Career Center

General Program Description
? CROW is a nonprofit wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center providing care for native and migratory wildlife on the Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida.
? CROW’s fully equipped wildlife hospital admits over 6,000 patients per year including more than 200 different species of birds, mammals and reptiles.
? The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return sick, injured or orphaned wild animals back to the wild. The Student Program is designed to augment the educational pursuits of natural science, veterinary, and veterinary technician students.
? Students are supervised and assisted by a full-time veterinarian, veterinary interns, Certified Veterinary Technicians, wildlife rehabilitators, and other staff and volunteers.
? Emphasis is placed on the student gaining an understanding of veterinary practice management and of the entire rehabilitation process from admittance to release, evidence-based wildlife and conservation medicine, as well as the One World, One Health concept.

General Program Overview
? Wildlife Rehabilitation & Practice Management Internship student’s daily activities include training of new students in all aspects of wildlife medicine and rehabilitation, answering public phone calls as a first responder, hospital administrative duties, on-site student housing supervision, providing medical treatments to patients, caring for neonatal wildlife (including assisted alimentation), venipuncture, administering medications, administering fluids, triage, husbandry, grazing tortoises, diet preparation, daily hospital cleaning, daily outdoor enclosure cleaning, educational programs, public presentations, assisting in animal ambassador program, patient enrichment, outdoor grounds upkeep, attending hospital rounds and teaching rounds, rescuing (as needed), releasing wildlife (as needed), and being a leader for other students.
? Interns will receive a bi-weekly stipend of $500 and 5 PTO days for the duration of the 1-year program. No additional on-site housing fee is required for interns requesting to stay in on-site student housing.

Program Work Schedule
? Following an initial training period, interns will work a 5-day work week schedule that would rotate to 1 day working with the Hospital Office Manager and Hospital Training Coordinator in administrative duties and as a first responder, 2 days in the ICU training students or working alongside staff/students, 2 days in the various baby rooms training students or working alongside staff, students, and volunteers. Please understand this schedule may vary depending on patient load and number of students on-site at a given time, to ensure coverage in all areas of the hospital.
? Early morning or late evening infant and ‘rehab staff only’ care/feeding will be required on a regular basis. Interns will be rotating with other students for these designated care/feeding shifts, but will often be chosen for these shifts over other students due to being trained on these patients specifically
? On days the night rehabilitation staff member is off duty, the intern will be responsible for carrying the clinic after hours cell phone for responding to public phone calls.
? Work days start at 7:00 AM and end when all patients are cared for and the clinic is cleaned. This may vary between 45-65+ hours weekly.
? The required number of hours worked daily will vary depending on patient volume and number of students working during accepted program dates.
? Interns will have 2 days off weekly, either two consecutive days or two days throughout the week, which will be based on individual preference.
? Interns will present a weekly to bi-weekly public presentation at the Visitor Education Center on various topics pertaining to wildlife species, wildlife medicine, and wildlife rehabilitation. Hospital staff and other students may also be present for your public presentations.
? Attendance to hospital case rounds and student teaching rounds held during the week, may be encouraged/required depending on the discussion.

Program Location
? CROW operates on a 12.5-acre campus on Sanibel Island, Florida. CROW is located adjacent to J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.
? Beaches and local restaurants are a short distance from campus. Fort Myers, past the Sanibel Causeway, is 15 minutes away from CROW. 

Program Requirements
? Applicants must be over 18 years of age and agree to all sign rules and regulations and liability waivers upon acceptance.
? A minimum of 1-2 years of animal care experience is required. Preference will be given to applicants with previous wildlife rehabilitation, teaching, or customer service background.
? A large percentage of the work at a rehabilitation facility involves cleaning and feeding patients and is labor intensive. Applicants are to be able-bodied individuals with the ability to lift up to 50 pounds, bend, kneel, and sit / stand for prolonged periods of time.
? Must be seeking or have completed a college degree (preferable in Biology or Animal Sciences).
? Must have excellent problem-solving skills and a high ability to function well in high stress situations and changing environment
? Excellent verbal, written, multi-tasking, and interpersonal communication skills. Knowledge of office equipment and office software systems.
? Must be able to work efficiently, accurately, and uphold a positive attitude to provide exemplary customer service both within a team and independently
? Ability to safely and successfully perform the essential job functions and the ability to maintain regular, punctual attendance consistent with ADA, FMLA, and other federal, state, and local standards including meeting qualitative and/or quantitative productivity standards

Program Vaccination Requirements (once accepted)
? Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination
? Proof of current Tetanus Vaccination
? Proof of Rabies Pre-Exposure Series OR recent Rabies Titer (+/- Rabies Booster)

How to Apply
? Visit our Student Programs and Internships page on our website at www.crowclinic.org to download and return a completed application
? All application materials can be emailed to students@crowclinic.org or mailed to PO Box 150, Sanibel, FL 33957.
? For questions not answered on the website or in the application packet, please email students@crowclinic.org
? THERE IS NO DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS. Applications are accepted year-round and are processed as they are received.

About Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife

The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW), is a non-profit wildlife teaching hospital and visitor education center dedicated to saving Florida native and migratory wildlife on the Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida through state-of-the-art veterinary care, research, education, evidence-based wildlife conservation medicine, and working under the One World One Health concept. The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return sick, injured or orphaned wild animals back to the wild. CROW’s fully equipped wildlife hospital admits approximately 6,000 patients per year including more than 200 different species of birds, mammals and reptiles. CROW operates on a 12.5-acre campus on Sanibel Island, Florida with the organization's hospital and visitor education center located adjacent to the waterways and mangroves of the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

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