Residency Information

Residency Program in Shelter Medicine

The Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, offers a residency program in Shelter Medicine. Minimum qualifications include graduation from an accredited school of veterinary medicine and a one-year internship or equivalent practice experience.

Objectives

To provide training in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of sheltered animals with emphasis on infectious and behavioral disorders.
To provide training in epidemiology, leading to a UC Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine Residency Certificate in Shelter Medicine.
To provide training in design of facilities for sheltering animals.
To provide experience in designing a clinical research project, undertaking the investigation, and completing it by publication of the findings.
To provide experience in the training of veterinary medical students in the clinical aspects of designing and managing a successful shelter for pets.

Residency Program

The residency is a two year program, consisting of:

Clinical Rotations. Each resident will spend the majority of their time in clinical rotations at animal shelters. Additionally, residents will rotate through the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service and other specialty services at the VMTH. Subspecialty rotation(s) may be chosen by the resident.
Research. Each resident will be expected to become involved in at least one research project. The goals are to become acquainted with clinical research, to publish an abstract, to present new material orally to peers, and finally, to publish these findings in a refereed scientific journal. Approximately 25% out-of-clinic time will be provided to assure that a project can be completed. Presentation at the Annual House Officer Seminar Day is mandatory.
Teaching. Each resident will have direct contact with 4th year veterinary students and will participate in their clinical training within the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and at shelters.
Courses. Two epidemiology courses are required in Principles of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. The resident may elect to enroll concurrently in the Master's of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) track (three year option). This consists of advanced training in epidemiology, statistics, and preventive medicine.

Each resident also will be expected to attend weekly lectures throughout the program. These lectures will be advanced in nature and specific to areas of interest to infectious diseases and shelter medicine. Rounds discussions for faculty and residents will be scheduled; research discussions and sub-specialty rounds will take place monthly.

VMTH Facilities

In addition to the expected facilities in any modern teaching hospital, this facility has on site as resources: full diagnostic laboratories, endoscopy, ultrasonography, color doppler echocardiography, computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear imaging, linear accelerator for treating cancer, full pathology faculty and facilities, dentistry facilities and faculty, toxicology facilities and faculty.

Expectations of the Faculty for the Resident

The VMTH is committed to building strong relationships with its constituents. A major part of the resident's duties, therefore, includes timely communication with referring veterinarians and clients.

All residents are strongly advised to obtain a California License within the first year of the residency in order to write prescriptions.

Residents must be able to arrive at the Hospital within 15 minutes of an emergency call, therefore, residents must plan to live within 15 miles of the Hospital.

Continuation in the program is contingent upon satisfactory performance.

Selection will be made in accordance with the guidelines of the Veterinary Internship/Residency Matching Program.For application procedures, salary and benefits, and other information about the residency program, please see General Information on the VMTH web site.

The University of California, Davis, and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital are interested in candidates who are committed to the highest standards of scholarship and professional activities, and to the development of a campus climate that supports equality and diversity.