Internship at San Diego County Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory

Created in 1933, the San Diego County Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory is a full service diagnostic laboratory that analyzes animal diseases to prevent their spread to other animals and to humans. It is the only County-run veterinary diagnostic laboratory in the United States and thus provides a unique service to citizens and businesses of San Diego. Its customers include UCSD, the U.S. Navy, the Salk Institute, the San Diego Zoological Society, biotechnology companies, County departments, such as Health & Human Services (Public Health) and the Department of Animal Services, Mexican health authorities at the Institute of Public Health Services of Baja California, wildlife rehabilitation groups, private veterinarians, farmers and pet owners. For a nominal fee, the laboratory performs necropsies (animal autopsies), microbiologic cultures, serology, rabies tests, PCR analysis, and microscopic examinations, in order to diagnose diseases in the county. Its work has been instrumental in preventing cases of human rabies, convicting felons of animal cruelty, discovering new diseases, preventing foreign animal diseases from entering the country, training federal and local animal service personnel and assessing the status of communicable diseases in San Diego County. The laboratory is also the West Coast study site for the C.L. Davis Foundation for the Advancement of Veterinary and Comparative Pathology. Veterinarians, residents and students use its library, kodachrome, laserdisc and histopathology slide collections to further their understanding of pathology. Internships are available for highly-motivated students interested in veterinary medicine, public health or microbiology. Interns work approximately 8 hrs per week, assisting with necropsies and microbiology. Other avenues may also be investigated, depending on the student’s interests. Under the mentoring of a staff pathologist, interns are expected to delve further into cases that they observe, by reading texts and journal articles, utilizing the materials of the laboratory and discussing their findings with the pathologist. Presentation of a case report at a conference or seminar is encouraged. For more information, please contact Dr. Nikos Gurfield at Nikos.gurfield@sdcounty.ca.gov.