Did you know that there are only 30 accredited veterinary schools in the United States? That’s in contrast to 179 medical schools where people can apply to become a human doctor. Becoming a vet requires a lot of college and a lot of dedication to animals for a lot of years.
One Should Start in High School
If you continue to dream past childhood of becoming a veterinarian, you need to start preparing as soon as high school. Volunteering in an animal shelter or a veterinarian’s office will provide you with excellent experience seeing and dealing with what really goes on behind the scenes. Most vet colleges want people with at least 400 hours of animal experience under their belt.
Get Your Bachelor’s Degree
After high school, you will need to go on to get a bachelor’s degree. This you can do at any college, but make sure that you cover the prerequisites for entering veterinary school. Since not all veterinary colleges have exactly the same prerequisites, you should make sure that you have all of them covered. These classes are going to be in subjects such as organic and inorganic chemistry, physics and biochemistry.
Getting into Veterinary School
Now that you’ve qualified for your Bachelor’s degree, you need to start applying to study at a veterinary school. Along with your GRE scores, most of them want three letters of recommendation. Once you are accepted by a school, you face another four years of college before you are awarded your Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), and you will probably have a lot of debt. However, a new vet can look to make around $67,000 to start.
If you are looking for people for your pets who have had the necessary dedication to become veterinarians, you will find them at All Creatures Hospital, in Del Mar, California. The caring professionals there will take excellent care of your furry friend.
