Has anyone done an externship at BluePearl speciality and emergency pet hospital before? What was your experience like? Thanks!
BluePearl Externship
- Thread starter HappyToro
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Blue Pearl where? That’s a chain with many many locations and each are probably a little different. Or are you wondering very generally?
Thank you! I was thinking of applying for ones in PA and NY, but am also interested in knowing how it was more generally at the company.
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I did one as a student. It was great. Saw a ton of cases. Did some neat basic things (unblocked a cat, fixed some nifty lacerations, etc). My favorite experience was scoping some crap out of a cat's stomach. The clinician basically pointed me at the scope and said "go start. don't break the scope. I'll be down in a bit to get it out if you haven't." (Retrospectively, it wasn't that he trusted me, it was that he knew his staff that were with me would make sure I didn't do something stupid.) Then they offered me a job and I started 3 days or so after graduation. I remember being worried my license wouldn't arrive in time. We were a private ER back then that shared space with BluePearl specialty services, but we've since been purchased by BP so the specialty services and ER are now both BP.
So now I work for BP as an ER doc (and as a colleague to that same clinician who had me scope something).
I routinely get vet student externs. We had two overlapping last week. I'd like to think they had a positive experience. It's been VERY hard to make sure they get the time they deserve given the current working environments - we are beyond overloaded and we have "service pauses" routinely at all hospitals in the metro area I'm in. So we're just trying to churn cases as fast as possible, which decreases the time we have to chat with students about the cases, ask them questions to challenge them, etc.
But still, my last extern did several laceration repairs, including a tricky forearm repair with a pretty huge/ugly cut, unblocked a UO, etc. I try real hard to give them as many procedures as possible *if they demonstrate they are up to it*. I've had them do just about any procedure I can think of, including abdominocentesis, thoracocentesis, pericardiocentesis, unblocking cats, GDV/gastric trocharization/decompression, wound/laceration repair, etc. I've had one do a pyometra almost without assistance. I had one do a full enucleation where I just watched but didn't have to intervene. I've had my techs walk them through placing central lines. Obviously, all of the easier skills like IV cath placement, as well.
I often will try to assign an inpatient case or two to a student, ask them to read up on it, do their exam, and then sorta round me on the case and talk about any therapy adjustments they'd recommend, etc. Forces them to really think through a case top to bottom.
Bottom line: The more you're prepared, the more you'll do. I'm not there to spend my time on students who aren't putting forth effort. It's your job as the student to be prepared. My job is to build on the foundation you've already created by helping you do the task you've already learned about and can describe to me in detail. If you aren't prepared, it will be a shadowing experience. If you are, you'll be the doctor.
Anyway. Externships with us can vary extremely depending on location. They also vary depending on what type - a rotating externship where you spend time with a variety of services vs a service-specific externship where you spend all your time with one service. The quality of experience will depend on which clinicians you're with as much as anything. I don't think you're any more or less likely to have a good or bad experience than externing at random general practices or other specialty/referral places.
So now I work for BP as an ER doc (and as a colleague to that same clinician who had me scope something).
I routinely get vet student externs. We had two overlapping last week. I'd like to think they had a positive experience. It's been VERY hard to make sure they get the time they deserve given the current working environments - we are beyond overloaded and we have "service pauses" routinely at all hospitals in the metro area I'm in. So we're just trying to churn cases as fast as possible, which decreases the time we have to chat with students about the cases, ask them questions to challenge them, etc.
But still, my last extern did several laceration repairs, including a tricky forearm repair with a pretty huge/ugly cut, unblocked a UO, etc. I try real hard to give them as many procedures as possible *if they demonstrate they are up to it*. I've had them do just about any procedure I can think of, including abdominocentesis, thoracocentesis, pericardiocentesis, unblocking cats, GDV/gastric trocharization/decompression, wound/laceration repair, etc. I've had one do a pyometra almost without assistance. I had one do a full enucleation where I just watched but didn't have to intervene. I've had my techs walk them through placing central lines. Obviously, all of the easier skills like IV cath placement, as well.
I often will try to assign an inpatient case or two to a student, ask them to read up on it, do their exam, and then sorta round me on the case and talk about any therapy adjustments they'd recommend, etc. Forces them to really think through a case top to bottom.
Bottom line: The more you're prepared, the more you'll do. I'm not there to spend my time on students who aren't putting forth effort. It's your job as the student to be prepared. My job is to build on the foundation you've already created by helping you do the task you've already learned about and can describe to me in detail. If you aren't prepared, it will be a shadowing experience. If you are, you'll be the doctor.
Anyway. Externships with us can vary extremely depending on location. They also vary depending on what type - a rotating externship where you spend time with a variety of services vs a service-specific externship where you spend all your time with one service. The quality of experience will depend on which clinicians you're with as much as anything. I don't think you're any more or less likely to have a good or bad experience than externing at random general practices or other specialty/referral places.
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That sounds awesome! What years were said externs in? Would you consider letting yr3, even yr2 vet students do some of these procedures?
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We personally do not accept 1st- through 3rd-year students. Any externs I have are 4th years doing 4th-year externships. We also have interns.
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+1. I also work for BP as an ER doc and our externs in my market do a whole lot of nothing hands-on when they hang out with me, so the exact opposite of LIS's hospital. Our management doesn't even like students to do so much as hold an animal (liability concerns?). In terms of externing with a specialty service, you might get a bit more hands-on, such as scrubbing in and assisting during surgery if there is not already a surgery resident, surgery intern, or rotating intern that gets dibs. TBH we don't actually get a ton of externs despite the size of the hospitals in my market, but the ones I have seen have not gotten to do much (that is probably why we don't seem to have a lot....). I am sure COVID has also played a role in how many students have come through.
@Ariel-Li We see some UF students and I believe their curriculum is set up so that 2nd and 4th year students are on clinics, so I think it is possible we may take students outside of their 4th year but you would have to ask the externship coordinator at each location you're interested in for a solid answer to that.
@HappyToro If you are hoping to match at or get hired by a Bluepearl, I would recommend you try to make yourself known with an externship.
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Mannnn, that sucks. Your management doesn't give you the discretion to have the externs do what YOU want? I'd be ticked off if I got told what an extern could do under my license.
Bummer deal.
I did just have an extern whose last day was a few days ago and I felt bad ... I don't think she had a <great> experience. Just too busy, too much stress, people too run down...
Honestly, it's just not a great time to be externing, even when we ARE trying to get them hands-on experience.
I'm finding it super hard to put on a smile and be chipper and cheerful and all that other stuff. Honestly, if I could figure out a way to just take a year or two off and then check back in and see if the industry has corrected itself, I'd do it. It's just ..... so unsustainable to be an ER vet right now.
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It is really just unsustainable to be a vet right now in all fields. I'm over it too. Honestly get much more abuse from colleagues than I do the public some days. If one more ER vet complains about waiting 30 minutes while simultaneously telling me they have 8 hour waits ....
Hoping to win the lottery and vanish to my own private hideaway some day.
