Prospective Students
Information for students considering applying for an externship (seeing practice) at Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital
Thank you for your interest in seeing practice at Anglesey Lodge
Most of our students visit during foal season, when we are busiest. We accept four students at a time during peak foal season, and one to two students out of the season. The foal season runs from approximately 1st February to 31st July.
Availability for the 2011 and 2012 foal seasons, as of 10 August 2010:
2011: All available, with the exception of:
Weeks of 7th and 14th March 2011.
Several other weeks only have availability for one or two more students
2012: Now open - and completely available
We ask that students visit for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 6 weeks
Please do not ask to see practice with us if you will not be available during the weekends of your visit
We are happy to give you time off during the week to see something of Ireland or to recuperate, but we require that students are available at the weekends
April and May are the busiest month of the year - February can be busy some weeks, and slower in others.
Obviously, as the season goes on, we start to see fewer neonatal foals and more older foals
In Feb/March we see mainly neonatal foals (both Flat and National Hunt bred) – with problems like perinatal asphyxia syndrome, septicaemia, colic and enterocolitis.
In April, we continue to see these foals, but also begin to see older foals with enterocolitis and towards the end of the month, Rhodococcus equi
The last Flat bred newborn foals present in the first couple of weeks of May, but we will continue to see a few newborn National Hunt and Sport horse foals into late June and July
We also see many older foals during these months
In 2009, we saw:
2 foals in January
9 foals in February
18 foals in March
18 foals in April
42 foals in May
14 foals in June
8 foals in July
From the breeding patterns that we saw in 2009, we expect there to be very few newborn foals in June and July in 2010
We are a busy private practice, with a philosophy that everyone mucks in to get the work done...
We will ask you to help out on some weekend days, evenings or night shifts, but would make sure that you don't work longer than 12 hours and get time to sleep and eat! Please do not ask to see practice with us if you are not free to help at the weekends.
We also want students to see some of Ireland, so if you help out at the weekend, we would be happy to give you a couple of free days during the week in lieu.
We have a 24-hour nursing team - you would never be by yourself.
We have 14 vets in the practice, 6 of whom are permanently in the hospital.
Students are expected to help out in all aspects of the hospital
This will mostly involve monitoring and treating and feeding the foals - some of these will be on hourly treatments. There are also many adult cases.
Our head nurse will allocate you one or more patients to look after, and you are expected to ensure that they receive all the treatments and care they require. Most of the foals have ranges set for heart rate, blood pressure etc. and you will be involved in the discussion of change of treatment if your foal goes outside the range set by the attending vet
There might be an opportunity on one day to go out with a stud vet in the morning, and see that aspect of the practice.
Most students stay with our nurses for a very fair rent (currently 100 Euro per week).
They live 15 minutes by car away from the practice (Monasterevin).
Some students have caught lifts with them, and not rented a car. This may mean, however, that you are limited to being at the hospital during the nurses shift and have to take public transport or taxis to the hospital on some days. Others have chosen to have more independence, and rented a car. Directions to the practice are given here.
If you would prefer, there are very many local Bed & Breakfasts or hotels - these can be found at Discover Ireland or www.kildare.ie (choose one that it on the Curragh, in Kildare or in Newbridge)
Dublin airport is the closest airport (about 40 miles away). There are direct flights to Dublin from many airports. Cheap flights from the UK and many European cities are available from many airlines, including Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Aer Arann.
Direct flights from the USA are available from many airlines, including Aer Lingus, Continental, Delta, United, American and US Airways.
A map of all cities served direct from Dublin Airport (click on the city to see the airline) is available here.
Dublin and Dun Loaghaire ports are about an hour away from the practice (except at Rush Hour, when they can be 3 hours away!)
Larne and Belfast ports are about 3 to 4 hours by car from the practice. Directions to the practice are given here.
Several ferry companies sail to Ireland, including Irish Ferries, P&O and Stena.
If you chose not to bring your own car or hire a car, it would be unfortunately very hard for us to free someone up to collect you from the airport in the middle of the foal season
The best route is the airport bus from the airport to Heuston Station: http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/airport_services.asp
Then take the train to (preferably) Kildare station or Newbridge station: http://www.irishrail.ie/home/
We will organise a lift from there to where you are staying.
Hope this gives you some information - please ask if you have any other questions
The best way to arrange to see practice is to email horsevet@live.com directly. Alternatively, please call Kevin Corley or Mary Wade (Head Nurse) on +353 (0)45-521373
If you would like to come over, please confirm the dates (if the flights/ferry don't quite work out on those exact dates, its no problem) so that we can make sure we have a spread of students across the season
Please also note that if you confirm these dates, I will be turning other students down for that time. Please only confirm if you definitely intend to come.
Thanks again for your interest!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Contact Us
Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital
P: (+353) (0) 45 521373
F: (+353) (0) 45 521114
info@aleh.ie |
|
