What is normal etiquette after completing an externship?

[canyonman]

I'm a 3rd year vet student and will be starting clinical rotations next semester. I was curious what the normal "etiquette" or follow-up after an externship is? Do most people send a thank you email or letter to the practice? Or do nothing? I did one externship this past summer and sent them a card in the mail, thanking them for hosting me and teaching me, etc etc. I'm just curious if that's the norm and to see what other people do.

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[battie]

For my 4 week long externship this last summer, I brought donuts for the whole staff the last day. I verbally expressed my gratitude when we went over my evaluation form as well. Nothing too fancy.

 

[Cyndia]

I always brought a thank you card to write out and give them on the last day, and if I spent time with a lot of techs/assistants I would also spend like $5 to pick up a container or two of cookies from the grocery store the morning of the last day.

This is totally not required but I also splurged and gave a slightly more personalized gift to two of the places I went because I really hit it off with doctors mentoring me at those two locations, and I was planning to apply for a job at both. One doctor told me he always semi-jokingly asks for a case of beer for putting up with the students and no one had ever given him one, so I got him a 6 mix pack of beers which he was super excited about. The other place, my cat wine bottle collection came up in convo at some point and one of them mentioned she really wanted one/loves that type of wine, so I got her a bottle of that, and got the other doctor a halloween themed gift (her fave holiday and it was coming up soon after my externship).

I'll add that being on the other side of things - I don't ever expect anything, but have thus far gotten thank you cards from most of my externs. One or two wrote an email thanking me afterwards instead. I think one did give me a little keychain or something, but don't entirely remember. You truly don't need to splurge on anything extra because I'm going to remember you based on how you performed during the externship and not based on whatever you bring at the end.

 

[KCgophervet]

I usually sent thank you cards - I bought like a pack of 100 at Target and would send them individually to the doctors I worked with and then sometimes one to the techs or residents depending on how the externship went. I also sent thank you cards to places I interviewed at - and where I eventually got hired (as well as my residency) I've seen my thank you's hanging in my now-colleagues offices so that makes me feel good, like it meant something to them as well. I also keep all the thank you's I've received from visiting students and its a good reminder of them come Match time (or interviewing in general).

Again, not strictly necessary but its a nice gesture. I would also occasionally make/bring baked goods at the end but that was dependent on how much free time I had and how much I liked the externship.

 

[that redhead]

I would write a thank you card or email to the director/owner/coordinator/doctors you worked with. Baked goods are never wrong as a general thank you to the support staff

 

[LetItSnow]

When I did mine I sent thank you cards or, in one case, sent personalized gifts to the doctors and treats for all the staff.

As a DVM who occasionally has externs in our ER, I will say mayyyyybe 45% of externs send a thank-you card, 5% will send some food basket or something, and 50% just go off and do their thing and never take the time to thank you for mentoring them. (The latter probably would not be well-received if they later applied for a job or an internship with us.)