Glenwood Veterinary Clinic has provided services to Glenwood Springs and the western slope of Colorado since 1936. From a one-man country practice we have evolved into an 4 veterinarian full service mixed animal practice. Our focus is equine medicine and surgery, but we have two small animal veterinarians, and we also see a small number of food animal, camelid, and exotic patients each year as well. We are well established as the equine  referral center for western Colorado and parts of Utah and Wyoming, and we provide 24/7 emergency services for horses who need that level of care.

GVC is proud to offer a long-standing and well-received externship program for both domestic and international veterinary students. We thoroughly enjoy having externs and are looking forward to your visit. The veterinarians and staff at GVC feel a strong commitment to give back to the profession by contributing to the education of veterinary students and veterinary technician students. We hope that GVC’s externship program will offer you the opportunity to observe a wide variety of cases, expose you to new procedures and protocols, and provide you a chance to work with our veterinarians and staff. We are also happy to provide insight for you on issues related to business, practice management, and career placement as it interests you.

We do not prepare formal extern schedules, but assign externs to clinicians each day based on caseload, the particular interests of individual externs, and the manpower needs for the day. Externs are not expected to be technicians at GVC, but we appreciate your help as it is needed. While our externships and internship are equine oriented, students who are interested in mixed practice will have ample opportunity to be involved in other species as well. Our goal is for students to leave here with a broad exposure to all aspects of equine general practice, as well as sports medicine, surgery, and in-depth lameness diagnosis. We do our best to give students as much hands-on experience as possible, depending on experience, the patient, and the sensibilities of our clients regarding student involvement with cases.

GVC provides basic housing and cooking facilities for visiting students free of charge. Housing is here at the clinic, which keeps students close to the action for night and weekend emergencies. A car is not necessary, but is recommended if students would like to explore the area during any down time. Shopping and other services/amenities are within walking or biking distance, or by public transportation. Most students get here by flying either to Denver, Vail/Eagle, Aspen, or Grand Junction, then arranging for transportation from there. Public transportation is available from all of these airports except Vail/Eagle, and car rentals are available from all airport options, including 1-way rentals. Many students use either a Greyhound bus or the Colorado Mountain Express to get here from Denver, and there is now a service called Bustang, operated by the Colorado Department of Transportation, which is relatively fast and affordable.

We encourage students to visit for 2-3 weeks to gain maximum exposure to the practice. Externships of less than 2 weeks or more than 3 weeks will be considered on an individual basis. Many students like to visit early in their vet school years to get a feel for GVC then come back as seniors if they are interested in the internship. Students are expected to participate in our weekly Journal Club, where they summarize a recent article from the veterinary literature, followed by discussion with the rest of the group. Students are also often asked to provide input from either their veterinary school experience or from literature searches that may be integrated into case management.

Students may apply for externships by emailing Dr. Tracy Douglas (DrD@glenwoodvet.com). Please include 2-3 options for dates, preferably with Friday arrival and Sunday departure, although this can be flexible based on your travel requirements. That email should also include an attachment of your CV as well as a paragraph telling a bit about yourself (equine experience, etc) and your professional goals (i.e. what you want to do after graduation). Externships are required for internship candidates, and we encourage 2 visits if possible (1 early in vet school and 1 during your 4th year) for those who are highly motivated to be an intern in our practice. A detailed document with more specific externship guidelines will be provided upon confirmation of your visit. We have no more than 2 externs at one time to maximize the quality of the experience, so application well in advance of your anticipated arrival is strongly encouraged.

You can find out more information at www.glenwoodvet.com or visit our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter pages.