Should I apply for an Internship after Veterinary School?

Posted on November 1, 2009

Written by Bradford P Smith, DVM, DACVIM, Professor Emeritus

Here is what is probably going through your head after reading the title of this article……I am deep in debt, tired of school, and want to go out and be a veterinarian. An internship is just another year of indentured servitude!

Ok, you have some good points there. But you have already invested umpteen years in school, so what is one more year of training? Especially if you do not pay tuition and get at least a modest salary? The first year out of school is critical to building your habits of practice. Certainly many excellent practitioners did not perform an internship, proving that it is not essential. Perhaps they were fortunate to have been mentored by an experienced practitioner who was an excellent role model and colleague.

There is a lot of competition for internships and residencies, so there must be some value to them. The value of a good internship is that the transition to actually BEING a veterinarian is more structured and better mentored, so you are much more likely to develop good practice habits and enjoy your professional career for longer. Notice that I said “good internship”. Not all internships are equal, so you must do some homework and talk to people who have recently completed the internship or who are currently in the program. Some programs, including almost all university based internships, are soundly put together and teach and mentor effectively, but there are some programs which simply call themselves an internship in order to pay a low wage without returning any value in terms of rounds and mentoring.

“I can’t apply for an internship, because I am not near the top of my class in grades.” Most programs pick interns based largely on how they perform in the clinical setting, not strictly on grades. Letters of recommendation from clinicians are the key. Of course, of two equally talented people the one with the highest grades might win, but two equally talented people are rare indeed. So don’t be discouraged from applying for that internship if you are in the middle of the pack as far as your grades. And by all means do apply to numerous programs…don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

Internships are not accredited or approved by any governing body. Anyone who wants to call a program an internship can start one. It is buyer beware. Although many internships are listed in the Veterinary Intern and Resident Matching Program (VIRMP) run by the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians, they are not vetted and not given any kind of approval. The AAEP likewise lists many equine internships, and again they are not approved by any group.

Residencies are in an entirely different category. Each specialty organization is approved and monitored by the AVMA. The specialty in turn monitors their approved residency training programs, which are the gate keepers for the specialty. If you are even vaguely considering doing a residency in surgery, internal medicine, radiology etc, then go ahead and do an internship, as that will likely assist you in your residency application. Many residency programs do take candidates from good practices too. If you successfully enter a veterinary specialty, your income is likely to benefit, and perhaps you will even enjoy practice at the specialist level more than you would at the general practitioner level.