Fourth Year

By the beginning of the fourth year, all core didactic courses and some clinical rotations are completed. The student spends the entire year gaining further experience in clinical and other rotations. The core clinical rotation program utilizes the case method approach. Under supervision, the student records case histories, performs physical examinations and diagnostic and surgical procedures, and learns to assume responsibility for treatment and case/client management.

The fourth-year Clinical electives program allows students to emphasize areas of clinical interest for ten weeks, from a menu of internal rotations. Students also have electives at various intervals, for a total of up to eighteen weeks during the final seven weeks of the third year and throughout the fourth year. The electives are categorized as internal or external, in reference to their location within or outside the school. Students may elect to spend all this time in one area or may choose several areas. Most internal electives are one to two weeks in duration, while external electives are generally longer. Theses electives range in location from private equine practices in Kentucky to zoos in San Diego or Washington, to research laboratories at Tufts, Harvard, or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.