Employment Information
Practice name
WestsVETS
Last Updated
September 20, 2024
Internship Type
Combined
% of time spent on ambulatory vs in-hospital
10% Small Ruminants
WestVETS Equine Hospital offers three (3) rotating internships focusing on developing recent graduates into well-rounded equine clinicians with the ability to retain and build upon small animal skills. This is a unique internship that is hard to match, the intern will gain a broad range of clinical skills to prepare them for whichever road they choose to take as a veterinarian. Our practice emphasizes a team approach to cases and interns will have strong mentorship from all of the veterinarians in the practice.
The Equine Hospital caseload has a good variety of cases; colics (both surgical and medical), ophthalmology (ulcers, conjunctival grafts, stromal abscesses), neonates (septic and dummy foals), orthopaedic (arthroscopy, fracture repair, arthrodesis), soft tissue surgery (laparoscopy, upper airway) wounds and medical cases (liver disease, weight loss, diarrhea etc). The clinicians also see a high number of lameness cases (fully equipped with a lameness locator) and prepurchase exams. We also have a very high caseload of routine calls such as dentals including dental extractions and run a very busy routine and emergency ambulatory service. The Equine Reproduction Centre is located at Marburg, interns are able to gain some exposure to the assisted reproduction such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and stallion collection. Interns have exposure to a wide variety of patients including racehorses to companion ponies to Olympic calibre athletes. There is also a moderate caseload of camelids, small ruminants and cattle that are seen both in the hospital and on the road. Graduate veterinarians will be confident to walk into any equine or mixed practice with a solid start to their careers.
The intern will have exposure to first opinion small animal consults such as vaccinations, snake bites/rat bait/tick cases, desexing, wounds and general medicine cases. Both the Equine Hospital and Reproduction Unit have a small animal clinic associated with it; the amount of small animal exposure can be tailored to each individual intern.
Please contact us if you would like more details regarding the internship. We strongly encourage applicants to speak to our current and previous interns. We also welcome those interested in the internship to visit the practice.
Renumeration and Work Conditions
Salary is in line with the Veterinary Services Award
Weekend duties include a 1 in 2 rotation which includes a long weekend (4 days off)
The internship includes 1 week of conference/study leave as well as 4 weeks of holiday leave
Subsidized rental accommodation is close to the clinic (2 minutes via car)
Eligibility
Applicants must be eligible for registration with the Veterinary Surgeons Board of Queensland, Australia.
3
- Equine general practice
- Sports medicine practice
- Equine/LA surgical residency
- Equine/LA medicine residency
- Equine/LA critical care residency/fellowship
- Ophthalmology residency
- Dentistry residency
Start date
January 6, 2025
End date
January 23, 2026
Application Deadline
October 31, 2024
Does the practice offer externships?
Yes, please email the practice contact for details
Is an in person visit or externship with the practice required to be considered for an internship?
No, but recommended
Contact Information
Brisbane, Queensland
[Canada] Prince Edward Island
Australia
4070
540 Mt Crosby Rd, Anstead, Brisbane, Queensland
Practice Mailing Address
540 Mt Crosby Rd, Anstead, Brisbane, Queensland - Brisbane, Queensland - Australia - [Canada] Prince Edward Island - 4070
Clinical Experience and Responsibilities
No
No
No
No
No
50-75%
Patient rounds held daily with senior clinicians
Yes
Teaching rounds held
Yes
Frequency of teaching rounds
4x/month
Weekly journal clubs held
Yes
M&M or other specialized rounds held
Yes
Intern has opportunity to attend a professional CE meeting
Yes
Intern has opportunity to complete a study or publication
Yes
Intern has access to current medical textbooks
Yes
Intern has access to online journals
Yes
In the past 5 years, how many studies/cases have been published by interns as the primary author from work pursued primarily during their intern year?
Equipment the intern has exposure to within the practice
- Arthroscopy
- Laparoscopy
- Fracture repair sets
- Gastroscopy
- Endoscopy
- Dynamic airway endoscopy
- Stat CBC analyzer
- Stat whole blood chemistry analyzer
- Blood gas analysis
- On site diagnostic lab
- Digital radiography
- Ultrasound linear probe
- Ultrasound macroconvex probe
- Ultrasound microconvex probe
- Ultrasound endorectal probe
- ECG
- Exercise ECG
- ETCO2 monitoring
- Shockwave
- Stall side orthobiologics
- Embryo Transfer
- Advanced podiatry/therapeutic farriery
- Power dentistry
Any additional information the practice would like to share on their internship program:
We offer tutorials with the interns depending on what they want to learn. We host VetPD courses twice a year that interns can participate in
Caseload
Total number annual cases
5000
Total number ambulatory cases
2000
Total number in-house cases
2000
Avg number of after hour emergencies per week in the busiest time of year
10-25
Avg number of after hour emergencies per week in the least busy time of year
10-25
Significant seasonality to the caseload
No
Species other than equids
Yes
Percentages of non-equids by species
10% Small Ruminants
Number of specialty certified clinicians
Number of clinicians in direct support of program
7
Diplomats of the following specialties (including their European Equivalents)
ACVIM – American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine - 1
ACVS – American College of Veterinary Surgery - 2
Other personnel of note (outside specialists, farriers, dentists, etc)
We have a visiting ophthalmologist We also have a farrier that visits every week
Additional certifications/area of expertise represented in the practice
Acupuncture certification, Chiropractic certification
Technician present on ambulatory calls
No
Overnight technical staff (if hospital present)
Yes
Other details about technician support of intern doctors
There is overnight staff for night time monitoring of patients Interns assist senior clinicians on the road but senior clinicians share technician support so it depends on needs of the entire clinic
Compensation
Annual Salary
>$65k
Additional opportunity for emergency compensation
No
Opportunities for additional income (production bonuses, working horse shows, etc).
No
Benefits
Benefits offered
Yes
Value of total annual compensation
75,000
Housing offered
Yes
Housing Type
Other
Housing Amount
$250
Paid time off (PTO) offered
Yes
# of PTO days
20
PTO stipulations
no more than 10 days at a time and in the off season
Health insurance offered
Yes for employee
Amount of health insurance premium intern is responsible for
This is an Australian internship and the health system is vastly different than US
Dental insurance offered
No
Life insurance offered
No
Short-term disability insurance offered
No
Long-term disability insurance offered
No
Liability insurance offered
Yes
CE stipend offered
Yes
License/DEA fees reimbursed / stipend offered
Yes
State license required
Yes
USDA license required
No
DEA license required
No
Association fees reimbursed / stipend offered
Yes
Student loan payments reimbursed / stipend offered
No
401K program offered
No
Clothing / logo wear stipend offered
Yes
Phone or phone stipend offered
Yes
Maternity / paternity leave offered
No
Discounted pet care and / or a pet medications policy offered
Yes
Practice vehicle or mileage reimbursement offered
No
Other benefits offered
Superannuation is on top of Salary
Contract
Non-compete clause required
No
Non-US residents may apply
Yes
Is visa support provided?
Yes
Depends on age of applicant
Method internship offers are made
Via phone or email
Earliest date of internship offer made in the last 3 years
1 year prior
Latest date of internship offer made in the last 3 years
2 months prior
Average time provided to internship candidates to consider an offer
Depends on applicant but 2 weeks usually
Outcomes Assessment
How long has the practice offered internships?
5 years
Number of interns that haven’t completed the program over the past 5 years, with explanation
1, the person did not think that they suited the program
Number of interns from this program who applied for a residency in the past 5 years
2
Number of interns from this program who entered a residency position directly out of the internship in the past 5 years
Number of interns from this program who accepted a second or specialty internship in the past 5 years
2
Number of interns from this program who accepted a residency position in the past 5 years
1
Number of interns retained by the practice as associates in the past 5 years
4
Of the interns that started the program in the past 5 years, how many are still in equine practice (and/or in an advanced training program targeted at specialty equine practice)?
50-70%
Number of former interns currently employed by the practice
3
Are current or former interns from the practice available for reference?
Yes, email the practice contact for details.
Additional information about the internship program
This is a mixed internship which allows you to develop the necessary skills to be an equine vet. But it also allows one to still keep their small animal skills by using them therefore you will be able to go wherever you want with your career. This is a really different type of internship than the typical equine internship but with all the same cases and learning opportunities that you would gain in typical equine practice.
