A new and unique internship program developed by the American Association of Equine Practitioners will be the first of its kind in equine medicine to offer equine veterinary students a practical and “real world” look at equine veterinary practice.

The AAEP Practice Internship Program, with internships to begin in July 1999, is designed to provide equine veterinary practices with quality students who are dedicating their field of study to equine practice. According to Nathaniel White, II, DVM, chair of the AAEP Internship Program Ad-Hoc Committee, the program began with four goals in mind.

“First, we obviously wanted to be able to create a large number of equine practice internships,” he said. “By providing more opportunities for these students to experience the atmosphere and demands of an equine practice; to assure quality in training and to provide a source of enthusiastic graduates for equine practices.

In order for a given practice to obtain an intern, the practice representatives must submit a practice profile describing the practice and the basic structure of their specific internship and complete an intern evaluation form at the conclusion of the internship. Formal applications must be requested by June 1, 1998, and returned by July 1, 1998