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Internship Opportunities    

 

The internship experience at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic provides comprehensive exposure to all aspects of a top quality practice.  The individual will receive training and mentoring from eight very experienced clinicians, including 2 board certified internists and 2 board certified surgeons each with expertise in different areas of equine medicine or surgery.  Support staff includes 5 licensed veterinarian technicians and 5 veterinary assistants.  The clinic is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The practice encompasses a diverse caseload that ranges from advanced diagnostic, medical, and surgical procedures to routine preventive medicine.  Certainly one of the strengths of our program lies in the opportunity to experience both ambulatory and hospital practice situations.

We believe the practice can serve as an excellent starting point for both those new graduates desiring to pursue residency training and those individuals planning to jump straight into practice.  The range of clinical skills acquired by the intern would be an appropriate background for either specialty training or practice.  As such, we believe that this internship is particularly well suited for those individuals unsure as yet which course they wish to pursue.

Hospital cases provide in-depth training with constant oversight.  Field cases provide opportunities for independent decision making and honing of client relation skills.  The growth of the individual, as a clinician and as a person, is enhanced by these complementary experiences.  Our facility includes a 15-stall main barn, 5-stall isolation barn, complete surgical suite, and a lameness arena.  Advanced equipment on hand  include digital ultrasound, digital radiography, video endoscope and gastroscope, diode laser, laparoscope, arthroscope, full ASIF instrumentation, a 600 mA radiology unit, automated hematology and chemistry machines, and an Equistand nuclear scintigraphy unit.  We see predominantly sport horses:  foxhunters, hunters/jumpers, dressage and eventers and provide services for several Thoroughbred training facilities.  Our patient population also includes Western performance horses and about 200 broodmares.  The approximate caseload breakdown is 35% surgery, 30% medicine, 25% lameness, and 10% production medicine.

Currently, 3 interns begin the year-long position at the end of June.  Interns rotate weekly with 2 weeks in hospital service and 1 week in ambulatory service.  Hospital service will encompass diagnosis and treatment of medicine and surgery cases, assisting with outpatient workups including lameness evaluation, and participation in surgery.  Field duties would involve solo calls for emergencies, preventive medicine, and reproductive services, or assisting the other doctors on farm calls as needed.   Candidates for the internships are strongly encouraged to spend at least 2 weeks in an externship at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic prior to the December 1st deadline for applications.  To date, all interns selected have performed externships with us.  The application consists of a letter of intent, curriculum vitae, and the contact numbers of 3 individuals who can provide relevant background on clinical performance and character.  Interns must be licensed to practice in the state of Virginia.

Compensation information can be found on the AAEP Avenues website. For more information regarding an internship at BREC, please call us at 434-973-7947or email us @ brec@blueridgeequine.com.