Externships

VMSG is excited to welcome Externs for One Day Visits, Two Day Externships or Five Day Externships (5 day externships can be extended into 2 or 3 week extern experiences as well). Please send us the following information by email to students@vmsg.com (you will need to attach your CV and a headshot) in order to be considered for the Externship program.

Please Note: A one day externship will give you the change to evaluate us. It will not, however, give us a chance to evaluate you. If you are serious about an internship at VMSG, and wish to establish a relationship where we can adequately assess you, please consider visiting us longer than one day.

  1. Desired date of visit
    • 1 Day Visit [can start on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday]
    • 2 Day Externship [can start on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday]
    • 5 Day Externship (this can be extended into 2 or 3 week experiences) [should start on Monday but you may be asked to start on Tuesday]
  2. Full name
  3. Phone number
  4. Email address
  5. Age
  6. Gender
  7. School name
  8. School location
  9. Area of interest for Internship/Residency
  10. Expected graduation date
  11. Work experience in this field

Information for the externship experience is available in the following downloadable forms. Please contact us at students@vmsg.com if you have any questions.

VMSG Externship Introduction Letter
About Your Externship Experience

Limited focused externships are offered and are of 2 weeks duration only. The first week will be a full rotation and the second week will be the specific focus. At this time we do not offer a radiology focused externship.

Thank you for your interest in our programs. By way of introductions, Dr Theresa Ortega is the designated mentor for all of our externship programs. Michelle Rose came to us from 30 years experience in human medicine, and she administers our externship programs for Dr. Ortega. In addition, Michelle processes all of the VIRMP packages for our intern selections committee. Her full time job with VMSG is to support the Internal Medicine Department and assist our medicine clients with their at home care needs. She is our subject matter expert for DEA compliance and our liaison with the FDA to import medically necessary drugs. Additionally, she provides nutritional consultations and limited research assistance to all the services. Needless to say her plate is often quite full. This is especially true from October through early January, so please try to get your requests for externships in early.

We feel we have a dynamic program and we frequently begin getting bookings for the various programs 12 – 18 months in advance. While we have never had to turn away an applicant, we have not always been able to give them their first choice. Please take this into consideration as you plan your externship visit and try to get your request in as early as possible. We schedule all externships on a “first come, first served” basis.
We would welcome the opportunity to have you visit, and offer the following rotational experiences:

  1. A one day rotating visits (you spend a little time on each service, these are very short rotations). If you are considering an internship with us this is not the best way for us to get to know you and only gives you the most basic ideas about our hospital and how we practice medicine.
  2. A two externship (you get more time on each service and we ask you to rate your experience).
  3. A five day externship (you get about a half day on each service, will get to experience a swing shift, and we ask you to rate your experience).
  4. And, a five day plus (2 or 3 week externships). Each consecutive week is a repeat of the initial five day experience, but after the first week you can spend a little extra time (with a few exceptions) in your desired focus areas.
  5. Lastly, if you can only come for a short time we can offer you a tour, introductions to the staff working that specific day, and time to chat with the current interns (this option is only available after 12 pm on M, T, Th, & F). We understand that not everyone can visit and this is the last resort visit to help you make your ranking decision. Please be aware, that if you apply for an internship, this form of visit is not noted in your selection package.
  6. If you are unable to visit, we will gladly pass your contact information on to two of our current interns. This will allow you to engage in an email dialog about their experience. This is not automatic, as we will not give out your email without your permission. You must specifically request this option.

Please, let us know which option best fits your needs and the specific date(s) for your visit. If you choose the one or two day options please give us at least two choices of dates, or if you elect the five day or five day plus options please give us two different weeks to select from to ensure that we can match both of our schedules.

If you elect to do more than take the tour, we will need a photo (headshots are best) and a mini-bio to create our welcome poster. The specific questions for the mini-bio are on our website at http://www.vmsg.com/vmsg-ventura/employment-opportunities/externships. You will find several documents at the bottom of the page please read them all before applying to the program. The mini-bio info is basically the second paragraph on that page. When you fill out the mini-bio, please also include specific areas of interest in veterinary medicine or prospective residencies you might be considering. You will need to cut and paste the info to the body of the email or an attached word doc and answer the questions. Please make sure to send you photo in jpg format and your mini bio in either the body of the email or in word format only.

Clicke here for FAQs about externship.

Thanks again for your interest in our program.