Residency
Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell
I. Objective
The Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Residency is designed to provide instruction and shelter experience in the practice of the new discipline, Shelter Medicine. The program provides training for the design, implementation and monitoring of preventive medicine programs and treatment protocols for animals in shelters to minimize disease and suffering while in the shelter, and immediately following adoption.
Specific objectives include training and experience to enable residents to develop and implement:
- preventive medicine programs at animals shelters that include protocols relating to vaccination, internal and external parasite control, cleaning and disinfection, disease testing, animal handling, personnel and animal traffic flow, shelter design, and zoonoses management
- treatment protocols for common diseases in shelters
- surgical and anesthetic protocols and peri-operative management of in-shelter ovariohysterectomies and castrations
- disease surveillance programs to quantitatively describe the herd health within shelters and facilitate evaluation of the effectiveness of new and existing protocols
- a clinical research project of an important issue occurring in Adoption Guarantee shelters, resulting in a peer-reviewed publication
II. Qualifications of the Applicant
Applicants must have a D.V.M. or V.M.D. or equivalent degree from a veterinary educational institution approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association and must have a minimum of 1 year of clinical small animal practice, preferably with experience working in an animal shelter.
III. Description of Training
A. Duration
The residency is three years in length. Acceptance in the second and third years is contingent on successful completion of the previous year. Residents will have 2 weeks of paid vacation for each year in the program.
The residency will result in Cornell Certification of Proficiency in Shelter Medicine and a Masters of Science Degree in Epidemiology.
B. Location of training
Coursework, clinical rotations, and participation in rounds take place in the facilities of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University. Students and residents also have shelter rotations in shelter populations similar to those they will ultimately serve (analogous to training in ambulatory medicine). Four shelters serve as the primary training grounds for residents.
C. Course work and Targeted Study
Residents take the courses:
- Issues and Preventive Medicine in Animal Shelters
- Managing Infectious Disease in Small Animal Populations
- Problems in Dog and Cat Behavior
- Introduction to Epidemiology
- Epidemiologic Study Designs
- Clinical Biostatistics
**Some of these courses may be audited, depending on a resident's background.
Non-clinical study includes attendance and participation in:
1. Rounds such as Infectious Disease, Behavior, bimonthly Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Rounds and other pertinent rounds and presentations. The shelter medicine resident leads the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Rounds at least every other month in the first year. This leadership will increase in years 2 and 3.
2. Readings are assigned from the new Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff textbook and the shelter medicine and behavior reference lists prepared by the program director, shelter medicine clinician, and college behaviorist.
D. Clinical Rotations
During the first year, residents rotate through the following services in the College of Veterinary Medicine: Community Practice, Behavior Clinic, Diagnostic Laboratory (virology and bacteriology), internal medicine, emergency medicine and critical care, soft tissue surgery, pathology, parasitology and other services of particular interest to the resident. Rotations through these services introduce the resident to key people in the College who augment their training, serve as resources, and facilitate their interaction with core shelters.
E. Shelter Rotations
A minimum of 52 weeks of clinical/consultative medical service to core shelters under the supervision of the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Clinician and core shelter veterinarians must be completed. Emphasis is on cats and dogs. Experience with pocket pets, sheltered horses and other livestock health is encouraged.
F. Teaching
Residents accompany the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Clinician to the Tompkins County SPCA weekly to instruct and supervise veterinary student members of the VSPCA throughout the program. With increasing training and experience the resident assumes more responsibility for instructing veterinary students. Similarly, residents participate in the Maddie's® elective Shelter Medicine Rotation.
In the second and third years, residents assist with the teaching of the two shelter medicine courses.
G. Research and Publication
In consultation with Program personnel, residents identify a research project relating to a medical problem in Adoption Guarantee shelters. In their second and third years, residents conduct, analyze and prepare their project for publication. In their third year, residents present their research at a national meeting.
H. Written Shelter Evaluations and Comprehensive Examination
Work in these shelters includes evaluation (or development) of preventive medicine protocols, diagnostic and treatment protocols, surgical and anesthetic protocols, peri-operative management of animals, and development of disease surveillance programs for each core shelter. These evaluations are done in collaboration with veterinarians in these facilities, the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Clinician and the Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program Director. Residents prepare written summaries of these evaluations for each shelter over the three year residency. Recommendations are tailored to individual facilities and their resources, and include short- and long-term goals and a realistic timeline to achieve those goals:
Each resident must pass a comprehensive examination in the final year of his/her training to successfully complete the program.
Applying to the Residency Program
Interested veterinarians should contact:
Dr. Jan Scarlett -- jms15@cornell.edu
S1 066 Schurman Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853
Office: 607 253-3574
Fax: 607 253-3083
