🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <40754.2B6098FD@puddle.fidonet.org>
   Shannon.Rae@p0.f14.n346.z1.fidonet.org (Shannon Rae) writes:

>  I am thinking about going into veterinary science, but I
>have a few questions that I hope someone will be able to answer.
>First of all, generally how long do you have to go to school for
>this? 

If you want to actually be a veterinarian, you'll have to go through
four years of college and then I think 4 more years of veterinary
school (it's possible that Vet school programs are only 3 years, but I
don't think so).

>What should your major be?

It actually doesn't much matter what your major is.  As a
pre-Veterinary student you will have to take certain classes--I think
the same classes as pre-medical students, but you can fit those
classes into a variety of majors.  What you decide to major in will
depend largely on your other interests.  There are different
philosophies about choosing a major for a pre-health program; some
people view it as the last chance that they'll have to get organized
exposure to non-medical information, some view it as a way of fitting
in easy classes so that their overall GPA will look good, others look
at it as a way to do something hard in order to show off their
academic prowess to medical school admissions committees...  It
depends a lot upon your own personality more than anything else.  

The pre-med requirements are fairly demanding--students have to take
two semesters each of calculus, physics, general chemistry, biology,
organic chemistry.  Additional courses in microbiology, molecular
biology, and/or biochemistry are often recommended.  Some medical
schools also have particular requirements, so you might want to get
information from whatever vet school you eventually want to get into.

In terms of veterinary schools, you have a pretty short list.  If I
remember correctly, there are only 28 vet schools in the entire
country.  Ours is currently in danger of closing down due to funding
problems :-(

> I love all kinds of animals and have had to deal with several
>injured ones, but I don't really think I could make a life out of
>seeing animals injured as severly as I know they can be.

You might want to think hard about this.  As a vet school student, you
will have to do rotations in different clinical settings.  One of them
will undoubtedly be emergency care, and from what I hear that's just
as bad as working in an ER for humans.

> I want to have a job that involves working with animals.  I have
>ridden horses most of my life, and would like to continue working with
>them somehow, but I don't really know of any jobs that involve this.

One of my friends is pursuing a combined VMD/PhD degree.  She got
involved with the veterinary program because she too loves horses.  It
sounds like you're thinking along the right track.

>uucp: uunet!m2xenix!puddle!346!14.0!Shannon.Rae
>Internet: Shannon.Rae@p0.f14.n346.z1.fidonet.org

Mickey Rowe     (rowe@pender.ee.upenn.edu)