What does it take to become a feline vet?
Monday, December 21st, 2009 at
9:24 pm
Im a 13 year old girl and i really really want to become a feline vet. I am trying to plan our my future and i need to know what qualifications i would need to become one.
Please help!
Thanks!
Please don’t make your answers too complicated!!!
Filed under: Pet Insurance
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Most vets don’t specialize soley in cats. If you want to do cats, then you’d probably have to do dogs as well.
After high school it will require 6-8 years of education. 2-4 years of undergraduate pre-vet coursework. You can apply without a bachelor’s degree, but your chances of acceptance are increased if you have a 4 year degree. Then, assuming you’re accepted vet school is four years.
The courses you’ll have to take in college, before vet school will be a lot of science courses. I’ve included a link to a website that lists all 28 US vet schools and their requirements to give you an idea of the coursework. It’ll be a lot of biology, chemistry and physics.
You will have to maintain an average of 3.5 or higher. The average GPA of admitted students is typically 3.5.
You will also have to take the GRE. Some schools do require the MCAT or VCAT, but the majority require the GRE. The GRE is similar to the SAT and tests your basic reading, writing and math skills.
You will also need both general animal experience and veterinary experience. You’re still pretty young, but for general animal experience you can think about volunteering at a local zoo, animal shelter or wildlife rehab facility. For your veterinary experience you’ll need to work for a vet. You’re definitely too young for that now, but most clinics will hire at 16 and some at 15. Most will let you start to shadow at 14. So, call around to some clinics and ask if you can shadow and if not, when you’d be able to. Once they know you’re interested and you’ve started shadowing you’ll be first on their list when an afterschool job becomes available. It’ll start out as a lot of walking dogs and cleaning up after the animals, but as you get older, they’ll let you do more.
Hope that helps with some things you can start thinking about now.
Also, even though you want to do small animals, vet schools like to see people that are well rounded and open to anything. So, think about getting some large animal experience as well. You never know you might change your mind.
How to become a veterinarian
The first step is to learn what a veterinarian does. Many large animal veterinarians will let a high school or college student accompany them on their work day. Small animal veterinarians are often willing to take volunteers. Working with animals can be dangerous, and a signed release might be required. Most veterinary school requires or expects animal experience, and veterinary experience. Animal experience can be had working on farms, kennels, and veterinary clinics. Veterinary experience can be acquired observing veterinarians, or working in veterinary facilities. Most students have a combined veterinary and animal experience of at least 500 hours. Any time spent working with animals or a veterinarian needs to be documented. In high school, a student should expect to complete all electives in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics – if available. In college, one needs to complete one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of biology, one year of physics, and at least college triginometry. Some schools requires one course of biochemistry, embryology, and animal science course. Each veterinary school requires different pre-vet courses, and usually a student will apply to only one or two veterinary school due to residency requirement in the United States. One will be expected to take one of the 3 tests (GRE, MCAT, or VCAT) after one to three years of college. It is good to get exposure to all species of animals, if possible. In veterinary school, one is expected to treat and handle all species of animals. Veterinary school is rigorous, physically and mentally demending. A student should be able to handle at least 15 to 18 hours of a science curriculum before entry into the professional program. It frequently takes a veterinarian 2 to 3 tries at applying to a school, before gaining acceptance. GPA is important; but also of equal importance is maturity, life experience, and committment to the profession. Undergraduate major is not important, as long as the prerequisite courses are completed. A student needs to consider other career paths beside veterinary medicine, as the field is very competitive. Options to attend veterinary school exist in the Caribbean and Mexico, but the quality of education might be substandard, and entry into post-graduate training can be difficult.