Employment Information
Practice name
Pioneer Equine Hospital
Last Updated
September 20, 2024
Internship Type
Combined
% of time spent on ambulatory vs in-hospital
We see 1-2 goats per year. We have a small animal acupuncturist and chiropractor, but the interns do not have any responsibility or requirements related to those cases.
Pioneer Equine Hospital is located in California’s central valley in Oakdale. We are nestled between the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and the valley’s vast agricultural landscape. Pioneer opened its doors in 1973 when two veterinarians had a vision to form the premier equine veterinary clinic in the area. Drs. Britton and Black built one of the most recognized equine hospitals in the country for equine surgery and lameness. From those deep roots, Pioneer has grown to become a full-service referral hospital. In addition, we provide full service primary care on both an outpatient and ambulatory basis.
We are a 100% equine practice – predominantly performance horse with emphasis on western, hunter, jumper and dressage. We also serve our local non-performance horse community. The hospital is a 22,000 square foot full-service facility on 20 acres in Oakdale, California. It has two spacious surgical suites with adjacent viewing rooms. There are four padded induction/recovery rooms which are utilized by surgery and MRI. There are seven large examination rooms including specialty rooms for standing surgery, radiology, ultrasound, and endoscopy. The covered lameness area is 140 x 300 feet with hard and soft ground for optimal evaluation. We have the only high field MRI in northern California and a Pegaso CT with an impressive 120cm gantry. There are two 20 stall barns which separate the surgical and lameness patients from the medical, emergency, and isolation cases. The on-site podiatry center offers highly skilled farriers who see outside appointments and work closely with the veterinarians in cases that need therapeutic or corrective shoeing. Our reproductive services include assisted reproductive technology, artificial insemination, sub-fertile mare management, foaling, full-service stallion management, breeding soundness evaluation, and collection of semen for shipping and freezing both domestically and internationally.
4
- Equine general practice
- Sports medicine practice
- Equine/LA surgical residency
- Equine/LA medicine residency
Start date
July 1, 2025
End date
July 1, 2025
Application Deadline
July 1, 2026
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
Oakdale
[USA] California
Stanislaus
95361
11536 Cleveland Avenue
Practice Mailing Address
11536 Cleveland Avenue - Oakdale - Stanislaus - [USA] California - 95361
Clinical Experience and Responsibilities
Yes
Service rotation description
Interns rotate between anesthesia, surgery, lameness/ambulatory, and hospital/internal medicine every two weeks.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
50-75%
Patient rounds held daily with senior clinicians
Yes
Teaching rounds held
Yes
Frequency of teaching rounds
Formal teaching rounds are held once weekly
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
- Stat CBC analyzer
- Stat whole blood chemistry analyzer
- Blood gas analysis
- On site diagnostic lab
- MRI
- CT
- Digital radiography
- Ultrasound linear probe
- Ultrasound macroconvex probe
- Ultrasound microconvex probe
- Ultrasound endorectal probe
- ECG
- ETCO2 monitoring
- Shockwave
- Stall side orthobiologics
- Stem cell capability/utilization
- Advanced podiatry/therapeutic farriery
- Power dentistry
- Other (please list)
Dental camera
Any additional information the practice would like to share on their internship program:
Interns are gradually given primary case responsibility as the associates gain familiarity and gain comfort in the interns’ skill sets over the first 6 months. During the second six months, they will see both emergency and some elective cases primarily, but will continue to have associate oversight throughout.
Interns are given primary doctor responsibilities on both procedures, diagnostics, and client communication gradually over the first 6 months as the associates become comfortable with each individual interns’ skills and comfort level.
All interns will learn to be the primary surgeon on routine castrations throughout their internship. They will be given opportunities to perform portions of other surgical procedures based on the intern’s skills and the surgeon’s comfort.
Interns will often be the primary case managers for in hospital cases. They will work directly with the associate or specialist to make a diagnostic and treatment plan as well as implement it. However, the interns will have direct supervision on all complex cases. During the day, there will be 100% supervision. On an emergency basis, the supervision will gradually decrease to about 50% over the course of the internship.
Rounds – Interns will discuss individual patients with their senior clinician on the cases at least twice daily. Formal, all-doctor, patient rounds are held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Formal teaching rounds are held once weekly on Thursdays.
Journal club rounds are included in our teaching rounds schedule and are held about 6 -10 times throughout the internship. Interns are each asked to present one formal case presentation and two topic rounds presentations over the course of the internship.
If an intern is interested in publishing during the course of their internship, they are highly encouraged and supported. If interested, we ask that you be the primary driver of organizing the project and you will be provided thorough support in data collection, statistics, writing, and publication. It is not a requirement of our program.
Interns are given 5 days off to attend a CE meeting as well as a stipend that is included in our compensation package.
Caseload
Total number annual cases
9000
Total number ambulatory cases
2000
Total number in-house cases
7000
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
5-10
Significant seasonality to the caseload
Yes
Seasonality description
Busiest season is April through October.
Species other than equids
Yes
Percentages of non-equids by species
We see 1-2 goats per year.
We have a small animal acupuncturist and chiropractor, but the interns do not have any responsibility or requirements related to those cases.
Number of specialty certified clinicians
Number of clinicians in direct support of program
8
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 two doctors certified in acupuncture and one in chiropractics.We have onsite farriers present all week days with a variety of specialty shoeing and learning opportunities.We have an associate that is an ultrasound specialist.
Additional certifications/area of expertise represented in the practice
Acupuncture certification, Chiropractic certification
Technician present on ambulatory calls
Yes
Overnight technical staff (if hospital present)
Yes
Other details about technician support of intern doctors
Intern will have technician support during daytime ambulatory calls. Externs are often asked to accompany the interns after hours. There is full time technical patient care/barn staff.
Compensation
Annual Salary
$46-50k
Total benefits package
Download the Benefits Worksheet
Additional opportunity for emergency compensation
Yes
Interns receive 25% of the after-hours emergency fees from January 1-June 1.
Opportunities for additional income (production bonuses, working horse shows, etc).
No
Benefits
Benefits offered
Yes
Click here to download the Benefits Worksheet
Value of total annual compensation
72050
Housing offered
Yes
Housing Type
On-site
Paid time off (PTO) offered
Yes
# of PTO days
10
PTO stipulations
7 days PTO, 3 days for job interviews. 5 additional days given for CE.
Health insurance offered
Yes for employee plus dependents
Amount of health insurance premium intern is responsible for
A portion is subsidized by the practice. Exact amount is 50-100% depending on the plan selected by the employee. It can be applied to both the employee and dependents.
Dental insurance offered
Yes
Life insurance offered
Yes
Short-term disability insurance offered
Yes
Long-term disability insurance offered
Yes
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
Yes
Employer matching offered
Yes
3% employer match
Clothing / logo wear stipend offered
Yes
Phone or phone stipend offered
No
Maternity / paternity leave offered
Yes
Discounted pet care and / or a pet medications policy offered
Yes
Practice vehicle or mileage reimbursement offered
No
Other benefits offered
Liability insurance is provided by the practice.
In addition to health insurance, we provide access to programs including legal support, wellness, pet insurance discounts, and more. Free mental health services are provided on day 1 of employment.
Dental, life, disability is available but not sponsored.
State licensure is required and USDA is recommended, both are covered by the practice.
DEA is not required and not covered by the practice.
Association fees for AAEP, AVMA, and CVMA are covered by the practice.
Polos and some additional clothing is provided at the start of the internship.
Discounted pet care/ medications – 40%
Vehicle is provided for all ambulatory calls.
Work phone can be provided by request.
Group pasture board is available for one horse per intern – $250/month.
Contract
Non-compete clause required
No
Non-US residents may apply
Yes
Is visa support provided?
Yes
Visa sponsorship and immigration counsel provided.
Method internship offers are made
By phone
Earliest date of internship offer made in the last 3 years
August
Latest date of internship offer made in the last 3 years
December
Average time provided to internship candidates to consider an offer
2-4 weeks
Outcomes Assessment
How long has the practice offered internships?
25 years
Avg number of interns who completed the program per year for the past 5 years
4
Number of interns from this program who applied for a residency in the past 5 years
9
Number of interns from this program who entered a residency position directly out of the internship in the past 5 years
1
Number of interns from this program who accepted a second or specialty internship in the past 5 years
8
Number of interns from this program who accepted a residency position in the past 5 years
9
Number of interns retained by the practice as associates in the past 5 years
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)?
70-99%
Number of former interns currently employed by the practice
1
Are current or former interns from the practice available for reference?
Yes, email the practice contact for details.
Additional information about the internship program
The intern performs morning treatments and assessments of the patients prior to morning rounds. Interns will rotate through multiple departments during the internship. Interns will spend two-week blocks on anesthesia/surgery, lameness/ambulatory, and hospital, seeing daytime emergencies and facilitating in-hospital case therapy. Approximately 30% of an intern’s time will be spent performing anesthesia or assisting on surgical cases, 30% assisting the primary clinicians with lameness evaluations including performing perineural and intraarticular injections, 20% performing diagnostics, 10% assessing and treating hospitalized patients, and 10% ambulatory duties. Routine treatments including overnight care and monitoring are performed by the technicians. Interns are responsible for all daily treatment sheets in hospitalized patient records and performing call backs on each patient seen at Pioneer Equine Hospital. Rounds are frequent at Pioneer including didactic, clinical skill and journal club. Additionally, interns will sharpen their presentation skills by presenting monthly ground rounds as well as giving hospital tours and participating in community equine activities. Philosophy of Practice Internship: Pioneer Equine Hospital strives to provide the highest quality care for our patients in a friendly and fun work environment. Interns are considered an integral component of the practice. We rely heavily on the interns to use their knowledge and skills as veterinarians and not as inexpensive labor to perform duties the primary clinicians do not want to perform. The interns will gain a great deal of hands-on experience and should be very competent at the end of the internship in performing equine surgical, medical, and reproductive skills. In the past, we have had outstanding placement to academic residency programs and associate positions around the country. Please contact us for a list of previous interns. To apply https://nva.avature.net/jobs/JobDetail?jobId=25953&source=AAEP+%28Equine%29+Job+Board&tags=kim.scott and/or contact the practice directly
