Pre-Veterinary
A veterinarian is a Physician for animals and a practitioner of veterinary medicine. There are many career fields open to those with veterinary degrees other than clinical practice. Those that do work in clinical settings often practice medicine in specific fields, such as companion animal or "pet" medicine, livestock medicine, equine medicine (e.g. sport, race track, show, rodeo), laboratory animal medicine, reptile medicine, or ratite medicine or they may specialize in medical disciplines such as surgery, dermatology or internal medicine, after post-graduate training and certification.
These course recommendations are for persons desiring to enter veterinary medicine as a profession, resulting in the D.V.M. (doctorate in veterinary medicine). Competition is intense to gain acceptance to veterinary medicine. Applications to veterinary medicine schools begin with a central application (http://www.aavmc.org). Students seeking admission to a veterinary medicine educational program need to complete a bachelor’s degree in any field, plus include the following prerequisite coursework:
This information is provided for informational purposes. It is essential that students check the programs at the school you are interested in for current prerequisites as these are constantly changing.
Biology – One year General biology
BIOL 211 General Biology 4, BIOL 212 General Biology 4
Other upper division courses:
Cell, microbiology, advanced Physiology, genetics
Chemistry – one year general and one year organic chemistry
CHEM 211 General Chemistry 4, CHEM 212 General Chemistry 4,
CHEM 331 Organic Chemistry 4, CHEM 332 Organic Chemistry 4
CHEM 341 Biochemistry, 4 CHEM 342 Biochemistry 4
Physics – one year general Physics (algebra or calculus based)
PHYS 201 General Physics 4, PHYS 202 General Physics 4 OR
PHYS 221 General Physics w/ Calculus 4, PHYS 222 General Physics w Calculus 4
Mathematics – One year of mathematics
MATH 201 Calculus I 4, MATH 202 Calculus II 4
MATH 240 Statistical Procedures 4
Other
Animal Nutrition
Note: Additional courses in English composition, humanities, and social science. Individual vet schools will require other recommended courses in speech, English literature, economics, psychology, and history