Veterinary Extern - General Practice

Veterinary Student Externship

North Lake Veterinary Clinic | Hartland, Wisconsin

Build your skills. Explore your interests. Experience veterinary medicine without limits.

Looking for a hands-on externship where you can learn from experienced veterinarians, build your clinical confidence, and experience the rewards of truly personalized patient care? Come spend time with the team at North Lake Veterinary Clinic in Hartland, Wisconsin!

We're a growing, practice dedicated to providing high-quality veterinary medicine while building lasting relationships with our clients and their pets. Our recently renovated hospital offers an inviting, modern learning environment where veterinary students can explore their interests, ask questions, and gain valuable insight into life in general practice.

From preventive care and internal medicine to surgery, dentistry, diagnostics, and exotic pet care, you'll have the opportunity to see how a collaborative veterinary team approaches a diverse range of patient needs.

Whether you're early in your clinical journey or preparing for your transition into practice, we'd love to help you make the most of your externship experience!

Why Choose North Lake for Your Externship?

Learn from experienced veterinarians. Spend time with our four-doctor team and see how collaboration, clinical reasoning, and thoughtful case management contribute to excellent patient care.

Explore a variety of cases. Gain exposure to wellness visits, internal medicine, diagnostic workups, surgery, dentistry, and exotic pet care, depending on the cases seen during your externship.

Experience relationship-based medicine. Our appointments are a minimum of 30 minutes, allowing our doctors to get to know clients, discuss treatment options, and develop individualized care plans. See firsthand how strong communication builds trust and improves the client experience.

Discover the value of medical autonomy. Observe how veterinarians use their medical judgment to make recommendations tailored to each patient and family.

Learn in a modern, recently renovated hospital. Our expanded facility provides a comfortable, well-equipped environment for patient care and clinical learning.

Be part of a supportive team. We welcome questions, encourage curiosity, and want students to feel comfortable learning, participating, and discovering what kind of veterinarian they want to become.

What You'll Experience

Your externship will be shaped by your educational goals, interests, and the cases available during your visit.

Depending on your experience level and the opportunities available, you may have the chance to:

• Observe and participate in wellness examinations and preventive care.
• Develop your approach to history-taking, physical examinations, and client communication.
• Follow cases involving internal medicine and diagnostic testing.
• Observe or assist with surgical and dental procedures as appropriate.
• Learn about diagnostic imaging, laboratory testing, and treatment planning.
• Gain exposure to exotic pet medicine and the unique considerations involved in caring for nontraditional companion animals.
• Discuss clinical cases, differential diagnoses, and treatment options with experienced veterinarians.
• Learn how a veterinary team works together to provide compassionate, high-quality care.

Our goal is to make your externship educational, engaging, and relevant to your future career.

A Modern Facility to Support Your Learning

North Lake Veterinary Clinic has recently renovated and expanded its hospital, adding two exam rooms to bring the total to six.

Our equipment and resources include:

• Digital radiography and digital dental radiography
• Full IDEXX in-house laboratory
• Ultrasound
• Companion Class IV therapeutic laser
• Advanced anesthesia monitoring
• Electronic medical records
• Updated computer and phone systems
• Private doctor's office and comfortable workspaces

You'll have the opportunity to see how these resources support diagnostic decision-making and individualized patient care.

Who Should Apply?

We welcome veterinary students who are curious, compassionate, motivated to learn, and excited to explore the many aspects of small animal general practice.

Ready to Experience North Lake?

Your externship is an opportunity to ask questions, strengthen your clinical foundation, explore your interests, and discover the kind of veterinary team you want beside you as you begin your career.

Come learn with us at North Lake Veterinary Clinic!

Apply today to discuss an externship experience tailored to your educational goals and interests.

National Veterinary Associates (NVA) is a leading North American pet health care company with nearly 1,300 locations spanning general practice veterinary hospitals, Ethos emergency and specialty hospitals, and pet resorts and equine veterinary care. With approximately 40,000 team members, we care for pets and support pet families in communities across the United States and Canada.  Our purpose is to give pets and the people who love them more quality years together, and our mission is to make care more personal, easy and accessible while advancing medicine and care across every stage of life. Across NVA, we support our teams with the resources, expertise and opportunities they need to deliver exceptional care and help shape the future of veterinary and pet care.

Purpose: Give pets and the people who love them more quality years together

Mission: Transform the pet family experience to be personal, easy and accessible, while advancing medicine and care across every stage of life. 

Values: Care Deeply, Do What’s Right, One Team, Own It, Shape What’s Next 

One NVA: Bringing General Practice & Ethos Together

NVA is built to make care personal, easy and accessible, while advancing medicine across every stage of a pet’s life. 

At National Veterinary Associates, we want to make sure your experience connecting with us is seamless and straightforward. Here’s what to expect when interacting with us: