Internship Program

Each summer SeaDoc brings one or more rising third-year veterinary students to Orcas Island to assist with research projects, often in conjunction with the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor.

This internship is a unique opportunity for vet students to get involved in wildlife health issues.

During eight weeks of residency the interns help with SeaDoc research projects and help respond to marine mammal strandings. They find and assess the physical condition of stranded animals, tag harbor seal pups that are left on the beach, transport other pups to a rehabilitation center and participate in gross necropsies and the writing of gross necropsy reports. Interns also participate in weekly medical rounds for harbor seals at the Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. They work closely with volunteers and spend a good deal of time educating and speaking with the public.

From time to time we also have short term research internships.

Our Interns and where they are now:

2011:

Greg Bishop and Ashley Briese

Greg is a 3rd year Vet Med student at UC Davis. Ashley is a 3rd year Vet Med student at OSU.

2010:

Sara Heidelberger and Sarah Smolley

Sara Heidelberger beginning her 4th year UC Davis Veterinary Medicine and Sarah Smolley beginning her 4th year UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. (6/11)

2009:

Michelle Barbieri, DVM and Nadia Rifat, DVM

Michelle Barbieri graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in June 2011. She is currently anesthetizing Steller sea lions w/ NOAA in the Aluetian Islands for branding to monitor the population. (6/11)

Nadia Rifat graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in June 2011. She is working at East Bay Veterinary Specialists in Walnut Creek, CA. (6/11)

Nick Donald was a short-term intern in the summer of 2009. He assisted with the marine mammal stranding network and also took on a special project to assist us with compiling and mapping current coastal river otter habitat to help us determine critical habitat for this species. Nick now lives in New York City.

2008:

Abby Stanger, DVM

Abby is currently in her final months as a rotating small animal intern at San Francisco Veterinary Specialists. In the fall she is moving to Omaha, NE and hopes to take her interests in wildlife and one health medicine further. (6/11)

2007:

Jessica Kurek, DVM

Jessica  graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. She works in emergency veterinary medicine at Pacific Veterinary Specialists in Capitola, CA. (6/11)

2006:

Katie Marrie, DVM

For the last three years, Katie has been working as a small animal veterinarian in private practice in Long Beach, CA. She is a board member on the local business improvement organization (Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association). Last year, she started working as a surgeon for a non-profit organization called Clinico. Clinico’s mission is to reduce animal shelter intake by providing high-quality, low-cost spay and neuter services to underserved communities in Los Angeles. (6/11)

2005

Brynie Kaplan-Dau, DVM

Brynie specialized in small animal and aquatic/exotic medicine and graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. Currently  she is associate veterinarian with Aguajito Veterinary hospital in Monterey California.

2004

Nick Brown and Abigail Sine

Nick Brown, shown here with Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders and SeaDoc Chief Scientist Joe Gaydos after a dive in 2010, is starting veterinary school in St. Kitts in the fall of 2011. Janna Nichols photo. (6/11)

Abby Sine is a veterinary student at Massey University in New Zealand. (6/11)

2003

Morgan Sternberg