The Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Pathology department offers four-week externships in zoo and wildlife pathology for senior veterinary students. The externships take place at the Wildlife Health Center on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo. Our caseload is robust, drawing from the WCS collections at the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the New York Aquarium, as well as local wildlife. Externships focus on necropsy examinations and the description, diagnosis, and interpretation of gross lesions in a wide variety of species, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. There are opportunities for study of cytologic specimens and histopathology. Students participate in daily hospital rounds, weekly morbidity/mortality rounds, and weekly histopathology rounds. Externs are invited to complete and present an externship project--such as an in-depth case presentation, a review of a particular disease process, or a summary of morbidity/mortality in a particular species--depending on their interests.
The WCS's Zoological Health Program (ZHP) has agreements with several universitites that allow their students to participate in our Externship Programs on an ongoing basis. However, as of 17 November 2022, WCS's ZHP made a decision not to enter into new externship, internship, placement, training, or similar agreements. Before applying for an externship with WCS, please confirm your school is among those with a pre-existing agreement for externship participation. You can do this by checking with your school or contacting Meredith Barton (mbarton@wcs.org) for confirmation that an agreement is in effect. Note that students can still participate in the externship even if their school does not have a pre-existing participation agreement, but only if the school does not require a written agreement. Confirmation of either a pre-existing agreement or that the school does not require one are required in advance of extern application submission. Failure to provide this confirmation may make you ineligible to participate in the externship program.
Requirements:
- Must be in their 3rd or 4th year of veterinary school and must have completed a pathology rotation prior to the start of the externship
- Must provide own housing and transportation
- Must be able to produce documentation of authorization to work in the U.S. Please note that WCS cannot sponsor applicants for visas or work authorizations
- To fully participate in our program, once accepted, students must provide proof of health insurance, current negative TB test, and proof of current tetanus, rabies, and COVID-19 vaccination*
*Although not required as a condition of participation, we highly recommend participants in this program have an up-to-date TB test and current vacinnations for rabies, tetanus, and COVID. If documentation of receiving these tests/vaccinations is not provided, there will be limitations in participants' ability to fully take part in the externship.
Externs who successfully complete the externship are eligible to receive a small stipend of $675 to support their participation.
* within the application indicate required fields.