Amber McElhinney - Kentucky, Connecticut, and New Jersey

I am interested in equine sports medicine and intend to pursue a career in equine surgery and lameness. My original proposal was to spend three weeks gaining clinical experience at Advantage Equine Veterinary Practice, a sports-medicine-focused ambulatory equine practice based out of Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately, the borders to Australia remained closed through the summer, so I had to come up with an alternate experience. Instead, I decided to do clinical experience on the eastern side of the United States.

First, I spent three weeks in Lexington, Kentucky visiting Park Equine Hospital and Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. While in Lexington, I got to see a lot of thoroughbred racehorses and learned about the common diseases that they face. Both hospitals had high sports-medicine caseloads, so I was able to assist with a lot of lameness evaluations, treatments for upper airway diseases, and podiatry cases. I even got to scrub in and assist on my first surgery. Rood and Riddle was a huge hospital, with over 300 total employees. It was overwhelming at first, but after a couple of days, I was able to get my bearings and got to spend time in a lot of different specialties, including surgery, internal medicine, podiatry, and sports medicine. I made friends with the other externs, and we explored Lexington together during our time off. We visited downtown Lexington and Churchill Downs, the racetrack that hosts the Kentucky Derby every year, in Louisville.

When my time in Kentucky was over, I drove up to Connecticut to spend two weeks at Fairfield Equine Associates. Fairfield is predominantly a sports-medicine practice, so I was able to assist on a lot of lameness workups and practice my diagnostic imaging skills, including radiography, ultrasound, and nuclear scintigraphy. I also helped with emergencies and in-patient care, as well as appointments during business hours. My last clinical experience of the summer was one week at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in New Jersey. Mid Atlantic was a very busy practice, and again I was able to spend time in a few different services, including surgery, internal medicine, and field service. As an extern, I also assisted on evening treatments for the inpatient horses and helped with emergency work-ups.

Despite not being able to travel abroad, I was still able to gain valuable clinical experience. I learned a lot and met many amazing clinicians during my travels, and got some insight into how different parts of the country practice veterinary medicine. This summer helped me figure out that I want to pursue a residency in equine surgery after veterinary school, and how best to be a competitive applicant. I was able to learn not only from many very accomplished veterinarians but also from fourth-year students doing their clinical externships. Overall, my summer experience was very fulfilling and will help me pursue my career goals.


Amber McElhinney Image
Amber McElhinney Image
Amber McElhinney Image