Veterinary Externship

We are currently accepting applications for spring of 2025, as all open positions for 2024 have been filled.

Specific duties would be to assist the veterinarian in all aspects of animal care, medicine, and surgery. This will include animal handling, diagnostic procedures and sampling, processing lab samples, and medicating patients. Opportunity for hands-on involvement will vary according to prior experience as well as demonstrated knowledge and skills. Patients will be both collection animals and sick/injured/orphaned wildlife brought into our rehab facility. There will be daily homework assignments as well as weekly journal/book chapter rounds with team discussion. 

In addition to hands-on experience, there will be a didactic portion to the externship, which will require the student to perform journal/textbook reading, topic rounds, and for 4+ week-long experiences, a project/presentation will be required. Students will present their findings to the Animal Health Department +/- husbandry staff during their last week in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. 

Requirements
This externship is limited to students CURRENTLY enrolled in a veterinary medical program (DVM or VMD degree). 

Hours per week: 40 hours/week; Generally, Monday-Friday, 8a-5p. 

Externships are offered from January to August of each year. Students should plan to spend two to four weeks at the Texas State Aquarium. The number of available positions will depend on the externship length for each student that year. Externship applications are accepted on a rolling basis for each year until slots are filled, and qualified applicants are scheduled based on the extern's schedule as well as staff availability.