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Externship Program


The Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation Externship has provided funding to the AABP Foundation to fund externship grants for AABP student members enrolled at Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs). Externship grant funds are intended to offset the costs associated with attending externships to gain experience in cattle practice.

 

Applicants must be a current student member of AABP. Please note that it can take up to three business days to process your membership dues. At least one veterinarian in the practice must be an AABP member. A letter of reference must be submitted by an AABP member at the practice and another reference letter who can be a faculty member at your school, a mentor, undergraduate faculty member or personal reference of the student’s choice. The second reference letter does not have to be an AABP member. Students can find externship opportunities at https://aabp.org/jobs/mentor/Find_mentors.asp or can contact Dr. Fred Gingrich (fred@aabp.org) for assistance in locating an externship opportunity.


  1. Complete the online BI Externship Application Form. It is strongly suggested to complete your application in a Word document and copy/paste the information into the application.

  2. A letter from the practice describing the practice, describing what the student will be doing and stating what the housing arrangements will be for the student. The practice letter should also state which veterinarian(s) in the practice are AABP members.

  3. A faculty assessment reference letter who can be a faculty member at your school, a mentor, undergraduate faculty member or personal reference of the student’s choice.

 

Applications will be reviewed by the AABP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and selected applications will be notified by the AABP office. The AABP Foundation has secured funding for 10 externship grants at $2,000 per grant. Students will receive $1,750 upon acceptance of the application and the remaining $250 upon completion of the externship and uploading of an externship report in the grant portal. The report can include pictures and should detail the experiences the student gained on the externship. The report may be shared with the BI Cares Foundation and members of AABP.

 

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the application is completed by the published deadline. This includes uploading the necessary documents and ensuring your reference uploads a letter of reference into the application portal. Students can check the status of their application at https://aabp.org/students/grant_portal/. Incomplete applications are rejected and not funded.

 

The student extern must sign a release electronically within the application, releasing AABP, the AABP Foundation and Boehringer Ingelheim and the BI Cares Foundation from liability associated with the externship activities, prior to commencing any activities connected with the externship, including travel.

 

Insurance and liability information:

 

Professional liability: If the student's supervising veterinarians are insured for professional liability through the AVMA PLIT, preceptor coverage can be purchased for $10. This is an endorsement to the veterinarian's policy and basically duplicates the policy limits for the student. The student in question must be a SCAMVA member and be attending an accredited veterinary college. Veterinarians with Canadian VMA or other professional liability coverage should check with their insurance carrier. It is strongly recommended that students have professional liability coverage in place.

 

AABP suggests that all practices and students contact their insurance carrier or workers compensation insurance carrier to decrease liability to the practice if a student is injured while working for the practice. The AVMA PLIT and some state VMA's provide resources to decrease your risk and your client's risk of liability. These can include a liability waiver for all students, appropriate oversight of students, discussion and training on safety when working with animals, and obtaining insurance through your insurance carrier.


APPLICATION DEADLINES:

Applications will close on June 30.

 

Applications will be scored by volunteers from the AABP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The scoring rubric will be as follows:

 

Score the background information and career interests (10)

Score the quality of the externship experience (10)

Score the goals the student has identified for the externship (10)

Score the challenges in gaining cattle experience (5)

Score the faculty assessment (5)