Vancouver Aquarium Veterinary Externship

We are excited to share Morgan Shields’ experience below, funded by Charlie’s Angels fund.

To begin, I believe that the Vancouver Aquarium Veterinary Externship was the best way to kick off my clinical year! During this externship, I lived in North Vancouver and commuted to the Aquarium in the beautiful Stanley Park by bike every day. I was not obligated to come in during the weekends. However, I loved the externship so much that I came in every Saturday! My daily duties varied based on my caseload. However, I participated in clinical calls with the residents for various aquarium species such as fur seals, harbor seals, sea lions, a variety of fish, frogs, birds, sea otters, sea turtles, and sharks and rays. I was allowed to perform necropsies, learned important clinical reasoning regarding aquatic species, and participated in a research project to design SOPs for marine mammal darting and emergency drug dosing for birds, amphibians, fish, small mammals, and marine mammals. These are all species that I would have never encountered at The Ohio State, making this externship extremely valuable. The biggest takeaway for me, however, was the mentorship I received while in Vancouver. I worked closely with the resident, Dr. Alyssa Blew, and the head veterinarian, Dr. Martin Haulena, who provided excellent career advice and challenged me to think like a clinician regularly. If I made a statement or a decision on a treatment plan for an animal, Dr. Marty would play devil’s advocate and challenge me (often relentlessly) to back up my reasoning and provide evidence behind every decision. This was especially hard since I was working with aquatic and wildlife species and often felt embarrassed. However, there was always a lesson to be learned from Dr. Marty, and I left the externship feeling more confident in my ability to practice evidence-based medicine on species where not much is known. Learning to take knowledge from large and small animal medicine and apply that to aquatic species while also learning about all the species differences along the way was an experience that I would not have been able to get at Ohio State. Clinical skills such as ultrasound, injections, venipuncture, and learning to work with limited diagnostic options due to an animal’s temperament or clinic limitations are also experiences that I would not have gotten at Ohio State.

Regarding cultural competency, Vancouver was a very different setting from Ohio. Learning to work with Canadians and the Canadian government in charge of wildlife species and another country’s different policies are very important skills to learn as a veterinarian. Experiencing different rules and customs while practicing clinical medicine helps you learn to become flexible and adaptable. These are skills that, unfortunately, many clinicians may not experience if they only work at the same practice in the same country for many years. Regarding global health, I saw a lot of collaboration with other countries and the work Dr. Marty and other clinicians put into communicating. This is especially important when dealing with outbreaks of disease that may span countries or similar animal health concerns across borders. I learned that for all the differences between Canada and Vancouver, there is still the same care and concern for both global and animal health among veterinarians. This is something I will always remember as a clinician. As a result of this externship, I am more inspired than ever to pursue a career in aquatic animal health focused on global collaboration and engagement.