Vet Tech Externships a bridge to careers

Vet tech students’ dreams become reality as they transition from student to employee through externship course experience

by Stacey Ostby

Senior Lecturer

Utah native Hanna Myrin worked with multimillion-dollar horses at an amazing equine facility: Hagyard Equine Medical Institute – Lexington, KY

Robinson Hall, home of the Veterinary Technology Program, is quieter than normal during the summer; no students visiting in the halls, no dogs and cats to care for and work with in lab sessions, just a small but mighty team of instructors collecting and reporting data and performing the administrative side of accounting for our American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) accreditation reports, Institute for Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols and preparing for the fall semester classes. However, one course is in session: the Veterinary Technology externship. 

Minnesota native Breanna Metzenhuber holds a 2-pound mini Shih Tzu puppy - she wanted to put it in her pocket and take it home while working at her facility of choice: Arrowhead Animal Clinic – Grand Rapids, MN

An externship is the capstone course students are required to complete as they finish their educational journey within the Veterinary Technology Program at NDSU and is offered every semester. Each student must find a veterinary facility that employs at least one licensed veterinary technician and come to a mutual agreement that they can participate in 240 hours of working alongside their team. They do this to not only demonstrate the beginner level skills they have been trained to perform, but also to continue on their learning journey within the facility. Senior Lecturer Jordan Schrupp instructs the summer session of this course and has been with NDSU over 10 years. Each summer, she is in contact with the students as they navigate these new waters and experience life in the workplace. 

Foster kitten Squeaky, surrendered to clinic due to foreign body surgery, pet toy squeaker removed, hence the name.

The Vet Tech team looks forward to our students finding their wings and embracing what they learned to implement it within the facility they have chosen. As a part of their externship course, the students provide a daily blog-type report of their experiences and feelings. Jordan gains insight into their daily “journal” of working events and then disseminates those experiences, mostly good, but occasionally challenging, to our teaching team. Our team, all of whom worked in the veterinary field prior to transitioning to veterinary technology instruction, lives vicariously through these student experiences, rejuvenating our spirit for all things veterinary medicine and learning from the experiences where or how we may continually improve the abilities of our students.

Minnesota native Sara Abel and foster kitten Squeaky. Sara is caring for him until a home can be found. Her facility of choice: Pet Central Animal Hospital – Minneapolis, MN

During the 2024 summer session, we followed 18 students as they completed their externship experience. Nineteen veterinary facilities hosted these students as some performed half of their experience at two separate facilities. Although we provide a job fair on campus each fall to ensure students have been exposed to facilities of many different areas of expertise, the decision ultimately lies with the student to select a facility that meets our site requirements and will create their final learning experience.  

North Dakota native Brenna Boucher obtained hours of practice with large animals, but especially at bull semen testing, 504 bulls to be exact, as she used her family ranching background and new learned veterinary technology skills at her large-animal based facility of choice: Steele Veterinary Clinic – Steele, ND

Summer 2024 states and number of students externing there:

North Dakota 9, Minnesota 6, Kentucky 1, Oregon 1, Colorado 1, South Dakota 1

Part of the student’s journey and the program’s AVMA accreditation relies on touring or viewing each facility to ensure they have all needed equipment, safety measures in place, and meet as many of our required educational skills as possible. As journeying to these facilities has become far too challenging, we have transitioned to a video and photo tour of the facility provided by the students. This educational but fun assignment allows the student to not only find many items within a facility they will need to use and know where to grab in a pinch, but also elevates the understanding the instructional team has regarding their facility of choice. All our students enjoyed many aspects of their summer experiences but we would like to highlight a few experiences they were eager to share as their time in these wonderful environments comes to a close. 

No matter where you are from, your previous experience with animals, or your age, the Veterinary Technology Program at NDSU can assist you in meeting your animal care educational goals and help propel you to a job you not only love, but also where you can make a difference in the lives of animals in your community every day. What would your externship experience look like? Our instructional team is looking forward to the 25 students preparing to join us as first year Professional Program Veterinary Technologists this fall semester. In no time at all, they will be venturing out to create their dream externship experience. The quiet hallways of Robinson Hall will soon be abuzz again with excited students eager to learn. What a wonderful experience for not only them, but also our instructional team! 

If you or a veterinary facility near you would like to participate in our annual on-campus job and externship fair to ensure our students are aware of the opportunity to work with you, please e-mail Stacey.ostby@ndsu.edu or Lisa.christenson@ndsu.edu , program co-directors, to be added to our contact and planning list.