We expect students to treat each rotation as a full-time job. Students will spend a minimum of 40 clinical contact hours each week working with the supervising veterinarian on treating cases and between 10-20 hours researching, creating reports, and completing additional required materials necessary for evaluation. The expectation for the week is 8 hours of clinical contact time per day and a 5-day work week. Hourly plans are determined at the beginning of each rotation and documented in a Learning Agreement.

The majority of our partnering clinics are located in the southwest United States, but options for clinical rotations are available across the country. However, through our corporate partnerships and future student connections, more opportunities will be possible each year.

Housing, travel, food expenses, etc., are ultimately the student's responsibility. The College is working to establish scholarships and grants to offset the cost for students. Various clinical affiliates may offer housing as a part of their rotation, but many students find support from community members and past students for housing. The clinical relations team is available to brainstorm ideas for the logistics of the clinical year.

During their second year, students will participate in a lottery process where they can rank clinical sites within our network to create their clinical year experience. Students will be able to meet with the clinical relations team prior for guidance and support. 

Due to graduation occurring each August, students will not be able to participate in the internship match program during their first year. However, most clinics either don’t participate in the match or have an option to apply outside the match.

No. The CVM Academic Programs & Clinical Relations and Outreach team will reach out to you before each clinical year to confirm the number of students you can host per rotation.

No. We believe the student and practice will only benefit when mutually invested, and we do not expect every veterinarian to be interested in teaching. We encourage vets willing to teach to participate and mentor students.

The most significant benefit to the clinic is the potential to interact with soon-to-be veterinarians before they graduate. Not only can you actively take part in shaping the future of veterinary medicine, but you also get the chance to informally “interview” future job candidates.

This depends on your comfort level with each student. At the start of the rotation, the learning contract is a great chance to assess the student’s skill level and goals. For example, you may find one student is very advanced and can actively take part in surgeries, interact with clients, etc., but the next student needs a bit more time on the clinical skills. The mentoring veterinarian should only allow a student to participate in areas that the mentor is comfortable with.

The mentoring veterinarian will go through training modules created by the University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The provided training will detail the types of teaching students are used to, recommendations on feedback methods, and how to fill out each evaluation. In addition, evaluations will describe how to assess each student.

Please review our course overview page.

Courses

The clinical relations team and the hub coordinators will be easily accessible to students during the rotations. Hub coordinators are veterinarians available for mentoring students and help provide content expertise and answer student questions. In addition, they are responsible for discussing the assessments and evaluations performed on the students in partnership with on-site veterinarians. Affiliate sites will be in close contact with both parties during the rotation to answer questions and troubleshoot issues.

Clinics must meet the standards outlined by the AVMA COE, complete the training modules created by the University of Arizona, and be willing to evaluate the students as outlined in the modules.