Annually, thousands of veterinary internship and residency positions are available to new graduates. Adtalem’s veterinary school is among the top producers of talent through the match program.
On the first Monday in March, veterinarians participate in their own version of Match Day through the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP). The term “Match Day” is more commonly known as the date for medical students to learn where they are going for their residency program, but thousands of positions are also available for veterinarians.
Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) graduates have secured internship and residency positions at the third-highest rate among all veterinary schools since 2021 when VIRMP began releasing institutional data.
Completing an internship or residency is not a requirement to begin practicing as a veterinarian. Many graduates go straight into practice. Those interested in continuing their training or finding a career path in a more specialized field of veterinary medicine seek out postgraduate opportunities.
Facing such a significant career decision, students at RUSVM often turn to their faculty for guidance.
A Community for Mentorship
Dr. Sarah Cavanaugh, DVM ’05, has been teaching at RUSVM since 2017. Today, she works with students in several capacities as a professor, assistant dean of admissions, and through extracurricular engagements. Student organizations often invite her and other professors to speak on their own experiences as interns and residents.
Internships are one-year programs that rotate new veterinarians through various disciplines, from emergency and general practice to more specialized areas like surgery and internal medicine. After the yearlong program is finished, interns decide if they will go into general practice or continue into a residency program for a specific specialized field.
With an option to continue in residency or go into practice after a year, students often work with Dr. Cavanaugh to dispel common misconceptions including that internships are only for students interested in specialties.
“Internships are an excellent option for the specialization career pathway, but it’s just as helpful for individuals going into general practice to gain more training and mentorship,” she says. “You’re a licensed, practicing veterinarian in an internship. Students often think they need to pay for a program, but you’re being paid as an employee working on a team of veterinarians with experience.”
A Mentee’s Perspective
After graduating from RUSVM, Dr. Cavanaugh completed an internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City and a residency in cardiology at Colorado State University. One of her mentees, Dr. Summer Foyle, DVM ’24, hopes to follow the same career path; she just started an internship at the University of Pennsylvania and aspires to pursue cardiology.
“I loved how the medicine courses were taught at RUSVM and I felt like I was well prepared for clinics,” she says. “Those classes helped open my eyes to what different specialists do and how interesting these fields can be.”
Dr. Foyle graduated from RUSVM with highest honors as one of the top two performing students in her class. She is one of 71 graduates who secured an internship or residency through VIRMP in 2024, the third largest number of graduates from one school this cycle.
She was a teaching assistant for Dr. Cavanaugh’s small animal medicine course for two semesters. She wanted to pursue specialty medicine following her time employed at a veterinary hospital, so during their one-on-one time, Dr. Foyle began inquiring about the best paths toward her career aspiration—university internships or clinical internships? Private internships or through the VIRMP?
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
