Selecting Your Clinical Experience Placement
Collaborate and rank your preferred affiliate locations.
Share in the selection process for your clinical experience. Beginning in your 6th semester, you’ll work alongside our Clinical Affairs team to identify your interests and career goals, and eventually ranking your match preferences at the start of your 7th semester. A number of factors are considered during a student’s clinical affiliate matching, including international status, overall GPA, and academic performance in preclinical semesters.
While you aren’t guaranteed placement in your affiliate school of choice, we work with you to weigh the many factors and find a good fit for this important clinical experience.
Auburn University - Auburn, AL
Colorado State University - Fort Collins, CO
Cornell University - Ithaca, NY
Iowa State University - Ames, IA
Kansas State University - Manhattan, KS
Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine - Harrogate, TN
Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge, LA
Massey University - Palmerston North, New Zealand
Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI
North Carolina State University - Raleigh, NC
Oklahoma State University - Stillwater, OK
Oregon State University - Corvallis, OR
Purdue University - West Lafayette, IN
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Edinburgh - Roslin, United Kingdom
Royal Veterinary College - London, United Kingdom
Texas A & M University - College Station, TX
The Ohio State University - Columbus, OH
Tufts University - North Grafton, MA
University College Dublin -Dublin, Ireland
University of California at Davis - Davis, CA
University of Florida - Gainesville, FL
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, IL
University of Minnesota - St. Paul, MN
University of Missouri - Columbia, MO
University of Montreal - Montreal, QC, Canada
University of Tennessee- Knoxville, TN
University of Wisconsin - Madison, WI
Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine - Blacksburg, VA
This list was last updated March 2022 and is subject to change.
Discover How Clinical Rotations Work
Get the details on your 20-week clinical experience.
After your placement is announced, you’ll prepare for an intensive 45-week clinical experience inclusive of 20-weeks core clinical experience and 25 weeks of electives, externships and any additional requirements of your clinical site. Each clinical rotation varies in length, providing you with hands-on experience in multiple disciplines of veterinary medicine.
- Small-Animal Medicine: Includes preventive health maintenance/community practice (Minimum of 4 Weeks)
- Small-Animal Surgery: Minimum of 4 Weeks
- Medical Services: Includes anesthesiology and diagnostic imaging (Minimum of 4 Weeks)
- Diagnostic Pathology: Includes clinical pathology, parasitology, microbiology, and necropsy services (Minimum of 4 Weeks)
- Large-Animal Medicine: A minimum of 4 weeks in one of the following:
- Food Animal Medicine and/or Surgery: Includes ambulatory services, theriogenology, and/or food-animal production medicine where offered
- Equine Medicine and/or Surgery: Includes ambulatory services where offered
Enhance Your Clinical Experience with Electives and Externships
Create the clinical experience you need for the career you want.
Add on electives or externships to your clinical experience to maximize the value of this opportunity. Focus on a veterinary specialty of interest in an elective or engage in experiential learning through an off-campus, supervised externship.
ELECTIVES
Electives are evaluated rotations that allow you to focus on a veterinary specialty to further your learning beyond the core curriculum. Typically, students will receive a grade (associated with a course number) after completion of an elective rotation.
EXTERNSHIPS
Externships provide you with an experiential learning opportunity to actively explore your veterinary medical interests (i.e., exotic animal medicine or lab animal medicine) under-qualified DVM or Ph.D. It provides time to strengthen an area of weakness or begin to pursue employment opportunities. Externships may be conducted anywhere in the world, as long as they are approved by the clinical affiliate. An externship is an off-campus, supervised, and evaluated learning experience and students typically receive a pass/fail grade after completion.
Your externships must meet the following criteria:
- Must be directly supervised and evaluated by a fully qualified, practicing DVM or PhD
- State licensed veterinarian (if a veterinary practitioner)
- Must be in a veterinary or veterinary-related field
- Must be approved by your affiliate school (except for Cornell, Tennessee & Kansas State University*)
Throughout your externship experience you will work with a preceptor(s) of your choice who may be involved in one of the following areas:
- Private or specialty practice
- Diagnostic laboratories
- Research
- Zoo, exotic, or lab animal medicine
- Alternative medicine
- Federal or state service
- Industry
- Other pre-approved are
Externship Approval:
Before accepting an externship, you should seek approval from your clinical affiliate.
Externship Time Commitment:
Ross Vet requires that students spend a minimum of 35 hours per week in their chosen externships (your requirement for graduation is based upon weeks and not hours). Externships are for 2 or 3 weeks, depending on your number of weeks for your rotations at your clinical affiliate. One week is the equivalent of one credit hour
Compensation for Externships:
Students may not accept payment from the externship site, if compensation is offered. All compensation including scholarship, stipends, or reimbursement for other expenses (e.g. travel, food, and lodging) should be reported to the Student Finance office. Accepting compensation in any form may affect your financial aid. For more information contact Student Finance.
Externship Evaluation:
In order to apply towards clinical credit to graduate, all externships must have an evaluation completed by your externship supervisor (veterinarian or PhD). Evaluators will use the evaluation form of the affiliate school that you attend except for Kansas State University (KSU), University of Tennessee (UT), and Cornell University*.
In addition, students may be asked by their affiliate school to submit an evaluation of the externship experience for the benefit of future students.
All students are responsible for confirming that the evaluation of their externship has been returned to the appropriate person at their affiliate school or OSU if attending KSU, UT, or Cornell University. The externship supervisor must submit an evaluation of your performance for you to receive academic credit. Students that do not receive an acceptable (passing) evaluation will be required to repeat the externship prior to graduation.
*OSU manages externships for students at KSU, UT, and Cornell University
REVIEW OTHER IMPORTANT CLINICAL EXPERIENCE INFORMATION
Beginning in your 4th and 5th semesters at Ross Vet, the Clinical Affairs team will provide you with all the information you need to successfully complete your clinical rotations.
Your affiliate school will require malpractice insurance. This insurance is provided for your clinical year through Essex Insurance Company. This Policy can be found in the RUSVM Portal under Clinical Affairs.
- Passing the NORTH AMERICAN VETERINARY LICENSING EXAMINATION® (NAVLE®) is a requirement to practice veterinary medicine in the US and Canada. This computer-based, multiple-choice examination administered by the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA) is offered throughout North America and at certain overseas sites typically during a four-week testing window in November-December, and a two-week window in April.
- Information on this essential licensing examination is available on the ICVA website.
- Once you’ve graduated and passed the NAVLE, you’ll need to meet the requirement of the jurisdiction where you wish to be licensed. The American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) provides these details and serves to support veterinary licensing boards across the U.S., Canada, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
- Additional information is available at AAVSB.
