Exploring Health Professions

Veterinary Medicine

Looking at health from the perspective of comparative medicine, veterinarians work to help animals and people live longer, healthier lives. They serve society by preventing and treating animal disease, improving the quality of the environment, ensuring the safety of foods, controlling diseases transmitted from animals to humans, and advancing medical knowledge. The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree can lead to diverse career opportunities and different lifestyles--from a solo mixed animal practice in a rural area to a teaching or research position at an urban university, medical center, or industrial laboratory. Of the approximately 65,000 veterinarians in the United States, the majority are in private practice, although significant numbers are involved in preventive medicine, regulatory veterinary medicine, military veterinary medicine, aquatic animal medicine, avian medicine, laboratory animal medicine, research and development in industry, and teaching and research in a variety of basic science and clinical disciplines. There are more domestic animals in the United States than there are people in any of the European Economic Community countries.

Currently, twenty-eight U.S. schools of veterinary medicine offer a four-year program leading to the DVM. degree. Prerequisites for admission vary by school, but usually include the premedical requirements discussed later in this handbook. A standardized examination (GRE, MCAT, or VCAT) is required in most cases. You should contact individual schools for specific information.

For further information, contact the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, 1101 Vermont Avenue, NW Suite 710, Washington, D.C. 20005, www.aavmc.org or Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA 01536-1895, (508) 839-7920  http://www.tufts.edu/vet/.