What internships are available for high school students on the path to becoming a veterinarian?

Hi A.D.,

There are plenty of opportunities available to get you started on the path to becoming a vet. A good place to begin would be your local animal shelter/rescue. Shelters are always in need of volunteers and you will learn all about the proper way to care for and interact with animals.

If you have a local emergency animal hospital, you may be able to volunteer there as well. You can also contact local vet offices to see if they need help - you may even be able to earn a little money! Please be aware that you will most likely be cleaning a lot of cages to begin with, but you will be in an environment that both interests and challenges you, all the while gaining valuable experience to help you make your decision.

Good luck!

That is great that you are thinking ahead. When I was in high school I did 2 internships. One a vet clinic and the other at a private zoo. I did one at the vet clinic because it gave me exposure to the clinic setting and taught me clinic procedures and such. I did the one at the zoo so that I could get exposure to exotic animals since vet clinics only have cats and dogs coming through, for the most part.

I would definitely recommend doing a vet clinic internship/volunteer during high school so that you can make sure it's really what you want to do before you spend 8-9 years in college and go $350,000 in debt.

After interning in a vet clinic, I decided it wasn't for me. I found it boring treating cats and dogs all day and having to put a lot of them down and dealing with crying owners and such. I liked the zoo internship better because I got to work with so many different animals and train them and build their enclosures, give them medical treatment, handraise babies, etc.

I would suggest interning/volunteering at a small vet clinic to get exposure to the daily routine of shots, checkups, dental cleanings, etc. Then if you like that, I'd progress to an internship at VCA Animal Hospital because they get more injuries which require surgery and such (more interesting). You can do these during the school year, after school.

After the vet clinic/hospital, I'd check into a zoo volunteer program. Most zoos require that you be in college to do an internship with them but most of them have volunteer positions for high school students during the summer. Happy Hollow Park & Zoo has a Zooteen volunteer program that you can do from May - August or Sept - April but any volunteer/internship positions at a zoo are very competitive so having first volunteered at a vet clinic will make your application look better for the zoo.