Veterinary Extern - General Practice

An externship experience at an NVA hospital will give students the unique opportunity to understand the day-to-day operations of the practice, and to gain valuable hands-on clinical experience. Although every NVA hospital is unique, we all have some things in common: an environment that is supportive, committed to excellent medicine, and provides exceptional service to animals and the people who love them.

Availability: 2-week or 4-week placements per student.

Accommodation: Free on-site accommodation (private room with wifi, shared bathroom/shower and full kitchen), or option to find own accommodation within Regina.

About Us: 24 HR Animal Care Center is an AAHA accredited hospital, and the only private clinic in Southern Saskatchewan that is staffed 24 hours a day. Because of this, along with WCVM, we are often the "front line" for care of emergency and referral cases in this region. Our hospital is strictly companion animal, and we accept all types of emergencies/critical care cases along with regular appointments, wellness exams and vaccines – the best of both worlds (GP and ER)!

Our team of veterinarians is dedicated to providing the gold standard of medicine in our 8,000 square foot and recently renovated facility, coupled with a full range of in-house diagnostics. We are fully-integrated and paper-lite using Cornerstone Practice Management Software.

In-house diagnostics include: 2 x IDEXX CBC and Chemistry Analyser with T4, Phenobarbital, Cortisol, Fructosamine, UPC ratio, SDMA, PT-PTT and Blood Gases; SNAP tests; Sedi-Vue Urine Sediment Analyzer and RapidBac. ECG software, Digital Radiology, Dental Radiology, CT scanner and a new Doppler Ultrasound machine with color flow and cardio capabilities. We offer abdominal ultrasounds, POCVUS (point of care veterinary ultrasounds), echocardiograms, endoscopy and therapeutic laser. All CT scans are submitted to Antech Imaging, radiology referrals are submitted on a case-by-case basis to Idexx. Idexx cardiologists review our cardio cases as well. As nutrition is a vital component of animal health, we also have a trained employee dedicated to food sales, diet plans and nutrition follow-ups in our 1,000 square foot Nutrition Centre.

Our team environment allows for twice-daily rounds and case sharing among veterinarians, along with the support and heavy involvement of patient care from our RVT’s. Our supportive environment has allowed us to successfully host 3rd year students from WCVM as they work through their externship program with us. We have had the privilege of hosting externship students with great success since 2018. Now that we are partnered with NVA, our externship students are also compensated!

Veterinary students can expect excellent mentorship and support, a varied case-load, and hands-on procedural and surgical experience. Our veterinarians at 24 HR usually see more non-elective surgeries than elective in a week, including but not limited to exploratory surgeries, laceration repairs, GDVs, GI FB surgeries, splenectomies, enucleations, cystotomies and selective orthopedics such as fracture repairs, FHOs and TPLO’s. The schedule can be flexible but is typically comprised of 12 hour shifts.

All Veterinary students (regardless of class year) are encouraged to participate in NVA externships.

Veterinary students who are in the clinical portion of their education are eligible for a travel/living expense stipend. Click HERE to view list of stipend amounts and HERE for details on the stipend program.