What Are The Requirements To Get Into Vet School?
As little kids, many of us dream of being veterinarians and saving the lives of animals. But for some of us, the dream never goes away, and as we start to think seriously about what we want to be when we grow up, vet school becomes a more and more real possibility.
So what are the requirements to get into vet school? What can you start doing now to help your chances of getting into vet school? The short answer is that the requirements for vet school vary by school, but there are some standard steps you can take to improve your chances of admission and help yourself on the path to becoming a vet!
Do I Need to go to Vet School to be a Vet?
In short, yes. There are many careers working with animals that do not require you to attend vet school, such as being a wildlife biologist or a veterinary technician. But to be a vet in the United States, you have to attend vet school.
Vet school is very competitive! Last year, there were more than twice as many applicants as admissions places available. So you want to start early doing everything you can to set yourself apart and improve your chances of getting into vet school. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it, it just means that it takes perseverance!
What Can I Do Before College?
First of all, if you’ve already started college and now decided that you want to pursue a career as a vet, it’s not too late! You can talk to your school’s pre-vet advisor about how to best make a plan. If your school does not have a pre-vet advisor, don’t worry! You can seek advice from your pre-vet club (or the pre-vet club of a local school if your school doesn’t have one) or directly from the APVMA.
What Animal Lovers Should Know About A Career in Veterinary
You have a way with animals. You seem to know just what a dog needs to feel calm, and your friends come to you with their animal-related questions. But how does that passion for animals translate into a career in the veterinary field? Should you go to veterinary school or earn a degree as a vet tech? How is your love of animals best used in the working world? If you’ve ever wondered, “Should I be a vet?” keep reading to explore the best career path for your passions.
Vet Tech Versus Veterinarian: What’s the Difference?
Vet techs and veterinarians spend their days working with animals of all shapes, sizes, and breeds. Both are rewarding careers for people who are passionate about animals, but there are some distinct differences.
A vet tech is basically the nurse of the animal world. Just as a nurse performs a variety of tasks to support human health, both supervised and unsupervised, a vet tech performs various tasks in support of a veterinarian to help care for animals.
Being a vet tech is an ideal career for animal lovers who want to get into the field as soon as possible. Vet tech positions typically only require an Associate Degree, which takes roughly two years to achieve. You spend less money on your schooling and get into a rewarding job in the veterinary field much faster. Vet techs get to perform a variety of tasks, so you won’t just watch from the sidelines while the veterinarian does all of the interesting jobs.
Veterinarians must complete years of schooling to earn the degree, while a vet tech degree takes much less time. The schooling to become a veterinarian involves lots of math and science, which can be challenging for many people. Even if you do love math and science, only a limited number of universities offer certified veterinary programs, and earning a spot in one of those programs is often competitive and difficult.
Veterinarian
Veterinarians play a major role in the health of our society by caring for animals and by using their expertise and education to protect and improve human health as well. It’s likely that you are most familiar with veterinarians who care for our companion animals, but there is more than that one career to choose from if you decide to become a veterinarian.
There are many opportunities for veterinarians, and it’s worth exploring them to discover which is the best fit for you. There is a growing need for veterinarians with post-graduate education in particular specialties, such as molecular biology, laboratory animal medicine, toxicology, immunology, diagnostic pathology or environmental medicine. The veterinary profession is also involved in aquaculture, comparative medical research, food production and international disease control
You may work to protect animal and human health by working at a government agency like the United States Department of Agriculture. Or you may want to put your expertise as a veterinarian to work with an agency like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to aid biosecurity, public health or disease prevention.
You may decide to join the U.S. Army Corps or Air Force to work on food safety or care for military working dogs. The military also provides advanced training in specialty areas for those who commit to service.
You can also go to work for a corporation that provides animal care or animal-related products or choose a research career within academic or industry.
Working Conditions
Veterinarians work in different kinds of environments. Those who care for companion animals may be in a workplace filled with activity and noise while veterinarians who care for farm animals may spend a lot of time outside. If you are a veterinarian working in research, you may spend your workdays in a lab. Veterinarians who work on policy or for a corporation may spend their workdays in an office
Academic Requirements
Prospective veterinarians must graduate from a four-year program at an accredited college of veterinary medicine with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M. or V.M.D.) degree and obtain a license to practice. The prerequisites for admission vary by veterinary medical college. Many of these colleges do not require a bachelor’s degree for entrance, but all require a significant number of credit hours—ranging from 45 to 90 semester hours—at the undergraduate level. However, most of the students admitted have completed an undergraduate program
Essential skills and abilities
The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (or DVM) signifies that the holder is a veterinarian prepared for entry into the practice of veterinary medicine with or without further postgraduate study. All Cornell veterinary students must acquire broad scientific knowledge and technical skills necessary for them to function independently in a wide array of clinical, research, and other situations. Candidates for the DVM degree must demonstrate the requisite skills and abilities to satisfy both the overall and course-specific requirements of the curriculum. Moreover, students must be able to function safely and effectively in multiple environments such as classrooms, laboratories, examinations, large and small animal clinics, and a variety of animal environments.
Veterinarians are governed by a code of ethics and professional behavior that forms a social contract between the profession and society. The DVM degree is conferred only after the student has achieved satisfactory mastery of the necessary scientific and clinical knowledge as well as technical skills, while also demonstrating the professionalism, attitudes, and behaviors that are consistent with the professional degree of veterinarian. Throughout the curriculum, students must demonstrate a high level of compassion for all animals and people, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, the highest moral and ethical standards, and a motivation to serve, and they are expected to interact effectively with people of all ethnic, social, cultural, and religious backgrounds
The College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University has an ethical responsibility for the safety of patients and clients with whom students and veterinarians interact and interrelate. Patient and client safety and well-being are therefore essential factors in establishing requirements involving the physical, cognitive, and emotional abilities of candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation. Candidates for the DVM degree must be able to elicit and receive a variety of inputs from their environment, including tactile, visual, and auditory stimuli, then process these inputs based on their knowledge and experience, and finally make appropriate responses that include both verbal communications and a variety of physical actions. A candidate for the DVM degree must demonstrate abilities and skills in five areas: observation, communication, motor, intellectual (conceptual, integrative and quantitative), behavioral, and social.
Observation: The candidate must be able to observe and make assessments from required demonstrations and experiments, including but not limited to anatomic dissection, microscopic analyses, animal/patient demonstrations, and radiographic and other graphic and diagnostic images. A candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand, and assess findings. S/he must perceive and interpret signs of fear, aggression, and other potentially dangerous behaviors exhibited by various animal species. Observation requires the functional use of vision, hearing, and somatosensation, often in complex situations in veterinary health care environments
Communication: A candidate must be able to elicit information, establish rapport, offer explanations, and to describe changes in behavior, activity, and posture. Communication includes not only speech, but also interpretation of nonverbal cues, and reading and writing in English. The candidate must be able to communicate effectively, efficiently, and in a timely manner with all members of the health care team.
HOW TO BECOME A VETERINARY TECHNICIAN
A veterinary technician—a trained nurse for animals—carefully opens a sleeping dog’s mouth. She reveals two rows of sharp teeth and starts taking x-rays to show weaknesses where the enamel has worn down over time. She documents her observations from the diagnostic image and prepares the patient file. This veterinary technician specialist (VTS) has been specially trained in canine dentistry and may assist the veterinarian if her patient needs a tooth extracted. This is one of many important roles that a vet tech may assume within a clinic or animal hospital.
For animal-lovers seeking an accelerated degree program—one which is more affordable and less time-consuming than attending veterinary medical school—becoming a veterinary technician (vet tech) can be an excellent option. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), vet techs play a crucial role in veterinary settings by monitoring the health conditions of animal patients; taking diagnostic images with sophisticated equipment; providing veterinarians with surgical, dental, anesthetic, and other types of assistance; restraining animals during routine examinations; processing laboratory samples; liaising with pet-owners; preparing vaccines and serums; maintaining clinic inventory; and ensuring the smooth functioning of the veterinary office.
I solemnly dedicate myself to aiding animals and society by providing excellent care and services for animals,by alleviating animal suffering, and by promoting public health.I accept my obligations to practice my profession conscientiously and with sensitivity, adhering to the profession’s Code of Ethics, and furthering my knowledge and competence through a commitment to lifelong learning.
I actually had not originally planned on becoming a veterinary technician, but it was once I started to work with our patients that I realized how much of a difference I can make on a one-on-one basis for each of the animals in our care. Now I enjoy helping create the best environment and providing the tools for others to serve in this role by being an active lecturer and author.
One of the greatest challenges in the profession lies in the fact that we cannot save all of our patients. There are various factors that come into play that lead to an outcome for a patient. We can do our best to prepare ourselves in the ability, knowledge, preparation, teamwork, and diligence to give the patients their best chance and quality of life possible given any situation.