Vets and Veterinary Students

Liphook Equine Hospital welcomes visiting vets and vet students to see practice.

Hospital Extern

We offer four week Hospital Externships for final year veterinary students, university residents in training, or recently qualified vets which are aimed at those who wish to pursue a career in equine medicine or surgery. The hospital extern lives and works in the hospital; on site accommodation is provided. They will work closely with our team of housevets and hospital clinicians (5 European specialists in surgery and 3 European specialists in internal medicine). Primary responsibilities include pre-operative preparation of patients and scrubbing into elective and emergency surgeries. The hospital extern also helps in the admission of routine and emergency hospital cases and the monitoring and care of hospital in-patients.

Diagnostics Extern

We offer two week externships for visiting veterinary surgeons and veterinary students (in their last two years of clinical training) based in the diagnostics centre at the hospital. Accommodation is not provided. The diagnostics extern will be expected to assist housevets and hospital clinicians in the evaluation of lameness cases, poor performance investigations, and the work-up of medical cases. They can expect to be involved in a wide range of diagnostic modalities used in a referral hospital setting such as nerve blocks, video endoscopy, ultrasound, gamma scintigraphy, radiography, MRI and CT. Also, they will help with the monitoring and care of hospital in-patients, including those in the intensive care unit. This externship gives students a breadth of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of horses in an exceptional referral hospital setting.

Ambulatory Extra-Mural Studies (EMS) Placements

We offer two week EMS placements for veterinary students in their last two years of clinical training) or visiting veterinary surgeons based with our busy ambulatory team (road vets). Accommodation is not provided. Our road vet team practice with a high regard for evidence-based medicine and the majority hold post-graduate qualifications. They serve a varied population of clients and horses – from racehorses, high-level competition horses, and top-quality studs, to leisure horses and ponies. This placement gives students the opportunity to experience all aspects of first opinion equine veterinary care and there may be chances to follow-up road vet cases when they are examined at the hospital or referred to hospital clinicians.

If you are interested in applying for either externship or an ambulatory EMS placement please email post@theLEH.co.uk for more information. Early application is advised due to high demand.

Work Experience * FULLY BOOKED FOR 2024*

We accept school pupils (aged 16 years or over) who are interested in a career in equine veterinary nursing or veterinary medicine on work experience placements. These may be part of their formal school work experience or arranged their during school/college vacations. Students will work alongside the veterinary nursing team on the yard at the hospital and will get the opportunity to go into theatre to watch surgery and to observe the work of the vets within the hospital. Placements offered are on an observational basis, although some horse handling may be expected. Placements are available for one week and as the number of students is limited to one at any one time and these placements are very popular, particularly during school holiday time, early application is recommended. If you are interested in arranging a work placement please click on the following link to fill in an application form: Work Experience Questionnaire. Once you have completed the form please email it to our assistant yard manager at lindsey.hedger@theleh.co.uk, or post to Assistant Yard Manager, Liphook Equine Hospital, Forest Mere, Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7JG. We are fully booked for 2023.

Hospital Tours

We are happy to arrange hospital tours for local riding groups, pony clubs or other groups in the evening, during the week. If interested please contact Beth Richards via e-mail at beth.richards@theleh.co.uk or telephone on 01428 723594.

Applying for a House Vet Position

Liphook Equine Hospital offers 18 month positions for recently qualified veterinary graduates that we call ‘housevets’. The housevet programme stands out as an exceptional experience compared with many internship programmes as it offers:

A clearly defined role within an approachable team of experienced equine clinicians
An opportunity to work with the largest team of RCVS/European equine medicine and surgery specialists in the UK
An opportunity to work with a large team of skilled nurses
An opportunity to develop and expand the skills learned in your first year(s) in practice in a supportive hospital setting
Hands-on involvement in a wide range of medical and surgical procedures
Responsibility for client contact and liaison from admission to discharge
Active participation in lameness investigations – it is part of the housevet’s job to perform nerve blocks and joint blocks not watch someone else doing it!
Responsibility for general anaesthesia of our diverse surgical caseload with support from ECVAA specialists.
On site accommodation in a well-equipped flat whilst on call and local village accommodation provided for housevets when not on call.

The comprehensive and practical experience obtained during the housevet programme prepares young vets for a future career in any field of equine veterinary work.

(Giles Summerhays was a Partner and Surgeon at Liphook Equine Hospital, retiring from the practice in 2014. Giles has always appreciated the support from the house vets who looked after his cases while he was a surgeon, and wanted to reward present and future house vets for their invaluable, hard work and enthusiasm.

Giles came up with the idea of funding a travel bursary for the house vets which would go towards a visit abroad to an Equine Hospital or institution for a month at the end of their tenure. This would help to expand their horizons and future career, and also help the LEH to foster good relations with other practices round the world.

The bursary is worth £2,000/year and could be taken by one person, or if more than one wanted to take it, could be divided.)