Equitait’s Equine Practice Internship

 

This is a tremendous opportunity to launch your equine career and to learn and develop practical skills in a safe and supportive environment. You will gain good exposure to first opinion equine-only practice, which will suit you really well if you are looking to pursue a career with an equine component. It would also be a perfect fit for you if you are interested in undertaking an internship in an equine hospital, taking a job in first opinion practice or have aspirations within the equine sphere within your career.

As most graduates wish to graduate into general first opinion veterinary practice with a good amount of back-up and structured input into their development, our internship is designed to support your transition to help you become a clinically confident equine vet. The skills you learn would also be an excellent base if you are looking to pursue a hospital-based career in the future.

Our internship provides graduates with these main experiences –

  • Clinic work – Since its opening, we have been gradually doing more and more work at our clinic. We regularly use the clinic for lameness work ups, gastroscopy, laser clinics, standing surgeries and, during the breeding season, we have a number of visiting mares and stallions boarding for reproductive services. The clinic will provide you with the opportunity to consolidate your undergraduate skills away from the watchful eyes of the clients, in a safe and supportive environment.
  • Bonded ambulatory work – initially you will be able to assist the other vets with procedures whilst out on calls, also supporting with the administration surrounding these calls. This will include many clinical matters for example assisting with diagnostic imaging.
  • Sole ambulatory work – your remaining time will be spent doing some routine veterinary calls.
  • Additionally, you will be exposed to telemedicine triage when you are ready to take this on, routine lab work and will also support our digital marketing content.

 

Tasks that you could perform on your own, on the road after initial briefings and supervision

  1. Vaccinations
  2. Passport sketches and applications / Insertion of microchips
  3. Routine dentistry including with motorised rasp
  4. Bandage changes
  5. Blood sampling (eg pre-movement strep equi bloods sampling / ACTH cushing’s testing) and
  6. Sedate for farrier/dentist/clipping.

 

Subsequent tasks/techniques that you are likely to get exposure to and be involved in

  1. IV catheters
  2. Abdominocentesis
  3. Rectal examinations
  4. Field anaesthesia
  5. Sedation techniques for standing surgery
  6. Euthanasia
  7. Removing shoes
  8. Nasogastric intubation
  9. Perineural and joint blocks (arthrocentesis)
  10. Clitoral swabs
  11. Ultrasound PD
  12. Castration (standing and GA)
  13. Guttural pouch lavages
  14. Stallion semen collections/artificial insemination
  15. Gastroscopy

 

Tasks/techniques that you may be involved in, dependant on the clinical case load

  1. Foal care
  2. Donkey care
  3. Abdominal ultrasonography
  4. Teeth extractions
  5. Liver biopsy
  6. Oral glucose absorption test
  7. Tear duct flush
  8. Caslick
  9. Sub-palpebral lavage system

 

 

Hours – routine appointments are booked between 8.30 and 5pm although the vets would occasionally pick up routine calls outside of these times

Holiday – 29 days per year, pro-rated, together with 2 wellness days

CPD – there will be a huge amount of in-practice CPD provided for you in the first 4 months. Thereafter we would support you in your requests for external CPD. We would support you doing a mini-research project during your internship

On call rota – 1 in 4 week nights and weekends on the ambulatory rota, with back-up provided to help you transition into the on call environment. On occcasions, in-patient care will be provided in the clinic

Phone – we will supply you with a work phone

Employee Discount – employees benefit from our generous discount scheme on products and services from the practice

Start date –  as soon as possible

Duration – 12 months

Professional Indemnity Cover – we will provide you with professional indemnity cover through the VDS

Accommodation – you will be provided with accommodation at the practice which has been newly renovated

Car – You will be insured on a pooled practice car or van.

 

In addition, should you already own a horse we would supply the facilities to enable you to have one horse on DIY livery (inc stable) on site at the practice

 

Our Gallery shows some procedures taking place at the practice

 

For applications or more information regarding our current package, please email equitaithr@outlook.com or call Colin on 07733 226164.