(March 18, 2010 Stillwater, OK) – Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences student, Grace Hale, recently completed a three week veterinary student externship in Colorado sponsored by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Hale. a fourth year veterinary student from Glencoe, Okla., was one of 15 veterinary students selected by the AVMA to participate in the stipend program.

“Each student planned their own externship experience,” explains Hale. “In the packet that we submitted to the AVMA, we provided details of how it fulfilled the terns of the stipend.”

The purpose of the AVMA externship stipend is to broaden the experience of veterinary students to include underserved areas of veterinary medicine, such as public health and food supply positions.

Hale traveled to the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health in Fort Collins, Colo., where she worked with the Risk Analysis Team.

“I liked learning how government organizations operate and seeing how we, as veterinarians, have an obligation and the knowledge base necessary to protect and promote global animal health,” says Hale. “This in turn affects the animal populations in our nation, state and individual clinics. I was immediately included in discussions of emerging diseases and my education here at Oklahoma State prepared me to be an asset to the team.”

Following graduation in May 2010, Hale will participate in an internship in Equine Medicine and Surgery at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Hale is the daughter of Barbara and William Hale of Glencoe.

The Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences is one of 28 veterinary colleges in the United States and is fully accredited by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The center’s Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital is open to the public and provides routine and specialized care for small and large animals. It also offers 24-hour emergency care and is certified by the American Animal Hospital Association. For more information, visit www.cvhs.okstate.edu or call (405) 744-7000.

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