Students will work under supervised clinical instruction in either Large animal (Equine, Food Animal Species) or Small animal (canine, feline, avian/exotic/pocket pets) medicine and surgery at selected high-quality private general practices. Students will see various cases and actively participate in their diagnostic and therapeutic management, including documentation of findings and care in problem-oriented medical records and the performance of clinical procedures.

Supervised clinical instruction in specialty practice (equine, food animal, canine, feline, lab animal, exotic, and zoological) medicine and surgery in selected high-quality specialty practices.  Instruction will take place in practices with board-certified veterinary specialists. Students see a wide variety of cases and are active participants in their diagnostic and therapeutic management, including documentation of findings and care in problem-oriented medical records and the performance of clinical procedures. Students are exposed to a wide variety of cases with instructive pathophysiological learning opportunities.

Students are active participants in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of a wide variety of cases with instructive pathophysiological learning issues requiring timely medical and/or surgical management in veterinary emergency and critical care situations.

Students will work under supervised clinical instruction in busy community shelter practice's medical and surgical areas. Students perform medical, dental and surgical treatments for the benefit of animals owned by the shelter. Arizona CVM faculty work with the shelter medical and surgical teams to supervise students. Students perform physical examinations on dogs and cats and discuss their findings with Arizona CVM faculty, shelter veterinarians and staff.

Students are intimately involved in providing medical, surgical and preventive care to shelter animals. Students are involved in preparing and performing elective surgeries (such as ovariohysterectomy, orchiectomy, and dentistry) on dogs and cats under the supervision of Arizona CVM faculty, shelter veterinarians and staff. Students participate in discussions and/or demonstrations regarding animal behavior problems and potential solutions. Students participate in medicine and surgery rounds. Students make formal rounds of presentations to other students and staff during the course and prepare a presentation relevant to the shelter experience with the course director's approval for presentation at rotation end.

The course comprises hands-on medical and surgical care of shelter-owned animals, lectures, self-study, case write-ups and presentations and team-based exercises.

The course is a split rotation with an ambulatory and necropsy component. 

For the Ambulatory component, students will work under supervised clinical instruction in ambulatory large animal (equine and food animal species) medicine and surgery. Students will see various cases and actively participate in their diagnostic and therapeutic management of individual animals as well as a population base. Documentation of findings and care in problem-oriented medical records and the performance of clinical procedures. For the Necropsy component, students will work under the guidance of experienced anatomic and clinical pathologists, microbiologists and laboratory technicians from the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (AzVDL) and the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). Students will gain hands-on learning in multiple aspects of diagnostic pathology including but not limited to: gross necropsy, cytology, hematology, and microbiology with interpretation of diagnostic test results including but not limited to: cytology, hematology, clinical chemistry, histopathology, microbiology, serology and molecular diagnostics.  

Students will work under supervised clinical instruction in high-quality, specialized learning experiences available at institutions and practices in North America and around the world, including specialty practices (such as medicine, surgery, cardiology, dermatology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology), species-specific practices, other accredited Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, zoos, and other UA CVM approved public and private biomedical institutions. Elective clinical courses for each student must be approved individually by the Clinical Relations and Outreach faculty.

The North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE®) Review course is a required course offered in the clinical year rotation at the University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Students will actively engage in a variety of instructional presentations to expand and solidify their knowledge base through comprehensive review sessions in preparation for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE®). They will undertake rigorous group and independent studies strategically tailored to enhance their readiness for the NAVLE examination.