A preceptorship in aquatic animal medicine should serve to educate the student by providing exposure to the issues and practice of aquatic and environmental medicine. This must be accomplished in a manner that stimulates intellectual challenge, resulting in a positive experience for both the student and the supporting institution.

Educational programs, such as Aqua-vet, Aqua-med, and Envirovet, are becoming more available to veterinary students interested in aquatic animal medicine. Students participating in preceptorship programs will all have different levels of ability as well as specific interests. A program must therefore be flexible enough to take advantage of students strengths while simultaneously creating an educational opportunity that is challenging and rewarding.

Providing focus for the student is of paramount importance. An orientation manual is an effective way to do this. In it the objectives of the preceptorship, as well as your expectations should be clearly stated. At the National Aquarium in Baltimore for instance, we require that a student complete a case report in the "What is your diagnosis" format, and a project that is presented to aquarium staff. Projects have covered a wide variety of topics (table 1) and are designed to contribute significantly to our understanding of specific problems. The student, the animal health staff, the husbandry staff, and the facility all benefit from these investigations.

Students often bring to a program enthusiasm, and a relentless thirst for knowledge. Exposure to aquatic animal medicine may include, but is not limited to: suggested readings, assigned cases that illustrate disease processes, discussion of preventative medicine and quarantine programs, diagnostic procedures and laboratory techniques, pathological examinations, water quality systems and analysis, current research, politics at an institutional and industry level, and interaction with knowledgeable husbandry personnel.

Additional experience in aquatic animal medicine may be provided by utilizing neighboring facilities as educational resources. For instance, our students spend time during their rotation at the University of Maryland's Aquatic Toxicology and Pathology Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Division of Comparative Medicine, and The National Zoo. These excursions also give the student an opportunity to explore alternative career opportunities.

The need for trained aquatic animal veterinarians will continue to grow. Many veterinary schools are now incorporating basic courses into their curriculum that serve to expose students to this evolving field of veterinary medicine. Providing students with the opportunity to observe first-hand the challenges of aquatic animal medicine may allow them to decide if this is a career that they will continue to pursue. Indeed, veterinary internship and resident programs in aquatic animal medicine are now available. Through these programs we prepare our colleagues of tomorrow and in doing so, create a future in aquatic animal medicine and associations such as ours.

Table I. Examples of Preceptorship Projects

1.  Carr W., 1992. The safety of using nolvasan (Chlorhexidine diacetate) in the freshwater aquatic plant, Water Spirte (X).

2.  Carr W., 1992. Exophthalmos in highhat (Cubbyu sp.).

3.  Coniglario J.A., 1992. Hand rearing oophagous tadpoles of the strawberry poison arrow frog (Dendrobates pumilio) : A review of natural history, husbandry and diet at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

4.  Bebak J., 1992. Some suggestions for the control and antemortem diagnosis of hemochromatosis in the rainforest birds.

5.  Bernstein J.W., 1992. Enlarged thyroids in teleosts at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

6.  DeRolf S., 1990. A study of silver-beaked tanager chicks in the rainforest at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

7.  Gillus J., 1993. Gross and histologic features of the gastrointestinal tract of the harvestfish, Peprilus alepridotus, with implications for artificial rearing.

8.  Griffin T., 1993. Nutrition in Golden Lion Tamarins.

9.  Leff A.A., 1991. A preliminary study of the effects of antimicrobials on nitrification in a marine aquarium system.

10. King R.K., 1991. The natural history and survey of husbandry practices in Corytophanes cristatus ( Crested Forest Lizard).

11. Orcutt C., 1990. Disease due to Mycobacterium avium: with emphasis on clinical presentation and risk factors in humans as well as disease transmission and its prevention among animals and people.

12. Ryer M.C., 1993. Ocular disease in anurians: A review of the literature.

13. Siebert M.L., 1992. The management and theory behind lateral line erosive syndrome: A comparative study. Spangenberg J., 1992. A preliminary assessment of health status in the atlantic coral reef system: Historical background, current status, and possible avenues for future investigation.

14. Yanong R. , 1992. Cataracts: Possible causes and suggestions for environmental and nutritional therapy.

15. Yanong R. 1992. Stress in Elasmobranchs: The assessment of serum chemistries as a monitoring tool during the capture and transport of the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus.