experience for externs. Students commonly become frustrated by delayed response to submitting extern applications. When they don't hear back promptly, students will move on to other opportunities. We want to create an exceptional externship experience, from application to on-site clinical experience, to helpful career conversations with the recruiting team. One way to develop a positive reputation for the UVC externship program is to have a definitive response regarding hospital availability for the student's requested dates within 5 business days of application submission.

Externship applications are received by your Recruiting Specialist who will review the application, student's resume, and waiver and alert the Practice Manager +/- Medical Director about the interested student and the dates they are requesting to spend with your hospital. Once the dates are approved, your Recruiting Specialist will get you connected via email with the student.

This initial communication between the student and the hospital should include:

Where to park
What to wear (scrubs, business casual, etc.)
Expected schedule
Emergency contact information for the extern
Review special interests and goals of the extern
Inquire about the paperwork that your extern may need to be completed for school approval.

What is an extern allowed to do

Please refer to the State Guidelines for Extern Participation document outlining the specific laws and rules from your state's practice act.
When in doubt, contact your state veterinary board for further guidance. As with most things in vet med, there are differences from state to state.
In general, clinical year veterinary students that are in direct supervision by a licensed veterinarian are permitted to perform the functions of a licensed veterinarian.
It is important to be observant and sensitive to your extern's comfort level and skill and consider that as you give them opportunities.

Financial Support for Externships

Please refer to the How to Initiate Stipend Payment document detailing the instructions for getting your extern financial support in the form of a stipend. We are offering a $600 stipend for each full-time week with the clinic. So, if your extern spends two weeks at your hospital, they will receive a $1,200 stipend. This helps offset their travel and lodging expenses and makes our opportunities more accessible.

Evaluations

A brief evaluation will be sent to the extern after the externship has been completed.
The evaluation completed by the student will help us identify what is working well as well as areas that we can improve the experience.
The results will be shared with the partner hospital and the recruiting manager. The evaluation also includes information about the extern's future career goals and plans to ensure that we never miss out on these candidate connections!

School Paperwork

Some schools will require that the hospital team complete forms before and/or after the externship. These forms may include initial approval paperwork and/or post-experience evaluations. Please reach out if you need any assistance or clarification with these requests.