Veterinary Medicine

Veterinarians work in a variety of roles dealing with the health of animals and the protection of humans from animal diseases. The majority of veterinarians work in private practice, helping all sorts of animals, including pets, zoo, livestock, and laboratory animals.

While most veterinarians work in private practices, there are increasingly more and more group practices developing. Practices often concentrate on large or small animals, or sometimes a combination of the two. Practices concentrating on small animals deal mostly with pets, from dogs and cats to parrots and iguanas. The practices that deal with large animals are often geared more toward farm animals and will often make farm-calls to go out to the patient. Other practices may limit themselves to a certain type of situation, such as emergency medicine.

In private industry, there are opportunities for work in such areas as nutrition and pharmaceuticals. In these industries, veterinarians may work at developing new products for animals, or perform research with certain drugs and/or methods of treatment for diseases. Veterinarians may also be employed as consultants for such organizations as zoos, aquariums, or game farms. Many government agencies on all levels also look to veterinarians for help with regulatory and/or public health work. Even branches of the military require the skills of veterinarians for certain tasks.

Veterinary Skills and Attributes

The obvious attribute required by individuals interested in veterinary medicine is a desire to work with animals. Veterinary medical schools also like to see a candidate with experience in working with animals, whether as an assistant to a veterinarian or researcher, or as a farm or animal shelter worker.

Recommended Undergraduate Preparation

Any major is o.k. if you are interested in veterinary medicine. Students must also follow a pre-veterinary program. Prerequisites vary from school to school, so be sure you are taking classes that fulfill the requirements for the schools that you are planning on applying to.

While an undergrad, it is a good idea to get some experience in working with animals, especially in veterinary clinics or in research labs. Some schools require students to have considerable number of hours of veterinary medical exposure and experience with animals by the fall of their year of application.

Links for More Information

American Veterinary Medical Association: http://www.avma.org

FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine: http://www.fda.gov/cvm/default.htm

The World Wide Web Virtual Library on Veterinary Medicine is a selected collection of veterinary medical internet resources: http://netvet.wustl.edu/vetmed.htm.

Illinois Wesleyan Contact Person

For more information on veterinary medicine, contact Bruce Criley, Professor of Biology, at 556-3277, or via email: bcriley@titan.iwu.edu.