Internships
Internships are required for the Equine Administration major, and are strongly encouraged for all other Equine Science majors. Students design an internship that fits his or her own interests. They have interned at veterinary clinics and hospitals, training facilities, equine magazines, racetracks, with massage therapists, and many other fields.
Internships are intended to give students the opportunity to experience work in their field of study, and to prepare them for life after graduation. It often gives students access to equipment and experiences that may not be available on Otterbein's campus.
The faculty of the Equine Science Department at Otterbein College strongly recommends that the students take advantage of any internship opportunity made available to them. An internship may be the contact that gets your career off the ground. Many students have found that an internship can turn into a job, even before graduation.
Sasha's Internship Experience
Sasha Hill is pictured at the 2005 IHSA Nationals held at Eden Park.This time last year I was preparing myself for a life changing opportunity that became a reality. It had always been a goal of mine to travel abroad at some point in my studies and take part in an internship/work study program. Since I was an Equine Science/Pre-Veterinary Medicine major, I had been looking into several different options in England. They ranged from laboratory research to interning at various equine hospitals in the country. With the help of my professors, advisors, and family our perseverance paid off, and I was asked to be a working student at Rossdale's and Associates Equine hospital.
The equine hospital is located in the small town of Newmarket. Yes, that's where the Newmarket rug originated. It is approximately one and a half hours northeast of London via train. The facility focuses primarily on Thoroughbred racehorses, but also deals with many referrals from local veterinarians in the area due to the current technological advances that the hospital has acquired and uses as common practice for both surgery and evaluation.
Sasha on LucasThroughout my stay in Newmarket, my area of work broadened and constantly diversified. Each day posed new problems and techniques that I had either read or learned about in class or was an altogether new topic. I found myself asking the same question as I would walk the stone walled streets toward work every morning, "What would today be like?" and that air of uncertainty made me want to learn, watch, and absorb more so that I could remember it later.
Like every hospital, there is a routine, and Rossdale's was no different in that regard. The morning consisted of going through all of the inpatient and intensive care unit horses, reviewing medications, and then checking all of the horses on morning rounds. As the day proceeded, there were scheduled surgeries in 'theatre' every other day, and then there was always the inevitable emergencies arriving as well.
On one such day, I was involved in the following procedures: I held a small pony with a broken tooth on her upper maxilla that also had an abscess, which was draining down through her left mandible. For two and a half hours after X-rays were taken, the vet and I worked on the pony to remove three teeth, which had been impinging her ability to chew and cause the abscess. There was also a tieback surgery on a large gelding jumper. Post surgery, I was able to watch Dr. Tim Greet, the head veterinarian, insert a laser endoscope up the horse's nose and 'caramelize' one of the horse's vocal chords by its laryngeal gland. It was an interesting procedure to observe. Every time he turned the laser on, smoke came pouring out of the horse's nostrils and filled the air with the smell of dead tissue. Another surgery was performed later on a stallion with a pedal bone fracture, which needed to be pinned and set. I was able to hold and help the technicians get the horse ready for surgery. The final surgery of the day was an emergency that came in on a pinto gelding with impaction colic. The horse was unfortunately far along by the time he arrived at the hospital, and though he made it through surgery there had been a lot of necrotic tissue that had to be removed and the surgeons were unable to reach in far enough to get all of the dead mesenteric tissue out giving the horse an increased chance for adhesions in the future.
Some days were slower than others and sometimes it was 6pm, dark outside and the entire day had flown by without knowing it. The technicians and surgeons at Rossdale's were all helpful and informative with any questions or concerns that I had.
By the end of my stay I was going in to work early to help make up morning round medications for distribution, and helping in all aspects of pre/post-surgery. This included attaching the horse to the harness that took them upside-down into theatre, shaving and putting in urinary catheters, all aspects of post surgery cleanup, and staying late if needed or if another emergency arrived later.
Although my time in England was brief, it affected me more than any other single event in my life. I will never regret missing Christmas here at home in Ohio, even though at the time I certainly had my doubts. The people I met and became friends with, the various surgeries, procedures and dialogues that I carried out with owners of horses all helped mold the way I regard the horse community. It doesn't matter if it's Newmarket, England or here at the Ohio State University, there will always be similarities and differences. It's what I took from my own personal experience that has helped me make future decisions and lifetime goals.
