Student Placements

 We welcome veterinary students already studying or considering studying a veterinary qualification in New Zealand or from overseas who would like to spend time with us on practical placement.

We also welcome veterinary nursing and veterinary technician students who are studying or considering studying towards a qualification.

​With two clinics (Balclutha and Milton), we can usually accommodate several students on placement at a time and keep them busy with a combination of companion animal and production animal cases. 

 The local farming systems are seasonal, which means the types of cases you might see can vary depending on the season/time of year. It is worthwhile giving this consideration as to which month would be most worthwhile for you to come and visit us - this way you can get the most out of your time and have a higher chance of seeing the things you want to see.

The strength of New Zealand's agricultural economy is built on the efficiency of feeding grass outside, when it grows. Thus we aim to have both dairy cows and ewes at peak lactation in the late spring (Oct/Nov), to maximise the efficiency of converting growing grass into animal protein.  For this reason, our farming system is highly seasonal, to a much greater extent than most overseas people realise.

What this means for a rural vet practice, with a high component of clinical work as dairy, is that our calendar is highly seasonal too. We do a lot of particular jobs for a couple of months, then all of a sudden that job stops, and we start the next seasonal task, and are very busy with that for a couple of months, until it is time to move to the next one. All peri-calving and neo-natal work (calvings, mastitis, calf medicine, reproductive work) occurs in a short period from August to November. 

The main activities for large animal work occur mostly within the time frames given below:​ 

 Dairy Cattle

• Calving from late July until the end of October.
• Disbudding calves from September to November.
• Reproduction (post-calving checks and mating programmes) from September to December.
• Pregnancy testing from mid January to May with portable ultrasound and individual head sets, confirming empty cows manually.
• Teatsealing heifers and drying off cows from May to July.
• Transition to winter feeds from May to June.
• Farmer consultations in April and July.
• Emergencies, lame cow treatment, and herd health visits all year round.

​Equine

• Breeding season (artificial insemination work) November to January.
• Foaling season November to January.
• Equine dentistry all year round.
• Emergency and equine health visits all year round.

Sheep

• Ram palpations and vasectomies from January to March.
• Farmer consultations June to July.
• Emergencies and flock health visits all year round

Beef Cattle

• Pregnancy testing in March and April.
• Dehorning and castrating bull calves from February to April.
• Calving from August to September.

Deer

• Pregnancy Testing June to July.
• Develvetting from October to early February.
• Farmer discussion groups all year round.

There are various other large animal jobs that occur all year round such as general, individual sick animal visits, lame cow treatment, emergencies, and the occasional goat and alpaca visit. Please phone or email us at the clinic if you would like further information on what to expect if you have a particular time in mind in which you would like to visit. 

 We welcome veterinary students already studying or considering studying a veterinary qualification at Massey University, Palmerston North or from overseas who would like to spend hands-on time with us on practical placement at a rural veterinary practice.

We also welcome veterinary nursing and veterinary technician students who would like to complete their practical placement at Clutha Vets.  Most nursing and technician students we host are studying at:
​

• Otago Polytech School of Veterinary Nursing in Dunedin
• Southern Institute of Technology in Invercargill
• Telford  Agricultural Training Centre in Balclutha
• 
  

​With two clinics (Balclutha and Milton), we can usually accommodate several students at a time and keep them busy with a combination of companion animal and production animal cases.

The Clutha Veterinary Association  invites students studying Veterinary Science or Agriculture in New Zealand to apply for 2 types of scholarships on offer.

• Studying veterinary science at Massey University
• Studying agriculture at any New Zealand tertiary institution

Travel grants of $2000 are available to students who are in their 3rd, 4th or 5th year of study for a Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree at Massey University, and is intended for travel to see practice at Clutha Vets.

Grants will be awarded at the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Clutha Veterinary Association. Preference may be given to students who are normally resident in the Clutha Vets practice area or who have a particular interest in rural veterinary practice. Need, as well as academic attainment will be taken into account when selecting recipients. Grants will be awarded annually but recipients may be eligible for a scholarship in more than one year.

Students awarded a Clutha Veterinary Association travel grant are expected to spend a minimum two weeks (not necessarily consecutively) seeing practice at either our Balclutha or Milton clinics. Payment will be made as a lump sum at your first visit.

Application forms are available to Vet Students from "BVSc Zoo" Stream website. Applicants are required to attach a brief one page covering letter which explains a little about themselves, their areas of interest and likely career aspirations.

Applications for Travel Grants are open from August until October and are awarded for travel in the following year. Students in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of study are eligible to apply.

Bursaries of $1000​ each are open to students studying a veterinary or agricultural degree at a tertiary institution in New Zealand.