Cotts Farm Equine Internship

Cotts Farm offers two 12-month intern positions for young/newly qualified veterinary surgeons. Positions in equine practice are often difficult for young vets to obtain, usually due to a lack of practical experience gained at veterinary school. Internships are increasingly popular because they represent the ‘fast track’ approach to jobs equine practice. In addition, internships are increasingly required as a part of the application for specialist residency training at University Teaching Hospitals. Suitable internships are normally organised and supervised by recognised European Specialists.

No two internships are the same. The Cotts Farm scheme is a very practical one, mixing hands-on training with clinic cases and first opinion cases drawn from our busy ambulatory practice. We also provide regular in-house training seminars and fund 5 days of external CPD. Interns also attend CPD meetings held at Cotts, as well as our extensive client education lecture series. After 12 months our interns are equipped with the skills and experience required to work competently in first line equine practice, or pursue further specialist training.

Interns work a 1 in 2 rota, rotating every 2 weeks between anaesthesia and surgery. In addition, they cover each other’s holidays. As such, they are hard work! Enthusiasm and motivation are key attributes in potential candidates, as is team work and communication. We strongly believe in providing fair working conditions: as part of their package interns are provided on-site accommodation in a recently converted barn, as well as mobile telephone, transport, a fair wage and holiday allowance. We normally encourage prospective applicants to spend a minimum of 2 days here, helping and observing the current interns and taking part in the clinic’s daily work.