I am just about to finish up my first year of vet school in Australia.  I
have recently received emails from a couple of people asking me what it
takes to become a vet, and since the topic is also being discussed on the
FML I thought I would just respond here.  To those of you who emailed me
directly, I apologize for not getting back to you directly but if you
have more questions after reading this post, please email me again.  I
will respond as soon as I can but as Sukie correctly stated you have to
work your tail off in vet school; since exams are on the horizon I really
should be studying right now!
 
To get into vet school in North America the pre-vet requirements
generally include successful completion of at least two years of
university including english, chemistry, physics, biology, math,
genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, organic chemistry, and a number
of electives.  Some vet schools now require their applicants to write
the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), the same exam required for
entry into med school.  Some vet schools expect their applicants to have
a Bachelors degree.  In the US, applicants must write the GRE and the
process is a bit different than Canadian schools.  Go to
http://www.aavmc.org/vmcas/vmcas2.htm for more information.  The best way
to determine each vet school s requirements is to visit their website.
 
While it is possible to obtain credit for some classes taken as part of a
vocational program, including animal health tech/vet tech programs, these
are usually determined on an individual basis and from what I understand
there is a credit limit to what some universities allow.
 
Some schools state vet-related and animal-related experience are not
necessarily required (but it is), while others base part of your
admission on this experience.  If you are interested in going to vet
school (and heaven knows we need more ferret vets!!) then get yourself
some vet related experience (large, small and mixed clinics) and
animal-related experience (companion animal or wildlife shelters, zoos,
breeding facilities).  First, to see if you really like it, and second,
to help your application.  The competition is tight, grades have to be
high, and the process can be tedious, but if a career in vet is what you
want to do, then do it!
 
>But how much of Veterinary study is focused on nutrition?  It baffles me
>that a lot of vets recommend crappy food.  It makes me wonder how much
>they really know.
 
While I am not a vet yet, I will make this statement and any vets out
there that want to expand on, or contradict my statement, please do so.
Vets don t come out of vet school knowing everything they need to know
for their careers.  We are taught principles, and are expected to rely on
these principles in our later clinical years and our careers.  We learn
everything human doctors do, but in a number of species.  At my uni, we
learn the basics and then learn all of the species exceptions to the
rule.  The species we cover?  Horse, cow, sheep, dog, and pig.  What have
I learned about ferrets?  Not much.  What have I learned about nutrition?
TONS!  Nutrition of sheep, horses, dairy cattle, beef cattle, birds,
camelids (alpacas, llamas, camels), goats, and pigs.  This is what I
have learned (word for word) about ferret nutrition.  Carnivorous.
Nutritional requirements not exactly known, presumed to be similar to
cat and mink.  Can be fed cat food and table scraps once or twice daily.
Obviously, this is not the best summary of ferret nutrition.  I did learn
quite a bit about ferret nutrition because we were allowed to choose our
own topic for a term paper.  I will be posting the paper on my website as
soon as I can get my Adobe working correctly.
 
Hope this helps!  Back to the books!
 
Shelby Kimura
"Shoot for the moon.
If you miss, you'll still be among the stars."
[Posted in FML issue 3946]