COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE Office of Student and Academic Services

CAREER SERVICES

Whether helping students create an individualized career plan or prepare to successfully compete for the professional path of their choice, the Office of Student and Academic Services is an active partner in students' career development. The office maintains placement and professional development resources for students.

Career Resource Center
The Career Resource Center houses a computer for students to access the Career Services website, the Internet and utilize programs such as ResumeMaker.

The Career Resource Center contains an expanding library of professional and personal development materials in written, audio and electronic formats.

Personal Coaching

• Resume CV and cover letter critique available on an individual basis.
• Mock interviews, salary negotiations and contract reviews also available upon request.
• Employment contract legal council is available for a reduced fee through a local attorney.

Workshops
Professional development workshops are offered throughout the year. Past topics have included Negotiation Skills, Panel Discussions on Internships, Externships and Practice Ownership.

Electronic Newsflashes
Short communications tailored to the career development needs of the veterinary students throughout their studies are electronically distributed in timely intervals.

Externships
Externships are brief (usually 2-4 weeks) work opportunities away from the College for which credit is not given. Students seeking special work experiences may do so through externships.

Private and corporate practice, humane societies, governmental agencies, and pharmaceutical/pet food companies offer externships. Compensation may or may not be offered for externships.

Opportunity Blocks
Students in their 6th, 7th and 8th semesters may obtain off-campus clinical experience for credit in institutional setting with established teaching programs, or in facilities offering unique clinical or research experiences. Proposed programs must be approved by the faculty coordinators of the opportunities block who will determine appropriate university credits. Opportunity Blocks are approved by the Curriculum Committee. Details of this program are available from the Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Professional Service. Lists of approved opportunity blocks are available at the Career Resource Center.

Internships
Internships are non-degree programs that provide training for practice, clinical teaching, and specialty-board eligibility. Generally, a one-year rotating internship in medicine and surgery is prerequisite for residency programs and for board certification. The Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital offers internship programs in ambulatory and production-animal medicine and in small-animal medicine and surgery.

For the selection of interns and residents for its Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the college subscribes to the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians (AAVC) Intern/Resident Matching Program. A directory of available internships is published by the AAVC each year (available in mid-September and accessible through many university libraries): typically, these advertised positions are salaried.

Permanent Positions
Permanent positions and summer jobs are listed in electronic form through the Career Services website and in hard copy at the Career Resource Center. Positions available represent the myriad of career choices available.

Career Connections Forum
Every fall, the Career Connections Forum offers students and potential employers a chance to conduct initial interviews.

• Seminars pertinent to the interviewing, hiring and recruiting process are held for participants.
• Career Options Fair is also conducted at the same time to offer veterinary and undergraduate students insights to the opportunities open to veterinarians.
• A graduating class resume book is also compiled for this event for students who elect to have their resume included.
  

Alumni/New York State Veterinary Medical Society Mentoring Program
The NYSVMS/Alumni-Student Mentorship program matches Cornell veterinary students with Cornell veterinary college alumni throughout the country as well as practitioners in NY state. The goal of the program is to provide students the opportunity to gain a wealth of knowledge from veterinary professionals along with advice on the direction of their future careers. Students in any of the class years are eligible to participate in the program.

International Opportunities

Expanding Horizons:
Expanding Horizons offers Cornell veterinary students a truly unique opportunity to experience veterinary medicine in a developing country.

The program provides grants to Cornell veterinary students who are interested in veterinary experience in developing nations. Students spend 6-10 weeks in a developing country engaged in either veterinary research or hands on veterinary experience (this ranges from wildlife rehabilitation to working with local farmers to develop artificial insemination techniques for their dairy herds) . Some countries that our students have traveled to through this program are Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, Thailand, Vietnam, Honduras, South Africa, Kenya etc. It is the student's responsibility to identify contacts and projects in the country they want to work in. However the faculty and the Office of Student and Academic Services work with students to help them identify contacts.

Students who are interested in Veterinary Medicine in Developing Areas sometimes participate in a course called INTAG (International Agriculture) 402/602. The 602 component of this course which is offered through the College of Agriculture includes a 10 day field trip to India in early January. The trip is subsidized through funds from the College of Agriculture and Life sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Students can participate in the expanding horizons program anytime during their four years but given the curriculum demands and the academic calendar, most students participate in the program during the summer of the first or second year.