The new AAEP Internship Hub is an online resource for members that provides veterinary students with detailed information about different practices’ educational opportunities, including internships and externships. It has filters that allow students to search for practices that suit their specific needs, setting them up for successful early-career experiences.
Enrollment Requirements
To participate in the AAEP Internship/Externship Program and be included in the online hub, practices must create and annually update an online internship profile and pay an annual fee of $275. To create a level playing field, the AAEP strongly encourages practices not to formally offer positions before their posted application deadline. The association also strongly recommends allowing students at least seven days to consider any offer before making a decision.
“Over the years, both the offer time frame and the window to consider another offer shrunk dramatically and placed undue stress on the applicants, sometimes forcing them to commit to a program that is perhaps not the best match for either the candidate or the practice,” the Internship Subcommittee shared.
Practices can enroll in the program by logging on to www.aaep.org, clicking on Guidelines and Resources, and continuing to the Internship Hub. After clicking “Post Your Position,” you must complete all fields. If you cannot do so immediately, you can click the “Save & Continue Later” button, and you will receive an email with a link to return to your incomplete listing. Your listing will not appear on the site unless you have completed every field in the document. This allows prospective interns to evaluate every practice with comparable data. Once the practice has completed the form and paid the annual fee, the AAEP will activate the posting within 24-48 hours.
Transparency Requirements
Practices must provide information about eight categories: position, contact, experience, caseload, compensation, benefits, contracts, and outcomes. Each category includes multiple questions for the practice to answer, which creates a clear picture of the internship.
In the position category, the practice must provide information about the career path or types of positions the internship will prepare the applicant for, such as sports medicine or general practice.
In the experience section, the practice must answer questions about the clinical experience and responsibilities the position will provide, such as “Intern is primary case responsibility for first opinion and emergency cases.” The practice can then select “yes” or “no” from the dropdown menu. This gives prospective interns a detailed look at what their daily experience will be like. Practices must also specify the types of equipment the intern will be exposed to during the program.
The caseload section includes questions about the total number of ambulatory cases and average number of after-hour emergencies per week the intern is likely to encounter during the busiest and lightest times of year. This section also includes information on whether interns will have technician support.
The compensation section covers salary and additional compensation for emergencies. In the following section, the practice can indicate whether they offer additional benefits. Practices are required to provide the total compensation value for the position (salary plus benefits).
In the contract section, the practice must specify its noncompete policy and answer questions about the earliest and latest dates it made internship position offers. The section also asks the practice to specify the average time it provides candidates to consider an offer.
Lastly, the outcomes section asks about numbers of interns applying for and receiving residency positions following internship. It also asks the questions: “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)?” and “How many former interns are currently employed by the practice?”
Final Thoughts
This comprehensive process creates detailed descriptions of the internship programs available for new graduates, allowing candidates to truly compare apples to apples. Once the practice has completed the initial heavy lift of creating the posting, it is locked for one year, after which the practice can edit the posting with the next annual subscription. The Internship Subcommittee has done a laudable job constructing this logical and thorough site, and the benefit to internship candidates and practices is clear. With transparency, candidates can apply to programs appropriate for their needs, and practices will receive applications from candidates who are enthusiastic about what they are offering.
Related Reading
- The Business of Practice: Building Healthy Veterinary Internship Programs
- AAEP Commission on Veterinary Sustainability: A New Approach to Equine Internships
- AAEP Commission on Veterinary Sustainability: Improved Internships Will Help Retention
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