Veterinary Internship Opportunities
Summary
From its inception in 2004, PetCare’s internship was developed around the concept of facilitating the development of a new graduate into a competent and confident veterinarian who may contribute to any private or emergency practice. The internship curriculum includes clinical rotations in surgery, internal medicine and general practice, and after-hours emergency and critical care. Clinical rotations include a mixture of primary case management, secondary case care, working with specialists, and technical skills training. Interns are scheduled five shifts per week during their surgical and ICU rotations and four shifts per week during their after-hours emergency rotation. Interns participate within a service for 1 month on a rotating basis. Didactic teaching includes daily case rounds, twice monthly topic presentations, monthly radiology case rounds, and monthly literature review.
PetCare Staff Support in Internship
There are 25 staff veterinarians in support of the program, including board-certified specialists in surgery, medicine, and oncology. Generalists in the practice have interest in medicine, dentistry, cardiology, and feline medicine. The practice is striving to meld the best attributes of an academic environment with the benefits inherent to a busy clinical practice.
Internship Philosophy
The internship philosophy is to provide excellent training for new graduates interested in refining their knowledge base and technical skills for a career in private general or emergency practice. Interns are a fundamental component of the PetCare team of veterinarians and are treated with fair schedules, hours, and compensation.
Intern Responsibilities
Interns function as primary case doctors in addition to providing secondary case management for the surgical, internal medicine, intensive care and emergency patients. Interns are responsible for client communication, attending and participating in all rounds, topic presentations, and literature review. Interns are expected to possess a strong work ethic, compassionate care, and an enthusiastic attitude for learning.
Compensation and Benefits
Interns are ensured a minimum annual salary of $40,000 plus incentive compensation based upon gross received production calculated quarterly. Interns receive full medical benefits through Kaiser Permanente. An annual account of $1,000 will be allocated for books, journals, license fees, uniforms, and miscellaneous expenses.
California Licensure
Graduates outside of California can apply for temporary licensure provided they are licensed in another state.
Application/Contacts
Intern selection is performed every fall prior to the VIRMP matching program deadline. Interested applicants should contact Dr. Talcott at 707-579 -5900. Materials needed for application include:
- Curriculum Vitae including class ranking and veterinary GPA
- Letter of intent
- Veterinary transcript
- Three letters of recommendation
The deadline for application materials is December 1 each year.

