Busy, Busy, 1st Term Vet student

Just a quick update. I know I havent posted in awhile and thats mainly because its a lot of work getting adjusted to life at vet school. I have had to change my study habits around which doesnt let me use the computer as much as I would like to. I will be posting more often once I get through these 2nd round of tests coming up.

Just a quick word of advice to prospective Veterinary Students out there. It is ALOT of work. Think you studied alot in Undergrad? Think again. I am pulling something like 60+hrs/week on school. This includes class time and study time. You really have to study like they tell you in undergrad orientation. Prep for class, review after class, and review the whole week on the weekends or you will get behind. In the end though it is a blast. Everyone is in it together and when there is a chance to go and grab a drink all your classmates have the same schedule and can go with you. Id say the ratio of School:Party is something like 6:1. Not too shabby.

The best thing you can do to keep your sanity is to dedicate a night (a whole day is better) to do nothing school related. I like to go snorkeling, sleep on the beach, hike, go to a bar, or just watch tv in your underwear all day. After a hard week your brain literally feels like you have been flexing it for a week. You need a release. If you do not it will have negative effects on your body and mind.

Petting a pothound helps relieve stress.

I will try to write more often. Im sure after years of writing on this I will have accumulated some sort of helpful links. One can only hope. Send any suggestions to me if you have anything you would like to say.
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Labrador and Dolphin are Friends

I havent posted in awhile since I have been at vet school but this will have to suffice. I hope I see something like this here in Grenada.

The Importance of Grades for Getting Into Vet School

It is unfortunate that grades, as well as GRE scores, are weighed so heavily on admittance into vet school. People that have good GPAs but not 4.0s are not getting into schools solely based on a numbers game. So to help your chances good you need to keep your grades up. I had a 3.5 GPA, 1100 GRE, 2,500 hours of vet experience and didnt even get an interview for any US vet school. Dont get depressed by reading these numbers. There is always an exception to the rule. People get in with other things that could weigh heavily on their application. Such things could be your age, obstacles overcome, or personal disabilities. I will say that being only 22 upon applying probably had hurt me. People going back to school with more life experience are more likely to get accepted, in my opinion, than others straight out of undergrad.

So here are some admissions statistics from a select few vet schools:
UC Davis

• Average GPA’s: Accumulative (3.48), Required Science (3.33), Last 45 semester units (3.61) 
• Average GRE scores: Verbal (79% - 583 scaled score), Quantitative (76% - 721), Analytical Writing (65% - 4.72)
• Average Age: 24 (age range 20-40)

University of Georgia 

• Average GPA’s: Accumulative (3.57), Required Science (3.47), Last 45 semester units (3.63) 
• Average GRE scores: V + Q (1170), Analytical Writing (4.3)

University of Florida

• Average GPA’s: Accumulative (3.51), Required Science (3.56), Last 45 semester units (3.60) 
• Average GRE scores: Verbal (524), Quantitative (679) 1203

So not every school's statistics are easy to find. These are just three that came first to me. But as you can tell there is a similar trend. The averages of these scores is something like this:

• Overall GPA: 3.51
• Science GPA: 3.47
• Last 45 GPA: 3.61
• Overall GRE: 1225

So in order to increase your chances at getting in grades are the most important part of the application. Its sad that it comes down to numbers, its partly due to people going back to school because of the economy. Some advice would be to do the absolute best you can your last 45units because it seems schools rely a lot on those scores as you can see they are higher than the rest. 

As for the GRE? I have a hate, hate relationship with it. I honestly dont know what a test about vocabulary words has to do with veterinary medicine and why it matters how well you score on this particular test. But it is something that you can never change and must accept it. So I recommend getting a book probably a year in advance and study all the time. In addition to taking prep class. It may seem like a lot but if you score really well on the GRE you will probably get into school with an average GPA.

Here are the links to the webpages of the US and International vet schools. Some link to the admissions pages so play around and search for statistics and any advice on their FAQs. 

Please choose the appropriate link to go to that school's website:

Veterinary Medical Schools in the United States
Auburn University	North Carolina State University
University Of California - Davis	Ohio State University
Colorado State University	Oklahoma State University
Cornell University	Oregon State University
University of Florida	University of Pennsylvania
University of Georgia	Purdue University
University of Illinois - Urbana	University of Tennessee
Iowa State University	Texas A&M University
Kansas State University	Tufts University
Louisiana State University	Tuskegee University
Michigan State University	Virginia - Maryland Regional College
University of Minnesota	Washington State University
Mississippi State University	Western University
University of Missouri	University of Wisconsin
International Veterinary Medical Schools
University College Dublin (Ireland)	Murdoch University (Australia)
University of Edinburgh (Scotland)	University of Prince Edward Island (Canada)
University of Glasgow (Scotland)	Royal Veterinary College (U.K.)
University of Guelph (Candada)	University of Calgary (Canada)
Massey University (New Zealand)	University of Saskatchewan - Western College of Veterinary Medicine (Canada)
University of Melbourne (Australia)	University of Sydney (Australia)
Universite de Montreal (Canada)	Utrecht University (Netherlands)
AAVMC Affiliate Member Veterinary Medical Schools*
* Accreditation & Licensure Information
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)(Mexico)	St. George's University (Grenada)
Ross University (St. Kitts)	St. Matthews University (Cayman Islands)

A Little Vet Humor: DVM vs. MD

Traveling to Vet School

Well it has been along time coming now. I left Thursday Aug 5th at 6:10am for my long trip to Grenada for Vet school! I first travelled to Dallas then connected towards Tampa. In Tampa I got to visit some family. I stayed with Grandma Lucy the first night then my cousin Kaitlin the second. It was really great to learn more about my dads side of the family while I was out here. Its nice that I can stop in Florida and see them.

I am currently in the Tampa airport waiting for my flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I really dont know what to expect when I get there. Will it be Spanish or English? I am a little rusty with my Spanish so it will be an interesting experience. When I arrive I need to find the correct bus to take me to Old San Juan to find my hostel where I will be staying. Tomorrow I will hopefully get to go to the El Yunque rainforest to see some wildlife but we will see what happens. It was hard to find a tour on such short notice and with only 1 person. I will update this periodically when I arrive at different destinations.

Update #1:
I have landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is 10am. I have gone to find a bus to take me to my Hostel in Old San Juan. Turns out I cant find it and end up taking a taxi for $20 which took about 10min. On the way back I will just take the bus hopefully, even though it takes a few hours.

I got to my hostel and had to go hang out around town before I could check in at 1pm. I went to Cafe Berlin. The staff was really friendly and spoke english. They let me stay there for over an hour just using the wifi and hanging out. Badnews is that they charged for refills on tea and didnt tell me beforehand. Anyways I found this little plaza and took a picture of a Chris Columbus Statue in a fountain. It is really huge.


Update #2: 

It is ridiculously hot here now. The humidity is a killer. There is no way to cool off. I am tired so I will probably pass out soon. I had 2.5 hours of sleep last night and have been up since 4:15. I went for a walk around Old San Juan today and I got to see one of the forts. Around the fort there is a bunch of shops, food stands, and cool old architecture. There are many unique statues that look like the belong in Rome or Greece. The streets are pretty much all cobblestone. It feels like what I imagine Europe is like with the old designs.

I went to the Old Harbor Brewery in Old San Juan today. I had the taster set but wasn't feeling well so just had the samplers then left. I'm going to just stay in and sleep tonight and try and get use to the time zone again.

Update #3:

Today I woke up at 8am to go to El Yunque. I got ready and headed over to the Christopher Columbus Plaza where that big statue of him in the picture is. I was to meet a man named Roberto in an unmarked white van with tinted windows at 8:45am. I hadn't talked to him specifically but his buddy is a tour guide also and he set this up for me. So at about 9am the van rolls up. I head over and meet Roberto. He was a very charismatic native Puerto Rican but somehow managed to have no accent what so ever. We introduce each other then drive a few miles away to pick up the rest of the people on the tour. It was me and a family of 4. The dynamic was great for the type of tour it was. He let us wander around and do our own thing for a certain amount of time, then would get us together to go to the next site. 

The first stop was the information center, El Portal, for El Yunque. Here we saw some bugs, plants, and the very rare Puerto Rican Parrot! We proceeded to watch a 20min documentary about the rainforest narrated by the great Benecio del Toro. We left the ranger station and headed out to the car and found these massive caterpillars that were eating this plants.

Next stop was the La Coca waterfalls. They were pretty unique. They flowed down the side of a giant boulder. It reminded me of some decoration in a Vegas hotel or a Chinese restaurant.

Then we travelled to the Yokahu Tower. This observation tower has a great view of the whole side of the island. You can see all the way down to Luquillo beach where we had lunch as well as the valleys surrounding the tower and the peaks of the rainforest behind it.

The last stop on the tour was La Mina Falls. This waterfall was excellent as you can see. The only problem is that it started to pour on us right when we got to it. It was still a blast though.

Lastly we stopped here for lunch. I had something called Mofongo de Pollo. It was good. Dont know what it was, I think it had plantains in it.

I am now back at my hostel sweating and surfing the web. I am exhausted from today and travelling. I will be in Grenada in less than 24 hours. I will make sure to post when I have arrived. 

Update #4:

I have arrived to Grenada. I got in Monday Aug 9th at 11pm. I was supposed to land at 9pm but there was a delay in St. Vincent. Turns out you cant depart an airport if there is lightening on the tarmac. I arrived in the dark and got picked up by some new friends who took me to my house. I got in and met the roomates and their dog. 

The next day I was surprised with the same friends that picked me up from the airport at my door ready to pick me up to go eat and swim. I didnt have a phone yet so it was hard to communicate to people before. 

This morning I got picked up and went to campus to get my ID card and register for classes with the orientation. I must say that Grenadians are a slow working people. Very disorganized and just plain dont care about what they are doing. So what would have taken probably 30min to complete everything took 3 hours. To make up for it we ate at a great place on campus that had chicken wraps. So close to a burrito. It made me miss home a bit. Then I got a new phone so I can contact people in Grenada. Its from Digicel and was only $20. Phones are cheap the first week of school. Also all phones down here have flashlights on them, its so random.

Oh, Hi Vet School Forum!

I have decided to create a little forum as part of my blog. I am hoping it helps readers communicate with each other and share ideas. Go to the link on the top of my site:

Inside this page you will find Topics, Discussions, and Q&A. You can contact me through here or a direct email if you like. It looks something like this:

Please feel free to use these resources to help you with your application process for Veterinary school.

Where to Find Veterinary Experience?

Veterinary experience is one of the most important parts of your application to vet school. You will notice that vet schools require a small amount of experience as part of the admissions requirements. This is kind of a joke. UC Davis has a minimum of 180hrs needed to apply. Now the actual average is around 2,000 hours. If you start volunteering/working in high school you can easily surpass this average which makes your application that much stronger.

I have mentioned before how important experience is and what you should do to get it. I'm going to go more in depth in the areas where you can find animal related experience. While reading these suggestions know that I have done pretty much all of them and I would say that almost ALL veterinarians had to start with these same sometimes not-so-glamorous jobs.

Animal Shelter
This is where a lot of people get their first volunteering experience with animals. Most towns have a local animal shelter and if yours doesn't you might have to drive a little ways to find one. There are sometimes two options for working at an animal shelter. A) Paid or B) volunteer. Obviously getting paid is better for you since your time is money when in college but volunteering is a great experience. Donating your time helps the homeless animals find a family. The things you will be doing will be cleaning cages, feeding, walking, and playing with the animals. You might also work the front desk and do some paperwork. You may occasionally have a vet come in and do some spays and neuters you might get to help with if your lucky.

Ranch Hand
Working on a farm with large animals is some of the best experience you can get, even if its not what you are into. Vet schools want to admit people with large animal experience because the US government needs vets to work with dairies and poultry farms. If you have lots of large animal experience you have a 1up.  To find this kind of job you kind of need to be in the right area. Find a local ranch or dairy farm and ask to owner if you can have a job. It might not be the most glamourous work but experience is experience. If he is not willing to pay you, ask if you can just help out a few days a week. Another thing you can do is contact a local large animal veterinarian and see if you can help him out. Lots of times they know the community really well and will have some contacts they can refer you to.

Veterinary Technician
This is by far my biggest recommendation. I learned more from working at my animal hospital than any classes I took in college. You obtain first hand experience working side by side Veterinarians and other technicians. For me it was like having a Mentor show me the ropes. What you will be doing is talking to clients, administering vaccines, restraining animals, setting catheters, assisting euthanasias, trim nails, and  expressing anal glands! Thats the fun stuff, otherwise you have to clean a lot and maintain the hospital. The only place I really know how to find a job is through craigslist. Just search jobs and animal or veterinary. It took me a few months to find a job and in the meantime I volunteered at Project wildlife. I recommend once you find a job to still try and find ways to volunteer. A great thing about being a technician is that its paid. Generally pre-medical students can only volunteer and cant get paid for their experience hours but not so for pre-vets. :)

Heres a video showing some of the joys of being a Vet Tech.

*Note from my experience anal gland expression on a cat is pretty rare I worked at a clinic for 3 years and did maybe 2. Dogs though are really common. If a dog is scooting his butt its most likely cause  the glands need expressing.

Internships
These are helpful in gaining experience in different areas to do with animals. Im not sure there are exactly veterinary internships for pre-vets. I know Natural History Museums have good internships for students studying biology. I worked with reptiles at the Museum in San Diego for 6 months. Most of the work you do is with preserved specimens but still gets you acquainted with anatomy and taxonomy. Another place to look is at your college campus. There are internships in certain labs that can double as units and experience. The only other place I know of is at your closest zoo. I volunteered with elephants for a few years at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. I got to watch for the pregnant cow's labor signs. Didn't actually get to see her give birth but the whole internship is something I will never forget. It is such a crazy feeling being one of the only people in a zoo in the middle of the night.

Leadership
Like more professional programs leadership is looked for in applicants. Most schools have pre-vet clubs or classes that students can take. I recommend getting involved in your freshmen  year with the programs in order to increase your exposure to the field. Become to the president of the pre-vet club and plan trips for the students to go volunteer at different organizations. Your pre-professional health advisor is your best resource make sure you use him/her to your advantage. I was able to teach a class as on the different aspects of veterinary medicine. I organized different speakers to come in to the class each week and speak about their specialties. This helped me learn to lead a class and make connections with veterinarians in my area. Definitely my most valuable leadership experience.

Shadowing
I got to shadow those speakers that came in to speak to my class. This is a good chance to see different aspects of veterinary medicine if you work at a small animal hospital. I got to shadow vets in the following fields: large animal, exotics, public health, military, and oncology. The more you shadow, the more you will be enlightened by the vastness of the profession. Vet schools want well rounded students so if you have experience in multiple fields you will look pretty good on paper.

Zoo Jobs
This is a vague section. From my understanding people that work for zoos need to start in food service or something like that. I know that at the SD Zoo you can start as a tour guide. That is a good place to start. From there you might be able to move up since most zoos hire from within. Being a zoo keeper would be great experience but probably pretty hard to do as a student. You might have luck at smaller community zoos. You may not start off working hands on with animals but hopefully you will move up and get to.

I hope this has been helpful in ideas to get veterinary experience. If you have any questions for me I would be glad to help answer them for you. Just post your question in the comments or send me an email.

28H6Q6CPB4UN

Veterinary Symbol a Caduceus or Staff of Aesculapius?

There has been some debate about whether the Veterinary Symbol below is called the Cadeceus, the same as human medicine, or Staff of Aesculapius, which has 1 snake.

I have researched this after a colleague brought it to my attention that it is not necessarily a Cadeceus. According to the AVMA the symbol is the Staff Aesculapius as stated in the following:

"The official seal of the Association Comprising the letter V super-imposed on the staff of Aesculapius encircled by the words American Veterinary Medical Association, and with a line encircling all of those elements, shall be registered with the U.S. Patent Office as a registered mark and shall be used by no other organization or individual without written permission of the Association" (AVMA Bylaws, Article X). 

This symbol was approved by the AVMA in June 1970 as the associations trademark. It was not until November 21, 1972 that the symbol was officially a registered trademark as decided by the USPTO. The AVMA has the following copyrighted as their logos to denote membership to the association:

Either with the circle and AVMA around the symbol or without.

Now from the research I have done there is no clear distinction that the Veterinary symbol of the single snake and staff is strictly for animal medicine. I have seen it noted as the symbol of medicine in general but most veterinary sites, schools, and hospitals agree that their symbol is the Staff of Aesculapius rather than Caduceus.

Caduceus

Now the Caduceus is generally a staff with 2 snakes and wings. This arose from the Greek God Hermes the Messenger which later turned into the Roman God Mercury. The staff was attributed to Hermes from the story of Tiresias:

In "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" (The Breasts of Tiresias) tells how Tiresias--the seer who was so unhelpful to Oepidus and Family- found two snakes copulating, and to separate them stuck his staff between them. Immediately he was turned into a woman, and remained so for seven years, until he was able to repeat his action, and change back to male. The transformative power in this story, strong enough to completely reverse even physical polarities of male and female, comes from the union of the two serpents, passed on by the wand. Tiresias' staff, complete with serpents, was later passed on to Hermes...

This magic used to transform Tiresias was also seen later on in time in the use of alchemy. Alchemy had some connections to medicine, chemistry, and metallurgy which were attributed to Hermes (Mercury) and described using the image of his two snaked staff.


Staff of Aesculapius
The staff with one snake arose again from the Greek God Aesculapius. He was most likely a skilled physician who practised medicine in Greece around 1200BC (even described in Homer's Iliad). Through myth and legend he came to be worshipped as Asclepius, the Greek God of Healing. Now the origin of the staff has a much more grotesque beginning. 

In ancient times infection by parasitic worms was common. The filarial worm Dracunculus medinensis aka "the fiery serpent", aka "the dragon of Medina" aka "the guinea worm" crawled around the victim's body, just under the skin. Physicians treated this infection by cutting a slit in the patient's skin, just in front of the worm's path. As the worm crawled out the cut, the physician carefully wound the pest around a stick until the entire animal had been removed. It is believed that because this type of infection was so common, physicians advertised their services by displaying a sign with the worm on a stick.

So the single snake staff could have been started from a worm underneath the skin. Stiff think thats a better symbol than changing from male to female and back like some kind of Mrs. Doubtfire action.

Let the debate rage on but I am taking the side of Staff of Aesculapius.

Roman sculpture of Aesculapius with single snake staff.

Sources:

http://www.drblayney.com/Asclepius.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7946

http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/staff%20of%20aesculapius

http://www.answers.com/topic/caduceus

The Origins of Veterinary Medicine

So you want to be a Veterinarian, yes? Is it because you have always loved animals and want to work with them? If so that is a good start but you need to understand a little more about the profession to really commit to the large amount of schooling and debt needed to do so. Its not all just giving puppies vaccines, there are some hard parts. 


If you are not up to perform euthanasia for animals then this is not the profession for you. Depending on the type of practice you will be performing this gift to suffering creatures. My advice is to get a job or volunteer with a local vet to get some first hand experience with euthanasia. It is extremely sad but you might be surprised at how you can handle it. This should be a good indicator of whether or not you really want to go through with the long path to become a veterinarian. Now an important thing is to not base it off personal experiences with pets. Go in with a open mind and just be the fly on the wall seeing the whole process and how helpful it really is to the animals. If I based this off of the 1st, and only time, I have watched Marley and Me then I would not be going to vet school. Because everyday would be the saddest day of my life.  


I digress. The main reason for this post was to give a little concise history of what it is to be a Veterinarian as well as the history behind the profession. 


The Veterinarian's Oath:

Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.

I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics. I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.

This oath was adopted by the AVMA in July 1969 by the House of Delegates. It was slightly modified in 1999. A key point is the relief of animal suffering for which i mentioned early about euthanasia. Its in the Oath you pledge upon graduation to end suffering if no other means can help the animal. Once again get experience with euthanasia if you are hesitant and you will understand that it is a good thing for the suffering of animals.  


Ancient Veterinary Medicine History
Veterinary medicine dates back to 3500BC in Egypt (in hieroglyphics), China, and Mesopotamia. The domestication of livestock was the first sign of humans tending to animals. In China between 4000-3000BC there are records of herbs used for curative effects but the true healing of animals was thought to have begun in Mesopotamia around 3000BC with the first known veterinarian, Urlugaledinna.


A little closer to our time comes Alcmaeon, he was the first recorded person to dissect animals for scientific reasons, this happened around 500BC. Few hundred years later the first animal hospitals were recorded in 273-232BC during the reign of King Ashoka in Indian history during the Brahman era. 


Semi-modern Veterinary Medicine History
The first official veterinary school was in 1762AD by Claude Bourgelat in Lyons. Lyon College was created by the work of Bourgelat. This led to a new veterinary teaching schools in the 1770s in Hanover, Sweden, Denmark, and Vienna. The Royal Veterinary College in London was founded in 1791. The first American veterinarian school was not established until 1879, more than a century after the first European schools. 


Modern Veterinary Medicine History
This brings us to the present. There are currently 28 Veterinary Schools in the United States. There are many schools abroad in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Senegal, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Libya Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Phillippines, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, U.K., West Indies, and Jordan. As you can see the world of Veterinary Medicine has grown quite a bit. 


The next post will deal with the different areas that Veterinary Medicine has grown into. There are many specialties to choose from which will be discussed next time. For now enjoy the Universal Veterinary Symbol:

Veterinary symbol (staff of aesculapius). Best medical symbol ever? yes.

Starting Your Bachelor's Degree

So you have made it to the first real challenge on your way to become a vet. There is a lot to learn about yourself and college your freshmen year. So what major do you declare if you want to be a Veterinarian? That may seem like a straightforward answer. Biology. But to become a vet you do not need to have any specific major. As long as you complete the prerequisite classes you will qualify for admissions. Now most students are Biology or Chemistry majors since the prereqs and course materials overlap so much. The admissions committee takes into consideration other majors and likes to make a diverse class. So you can be an Art major or Political Science and get into vet school as long as you do the prereqs.


At my university it was unusual to finish a BS degree in a mere 4 years. It took me 4.5 years because of the availability of classes. I advise you take the prerequisite classes for vet school ASAP. They can be tough but schools are different in their registration for classes. I ran into trouble when I changed my major after my freshmen year. My school gives priority registration of classes to 1st years then in the following order: 5th+ year, 4th year, 3rd year, and lastly 2nd year.


So when it came time for me to register for classes for my 2nd year all the 1st year students filled up the prerequisites I needed for Vet school. This is why it took me 4.5 years (including all summers) to graduate. So to avoid this, stick to your major and take as many prerequisite classes as you can do at a time. Do not overload yourself. Make sure you give yourself an easy class to give yourself a break. I like classes like rock climbing, Scuba diving, or photography to use as an outlet of stress.


Here are the classes that are generally part of the prerequisite material for veterinary schools (give or take a few classes depending on the school):

1. General Biology w/ lab - 2 semesters (8 units)
2. Biochemistry - 1 semester (3 units)
3. General Chemistry w/ lab - 2 semesters (~10 units)
4. Organic Chemistry w/ lab - 2 semesters (~10 units)
5. Physics w/ lab - 2 semesters (8 units)
6. Statistics - 1 semester (3 units)
7. Calculus I/II - 1-2 semesters (3-6 units)
8. Social Science and Humanities - (6 units)
9. English Composition - 2 semesters (6 units)
10. Communication - 1 semester (3 units)

Some schools require the following:

1. Microbiology w/ lab - 1 semester (4 units)
2. Animal Nutrition - 1 semester (3 units)

Now remember these are just the generic requirements. Every school is slightly different so make sure to check the schools you want to apply for. Become familiar with this site: AAVMC. This is the portal where you submit your application to most of the schools. At the link is a list of each school and the requirements for each. 

I will not go into how hard it is or statistics just yet for getting into school. I will worry you of those later. For now remember to continue volunteering or getting a vet technician job in order gain experience. Remember get a WIDE VARIETY of exposure to the veterinary field to show that you are a well rounded applicant. 

Some ways to find experience:

1. Pre-Veterinary Club
2. Vet Technician Job Postings (craigslist, newspaper ads, job postings)
3. Animal Shelters
4. Zoos
5. Wildlife Refuges
6. Pet Stores
7. Pet sitting
8. Ranches/Stables

How to Prepare for Vet School in High School

High School

The path to become a veterinarian should start in high school. Best thing that you can do at this time of your life is get experience. Experience with animals in a medical setting is one of the major factors in the admissions process. When I say get experience I mean a ton. The average number of hours is around 2,500 for most vet schools. To better your chances of getting in, starting in high school will help build a foundation for what you will add to in college. 

Some ideas:

1. Local Animal Shelters 

2. Organizations (like ASPCA)

3. Wildlife Rehabiliation Programs (I worked at Project Wildlife in San Diego,CA)

4. Job at an Animal Hospital

5. Work on a Ranch with large animals*

*I might add that this is a huge thing you can do that would help your application. Vet schools want people with a wide variety of exposure to veterinary medicine. There is a high demand for food industry veterinarians so experience with cows, chickens, goats, pigs, etc... will look great on your application. 

I think the cow knows whats coming next.

It also goes without saying that you need to have good grades to get into vet school. But concentrate on your high school grades and where you would like to go. Most every school has a Biology major with all of the prerequisites that you would need to get into a 4year veterinary school. So if you are a high schooler concentrate on getting experience, keeping grades up, but most importantly have fun with what you are doing and be optimistic, it'll save you stress later on.

From Film Student to DVM?

I have started this blog to chronicle my journey through school. I am attending St. George's University in Grenada in about a month and decided to start this site to chronicle my journey which could hopefully help people as they try to get into the profession. The picture to the left is of SGU, just to show you where I will be doing my studies. Jealous yet?

Some background information on me. I am 23 years old with a B.S. in Biology w/ emphasis in Zoology. I got the degree at San Diego State University (Photo on the right) in December 2009. I decided that I wanted to become a veterinarian at the end of my freshmen year at SDSU. The film program I was in did not hold up to my expectations. It felt like I was wasting my time in college learning about filmmaking. It was like I didn't need to take classes to do what I wanted. So I was upset with my classes and decided to take a fun class for the spring semester. This class was The World of Animals, taught by the wonderful Dr. Bradford Hollingsworth. He really is the professor that showed me the amazing diversity of life on the planet. After realizing I liked this biology class much better than any of my film classes I decided to switch majors to Biology. This was the best decision I made in college to counter the many bad decisions. ha.

While in school I worked at Rose Canyon Animal Hospital in the Claremont area of San Diego. It was here where I got my first experiences in a vet clinic. The job really helped me learn how to interact with people, which turns out is probably the most difficult part of being a veterinarian. My three years of experience at Rose Canyon helped me gain a great appreciation for the work a veterinarian does by seeing how it helps the clients. The owners of our patients generally care more for the wellbeing of their pets than themselves. So seeing them get so happy after healing their loved one is quite an amazing thing. The team of Rose Canyon Animal Hospital is shown in the photo above. I am the guy on the far left. The white coats are the DVMs, Dr. Michael (next to me) and Dr. Barre (far right).

More to come from this blog will be steps to prepare yourself for the application process. Applying for Vet school is much more complicated than it seems. I will have some tips and tricks I have learned on how to get into the US Schools. Another option I will be recommending is going a different route and applying to the Caribbean Vet schools. With the current need for new veterinarians, and the US's lack of schools, the Caribbean supplies the most viable option for some people to solidify their dream.