The goal of this intensive one-year internship is to produce skilled shelter medicine practitioners ready to take on leadership roles in animal welfare.
2024/2025 MSMP Interns (L to R): Dr. Kara Kocheck, Janet L. Swanson Intern of Shelter Medicine and Dr. Megan Barry, Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Intern.
The program is open to those who have DVM or equivalent degree – both experienced veterinarians and recent graduates! Candidates should be eligible for licensure in NYS. Preference will be given to candidates demonstrating previous interest and experience in shelter medicine.
Overview of the Program
What You Will Do
Work in local animal shelters and in the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (CUHA) with an experienced clinician to deliver care to shelter animals:
Rotate through the Emergency and Critical Care service.
Rotate through CUHA clinical services with most applicability to shelter medicine – including exotics, wildlife, necropsy, and clinical pathology.
Provide urgent call services for the Tompkins County SPCA, including weekends, with faculty available for back up at all times.
Consult on best shelter practices aimed at health maintenance and management of disease. Extramural experiences may include travel for spay/neuter trips, consultations, forensics, community medicine, or shelter practice in different shelter types
Assist in the supervision of veterinary students on the shelter medicine rotation (which includes spay/neuter training) at local shelters.
Provide lectures in the shelter medicine elective courses.
Participate in shelter medicine seminars, journal clubs and shelter medicine rounds (often leading the discussions). All costs associated with travel for conferences and consultations are covered by the program and all materials needed, such as textbooks, will be provided!
What You Need to Succeed
While on clinical rotations, you will act as an integral member of the service and work with other house officers, senior students, and veterinarian mentors. Excellent communication skills, adaptability, and a collaborative nature are critical to success in this internship.
Upon satisfactory completion of the internship, a “Certificate of Shelter Medicine Internship” will be awarded.
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Specific Internship Objectives
To provide advanced training in preventive medicine, shelter medicine practice, and epidemiology.
To advance clinical knowledge and skills in general veterinary medicine, but especially in the areas of urgent care/triage, soft tissue surgery, preventive medicine, infectious disease, dermatology, dentistry, and exotic animal medicine. This will be accomplished both through clinical rotations in specialty departments of the Companion Animal Hospital and on-site care at partner shelters.
To provide advanced training in spay/neuter techniques, specifically those supporting high-quality/high volume programs and pediatric spay/neuter. This will include participation in spay/neuter at partner shelters, as well as opportunities for travel to other HQHVSN settings.
To engage in field and community medicine. The intern will gain insight into providing quality veterinary care in field conditions with minimal diagnostic capabilities and practical treatment limitations.
To provide advanced training in companion animal behavioral health as it applies to animal shelters. This will be accomplished through time spent with a faculty member with a behavioral focus, participation in ongoing workshops at local and regional shelters, and course lectures.
To provide training in forensic necropsy and cruelty investigation. This may include working in cooperation with local humane investigators and the anatomic pathology department in necropsy as caseload allows.
To provide advanced training in the creation of shelter care protocols. This will include the construction of an evidence-based Medical Policy and Protocol suitable for implementation.
To provide support for academic research and scientific writing. This may include the production and/or publication of one scholarly case report demonstrating a comprehensive review of the relevant literature and synthesis of the principles of shelter medicine.
To provide opportunities to develop didactic and clinical teaching skills. The first will involve mentoring in the delivery of high-quality, professional lectures. The second will involve developing skills in small group facilitation and collaborative case-based clinical learning. Audiences will include academic colleagues, veterinary students, and shelter staff.
To provide exposure to shelter management, including but not limited to medical staff management; collaboration with intake, care, and adoptions staff; and using technology to aid in shelter management and promotions.
To provide opportunities to develop skills in data collection and management utilizing shelter-friendly software and to become familiar with basic shelter medicine metrics.
To expose interns to diverse and varied shelter settings. Interns will be required to visit informally a minimum of 15 animal shelters during the course of the internship year.
What You Need to Apply
Visit the Veterinary Internship & Residency Matching Program (VIRMP) website and apply for an MSMP internship. Details on how to apply, eligibility, requirements, deadlines etc., are available on the VIRMP site. The deadline varies slightly each year and generally opens in September.
Contact Information
Dr. Lena DeTar Associate Clinical Professor Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University Email: hgd29@cornell.edu
Dr. Jessica Reed Janet L. Swanson Director of Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program Associate Clinical Professor of Shelter Medicine College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University Email: jmr428@cornell.edu
I particularly enjoyed the multifaceted approach to the internship. Apart from traditional veterinary work in the shelter, there were also opportunities for shelter consultations, investigations, access-to-care clinics, shadowing shelter operations, emergency shifts and rotations at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. The team was very supportive of my goals to join a shelter medicine residency program.
