Career Center

VCA's Externship Program allows you to gain valuable real-world experience by taking what you've learned in the classroom and bringing it to the clinic.   As Veterinary students in your qualified year of education, you can apply with VCA Animal Hospitals as part of your formal externship blocks.   Our Externship Program provides you access to hundreds of locations with exemplary talent all over the U.S.   We offer a competitive hourly wage to participants in our General Practice hospitals (except where prohibited by school regulation).  VCA’s practitioners and specialists are excited to meet you and mentor future talent of the Veterinary profession.  By participating in our Externship Program, you can network with our teams and experience personalized patient care complimented by customized technological support, which makes VCA unique.  Take the opportunity to promote yourself in becoming a veterinary associate or to pursue an internship, let us build upon your experience with VCA.  

Our hospitals offer a wide variety of medical and surgical services so the participation level for Externs will differ from hospital to hospital.   Once you complete your application, the request will be confirmed and an engaged hospital team will help you accomplish customized goals during your Externship. 

Application/Scheduling Process

• Go to vcacareers.com and click on the “Work with Us” menu; select “DVM Student and New Grad Programs”
• Scroll down and complete the Externship application
• DVM Externship Application Link:  https://vcastudentapplication.marsvh.com/student/dvm-externship-application
• You will get an email upon submission and updates as we process your application
• For questions about your application:  DVMExterns@vca.com 

**Any student Extern wishing to spend time in a VCA hospital must complete this online application process**

After your Externship

• Your feedback is important to us!   Please complete the VCA Externship Experience Survey that will be shared with you by email later during your externship.  Your feedback will help us create a valuable experience. 
• If you need a specific form completed in order to get school credit for your externship, please provide the necessary information to the Extern Coordinator at the VCA hospital where you completed the Externship.

We would love for you to join our team!  If you are interested in VCA job opportunities, please visit our website at vcacareers.com and email us directly at recruiting@vca.com.  If you are interested in a VCA internship, visit www.virmp.org for a complete listing of our internship programs.

About VCA Animal Hospitals

VCA Animal Hospitals operates more than 1,000 small animal veterinary hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Japan. The hospitals are staffed by more than 4,500 fully qualified, dedicated and compassionate veterinarians to give pets the very best in medical care, of which over 600 are board certified specialists who are experts in areas such as oncology, cardiology, emergency and critical care, and surgery for animals. VCA Animal Hospitals provides a full range of general practice services to keep pets well and specialized treatments when pets are ill. As part of the Mars Veterinary Health family of brands, VCA is committed to its purpose—A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS®.

Connections working at VCA Animal Hospitals