Becoming a Veterinarian
Veterinary
School
Currently
there are 28 accredited colleges/schools of veterinary
medicine in the United States and four in Canada. The
curriculum varies from school to school but all schools
offer a general background. Typically the first two years
are largely class-room based and devoted to the sciences
that are basic to the practice of veterinary medicine. In
the clinical phase of the program, students have hands-on
experiences.
Christina
Swindall,
Gabrielino, DVM, describes the program at Colorado State
in this way: “The first two years are on campus. In the
first year you study the normal anatomy and physiology
of animals. In the second year you get into disease
processes. In the third year you spend about half your
time in class working on cases. For example, the case
might be a dog that is brought in because he is
vomiting. We have to answer questions, such as, What are
the possible reasons for vomiting? What would you look
for in the blood work? How would you work the case up?
What treatments would you use? The other half of the
time in the third year, you are in the hospital helping
seniors with their cases [their animal patients] and
learning how the hospital runs.”
“The senior year is 100 % clinical. There are no more
exams. You rotate through areas, such as radiology, food
animals, small animals critical care, anesthesia, and large
animals, such as cows and horses. You can specialize in
small animals or large animals or be general and have a
look at everything. That’s what I did.”
Postgraduate
Work, Including Residencies
Following
graduation from veterinary school, students, typically, are
urged to get some practical experience caring for animals.
Some students immediately opt for postgraduate training,
for example, in a 12-month long internship that provides
advanced training in medicine or surgery. Successful
completion of an accredited internship qualifies
veterinarians for an approved residency program leading to
board certification in veterinary specialties, such as
anesthesiology, equine surgery, internal medicine, and zoo
medicine.
Swindall elected to work in a practice after graduating
from veterinary school. “I need to get comfortable and more
confident with general medicine and surgery,” she says. “My
ultimate goal is to do a residency program in zoo medicine.
That will take an additional 3 years. I’d like to work in a
zoo, preferably one that sends their vets all over the
world to work with wild life conservation.”
After completing veterinary school, students interested in
teaching or research can continue their education in areas
such as large or small animal clinical sciences,
microbiology, physiology, pharmacology, and pathobiology
and diagnostic investigation.
Graduates interested in careers in public health can choose
to earn a master's of public health (MPH) degree. Some
institutions, such as Iowa State University College of
Veterinary Medicine, offer distance-learning MPH programs.
Advice
for Getting into Veterinary School
Take courses in the sciences. Rebekah
Devins, Lumbee,
DVM, urges potential applicants to focus on the sciences
in school. “Grades do play a big part in getting into
vet school,” she says. Swindall says that even if you
decide not to go to vet school, getting an undergraduate
degree in science sets you up for many good careers.
Serve
as a volunteer. The
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
recommends doing volunteer work. According to Swindall,
“Grades play a big role. You have to do the best that you
can. But the schools want well-rounded applications as
opposed to students with perfect grades. They want to know
what kind of experience applicants have had, what docs have
they worked with, what fields have they worked in.”
Try out a variety of clinical and research jobs so that you
can find out what you like to do and what doesn’t suit you.
Swindall says that veterinarians welcome volunteers. “I
sent out letters to vets in my area saying I wanted to go
to vet school and was looking for a volunteer or work
position. Many people got back to me, and I had a job in a
week.” she reports.
Be aware of the big commitment. “If you want
to go to vet school, you need to be dedicated,” says
Devins. “They expect a lot of hard work from you. I
probably put in at least 6 or 7 hours of study time a day.
It’s a huge time commitment, so you need to know that it’s
something you want to do.” Swindall and Charletta
Begaye, Navajo,
DVM, agree that becoming a veterinarian requires an
enormous commitment, but for them the effort is
worthwhile.
Be persistent. “Show that
you want to be a vet. Don’t give up,” says Begaye. “I grew
up on a reservation. It was difficult to adjust to life
outside. I was in the top of my high school class but when
I started college, I went into culture shock. My grades
were low. An advisor told me that no way would I get into
vet school. Then I pushed myself harder. I eventually got
on the dean’s list. But my overall GPA was not high enough,
so it helped when I went to NAU (Northern Arizona
University) and got a 3.8 grade point average. Vet schools
look at trends – improvement. If you fit into a
disadvantaged category, be sure to put that on your
application,” Begaye adds.
Advice
Once You’re in School
Be sure you have a support system. Many
indigenous students speak of the importance of the support
they receive from their families. “Coming to a big
university from a small town or a reservation can be very
overwhelming,” Devins acknowledges. “Once you’re in vet
school it’s like being back in high school, though. My
class has 100 people and there are 400 students total. Like
high school, you see everyone every day. It’s like a
family,”
Identify
resources on campus. Swindall
recommends, “Find out what resources are on your campus.
See if there is a Native American association. Get
involved.”
Some non-Indian students don’t understand why some Indian
students go home for ceremonies and breaks. But some
schools do have faculty who are respectful of different
traditions. Begaye remembers, “At school I was asked to do
something for which I didn’t have a ceremony, so they
worked out something else for me to do. If you have a
problem with dissecting animals or doing terminal
surgeries, tell people. I did, and they understood."
For more information, see Resources.
Parts
of this article were originally published in the Autumn
2002 issue of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is Virginia Stroud, United Keetoowah Bank of
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.)