Health Field Overview: Veterinary Medicine
Explore a career in veterinary medicine with the help of resources from the Department of Natural Sciences’ Pre-Health Advising office.
Veterinary Medicine Overview
Veterinary medicine encompasses a very diverse professional field. Although traditionally associated with treating and preventing animal disease, veterinarians are also directly involved in protecting public health. The veterinary field has become very specialized, with most modern veterinarians choosing to concentrate in areas such as small animal, large animal, food animal, or exotic animal species.
Veterinary medical specialties exist in areas such as internal medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, anesthesiology, dentistry, dermatology, genology (reproduction), radiology, toxicology, emergency/critical care, and zoological medicine, to name a few. Specialty boards grant board certification to candidates who successfully complete residencies and pass specialty board examinations.
Opportunities also exist to enter private industry (especially nutrition and pharmaceuticals), food safety, public health/epidemiology, disaster preparedness, government, and military service. (Taken from UNCC website)
Schooling
Veterinarians complete a four-year graduate level program leading to the award of one of the following, equivalent degrees:
- Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
- Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD)
After receiving his or her degree, the graduate veterinarian is eligible to take national and state board exams, and apply for a license to practice.
Getting Information
Come into the office and look through our copy of the Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements (VMSAR). It provides an overview of the application and enrollment processes along with specific information on each US veterinary college. Additional information is on the AAVMC website.
Resources
- American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association
- Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
- American Veterinary Medical Association
- Bureau of Labor Statistics – Veterinarians
- Food and Drug Administration: Animal and Veterinary
Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Prerequisites
Common Prerequisite Courses
- General Chemistry with lab (2 semesters): CHEM 14L, CHEM 15L
- Organic Chemistry with lab (2 semesters): CHEM 116L, CHEM 117L
- Biology/Zoology with lab (2 semesters): BIOL 43L, BIOL 44L
- Physiology (1 semester)
- Biochemistry (1 semester): BIOL 177
- Microbiology with lab (1 semester): BIOL 168L
- Physics (1-2 semesters, depends on program): PHYS 30L, PHYS 31L
- English (1-2 semesters)
- Course in Humanities, Social & Behavioral Science (1 semester) (ex: Psychology or Sociology)
- Mathematics/Statistics (1-2 semesters)
Recommended Prerequisite Courses
- Animal Science (1 semester)
- Genetics (1 semester): BIOL 143
- Nutrition (1 semester): BIOL 183
- Speech/Public Speaking (1 semester)