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

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