The veterinary extern is expected to achieve the following goals:

• 1 – Be able to identify the common wildlife species of Virginia and have some understanding of their natural history.
• 2 – Know the techniques used to restrain wild animals, and perform physical restraint of wild reptiles, birds and mammals.
• 3 – Perform physical examinations, basic clinical techniques (such as venipuncture), and treatment of wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• 4 – Be able to perform and interpret basic diagnostic procedures such as hematology and radiography of reptiles, birds and mammals.
• 5 – Perform both inhalation and, if appropriate, injectable anesthesia on wild reptiles, birds and mammals.
• 6 – Perform surgical procedures such as wound repair on appropriate cases.
• 7 – Know the humane methods of euthanasia used in wildlife species.
• 8 – Perform gross necropsies on wild reptiles, birds, and mammals.
• 9 – Have a basic knowledge of the important diseases of North American wildlife, especially wildlife zoonoses.
• 10 – Understand the medical and ethical issues regarding the treatment, rehabilitation and conservation of wildlife.
• 11 – Understand the concept of conservation medicine, and the role the Wildlife Center can play in wildlife disease monitoring, ecosystem health, conservation and public education.
• 12 – Develop communication skills by presenting a seminar on a case report, or topic of interest to the staff of the Wildlife Center.

Roles and Responsibilities

• 1 -Actively participate in rounds.
• 2 -Be present at the center from 8 AM to 5 PM (or later). The after-hours emergency duty is shared between the intern and the students. Students will have one weekday off per week worked.
• 3 -Students are welcome to use reference materials from the library and veterinary office. They may also be borrowed overnight with permission from the veterinarian.
• 4 -Minimize patient stress. The patients at the Wildlife Center of Virginia are wild animals, and therefore should be treated as such. The risk of imprinting the patient and stress should be minimized by not handling the patients excessively, covering the patients’ eyes when possible, and talking quietly and not directly to the animal, especially when it is eating. This is very important in orphaned animals where the risk of imprinting is very high.
• 5 – The attire is informal at the Wildlife Center of Virginia. Externs should feel free to wear scrubs, t-shirts, jeans and shorts as long as they are clean and presentable. Closed-toed shoes are required. Students should come prepared with surgery scrubs, stethoscope, raingear, and some type of protective clothing such as a lab coat or coveralls.
• 6 – Students are responsible for keeping records for the active cases. This includes writing a short SOAP for each patient every day.

Interested students should apply in writing to either:

Please include a résumé along with a letter explaining career goals and the time period desired. When accepted into the program, students will be sent a copy of the “Veterinary Externship Manual in Wildlife and Conservation Medicine”.

Required reading

Davidson W. 2006. Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases in the Southeastern United States, 3rd Ed. Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Diseases Study. (Excellent overview of the wildlife diseases of this region.)

Suggested reading

Proceedings of the 1995 AAZV/WDA/AAWV Joint Annual Conference, East Lansing, Michigan. (Has many good examples of using wildlife as indicators of ecosystem health.)
Altman R. Clubb S. et al (eds). 1997. Avian Medicine and Surgery. W. B. Saunders.
Friend M, and Franson J. 1999. Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases: General Field
Procedures and Diseases of Birds. US Geological Survey. (This book can be downloaded from http://www.usgs.gov)
Williams ES, Barker IK. 2001. Infectious Diseases of Wild Mammals, 3rd Ed. Blackwell Publishing.
Samuel WM, Pybus MJ, Kocan AA. 2001. Parasitic Disease of Wild Mammals, 2nd Ed. Blackwell Publishing.
Aguirre AA, Ostfeld RS, Tabor GM, House C, & Pearl MC. 2002. Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Wobeser GA. 2006. Essentials of Disease in Wild Animals. Blackwell Publishing. Thomas NJ, Hunter DB, Atkinson CT. 2007. Infectious Diseases of Wild Birds. Blackwell Publishing
Wobeser GA. 2007. Disease in Wild Animals: Investigation and Management, 2nd Ed. Springer

These books are more for reference on the medicine and surgery of the various species seen at the Wildlife Center.