Banfield is Seeking Externs!

Banfield Pet Hospital’s Veterinary Affairs team seeks to identify bright and motivated veterinary students to fill student externship positions during their clinical rotation year.  The Veterinary Affairs team is responsible for identifying opportunities to improve the quality of veterinary care provided in Banfield hospitals and developing and implementing systems to enact those improvements. This work is done primarily through analysis of data from the centralized electronic medical record (PetWare®) database, use of other internal and external information sources including other internal electronic reporting, record review, peer-reviewed literature, hospital team member and client surveys, subject matter expert consultations, and other veterinary and pet care industry partnerships. The work of the Veterinary Affairs team has led to evidence-based changes to practice policy, identification of new equipment and product needs, and development of hospital and client materials, to name a few.

The student extern will be paid for 3-4 weeks (minimum, negotiable time frame), during which they will receive training and mentorship from the Veterinary Affairs team and will be working at Banfield’s Central Team Support (national headquarters) in Vancouver, Washington (USA).  The extern will have the opportunity to fully engage in projects that support Banfield’s Veterinary Medical Quality program, focusing on patient care and outcome(s). Duties may include (but are not limited to) literature reviews, medical record reviews, and analyses of pet population health data (e.g., descriptive statistics). Student projects will be based on Banfield practice priorities and needs at the time of the externship and student skillsets. Students with knowledge and interests in companion animal health, epidemiology/population health management, electronic health data, applied clinical research and veterinary medical quality will be given preference.

Primary responsibilities may include:

• Review of electronic pet medical records
• Analysis of medical or other data
• Literature review
• Written scientific report to include background, methods, and results
• Oral presentation of project findings
• Active participation in project and other team meetings

• Additional opportunities
  • Learn about corporate veterinary practice, particularly veterinary medical quality
  • Meet with Banfield veterinarians working on different teams within the organization and learn about their career paths
  • Learn about other Mars Veterinary Health and Petcare business units
• Requirements:
  • Third- or fourth-year veterinary student (at the time of application)
  • Minimum of 3-week availability in clinical rotation schedule
  • Strong aptitude and interest in companion animal medicine and population health
  • Strong interest in applied clinical research
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Comfort in working in an open-office environment
• Additional Details:
  • Hourly wage of $18.45/hour; unpaid track available for those participating to fulfill a requirement for school credit and unable to receive compensation.
  • Students intending to participate in the externship for academic credit are expected to have necessary approvals by their veterinary medical school prior to the start of the externship experience.
  • Housing and transportation to be secured by extern
  • Applications with externship dates for the current and next academic year will be accepted
  • Participants can expect to spend 40 hrs. per week in the placement, with their schedule mirroring that of their coach and other members of the Veterinary Affairs team