Rotating Internship in Small Animal Medicine, Surgery, and Emergency

VCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital and Referral Center is a busy and rapidly growing general and specialty practice located in beautiful Albuquerque, NM. We currently have five highly experienced general practitioners, two emergency clinicians, and the following board certified specialists: two internists, two surgeons, two oncologists, and two ophthalmologists. We also currently have eight rotating interns. Our internal medicine doctors offer a combined 50+ years of clinical and teaching experience. Both of our surgeons are skilled in orthopedic, soft tissue, neurologic, oncologic, and minimally invasive surgeries. We have a dedicated ophthalmology surgical suite and our ophthalmologist has an active role with our local zoo. Our boarded oncologists are enthusiastic teachers and see a variety of cancer cases which provide interns with many opportunities for hands-on experience. The intern director, along with our experienced general practitioners and support staff, are dedicated to ensuring that our interns receive the best mentoring and training possible. Our 10,000 square foot specialty center provides a more comprehensive critical care unit staffed around the clock, diagnostic tools such as a helical CT scan and fluoroscopy, and advanced medical procedures such as strontium-90 radiation, interventional radiology, and cataract surgery. Interns will actively participate in medicine and surgery rotations along with daytime (general practice receiving) and overnight emergency. In the medicine and surgery rotations, our interns work one-on-one with the specialists and have shared primary case responsibility. During the medicine rotation, you will gain valuable clinical experience in ultrasonography. Most interns average 200 ultrasound exams a year. You will also be exposed to flexible and rigid endoscopy procedures (with some practical hands-on experience). While working with the surgeons, you will gain valuable experience in diagnosing a myriad of orthopedic conditions and will be exposed to a variety of soft tissue, oncologic, and neurologic surgical conditions. While seeing patients on general receiving, you will be exposed to routine conditions (otitis externa, superficial pyoderma, lameness, etc.), along with urgent cases such as hemoabdomen, GDV, and acute hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. While on overnights you will be joined by an internship-trained ER clinician for the majority of your shift. By the end of the year, you will feel comfortable triaging, diagnosing, and treating just about every condition imaginable!You will also rotate through each of our specialty services, including time with a local board certified neurologist and dermatologist. Local elective out rotations with a board certified cardiologist, a board certified dentist, and at the local Rio Grande Zoo are available. Valuable elective surgery experience is obtained through a regular outside rotation with the local shelter association. Last year’s interns completed over 600 spays and neuters through the program and previous classes were honored with awards by the City of Albuquerque for their commitment to the local shelter. An abundance of lacerations, pyometras, gastrotomies, and other urgent conditions allow you to gain additional surgical experience under the supervision of an experienced practitioner. If you have a special interest in an area not provided during your training, you are given the opportunity to participate in an outside rotation. In these cases, special consideration is given to doctors actively pursuing a residency.Albuquerque, NM is a wonderful city of approximately 800,000 people. It averages over 340 days of sunshine a year. The “Duke City” is an exceptionally active city with dozens of mountain biking and hiking trails only 20 minutes away from the hospital. Nine winter ski resorts are within a 3 hour drive. Other activities include river rafting, fly fishing, the largest hot air balloon festival in the world, and a unique Native American cultural influence. Albuquerque has recently been named one of the healthiest cities in America and has been placed in numerous Top 10 cities to live in the US in various publications. Your internship provides you with two days off in a row per week which gives you the opportunity to enjoy all that Albuquerque has to offer. Our program provides an excellent mixture of one-on-one clinical teaching (e.g., daily morning case rounds with all scheduled specialists), didactic training (formal seminars, grand rounds, journal club), and primary case responsibility. Interns receive a free subscription to Veterinary Information Network (VIN) from VCA. We have a very strong, formal mentorship program to help our new doctors through the rigors of an internship. VCA provides professional liability coverage, eligibility for medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance and participation in a 401(k) plan. Interns have elective time which can be used for residency or employment interviews. Within the last six intern classes, 11 of the 21 interns who applied for residencies are currently in a residency program, and two were placed in dedicated specialty internships. Alternatively, those who pursue a private practice career will be under first consideration for the multiple opportunities within the VCA community.We encourage you to speak with our current interns regarding their experience at VCA Vet Care. Please contact them with well-thought-out questions and understand their work schedule may prevent an immediate response. Dr. Kellyi Benson (Colorado State): [email protected]Dr. Mary Calhoun (Wisconsin): [email protected] Dr. Lauren Carlson (Auburn): [email protected]Dr. Megan Edwards (Tennessee): [email protected]Dr. Ashley Reid (Oregon State): [email protected]Dr. Sabina Sheppard (Texas A&M): [email protected]Dr. Jena Web (Texas A&M): [email protected]Dr. Jennifer Zimmer (Ross): [email protected]As a group, our entire hospital staff is dedicated to the success of your internship. We understand that you make a sacrifice, both in time and money. Our job is to provide you the tools to be a successful veterinarian. We take our commitment seriously and are exceptionally proud of all of our past interns!! Dr. Diane Schrempp, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)Intern Program DirectorVCA Veterinary Care Animal Hospital and Referral Center