Sunday, January 24, 2010

Veterinary School (undergrad)


Veterinary School (undergrad)?
My understanding of Vet School is that one must take an undergrad of pre-vet courses (bachelor of science) and THEN apply to a vet school. But I've also heard that schools in Australia skip the pre-vet and incorporate it into their vet program. So in all it takes about six years. Is this correct? and are there any other schools like this?
Higher Education (University +) - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
In the US? No. Are you in australia? Their system and the UK one are different from ours (their MD is also different).
2 :
In the US, vet is a post-graduate course only. That means that you first get your bachelors degree in any subject, while also taking the vet school pre-req classes. Then you apply to vet school. In many other countries, vet (and medicine, and law) are not post-grad courses. They are undergraduate courses. So in Australia, you major in veterinary science for your bachelors degree. This is true in AU, in the UK, and throughout Europe. However, if you plan do to a professional course overseas, check first to be sure that you can practice in your home country with that overseas degree. Can you practice at all? If you can, do you have to jump through certain hoops first? In addition, depending on what country you're actually from, you may not be allowed entry into a medically-related course in certain overseas countries. For example, most (all?) med schools in the UK will not admit students from the US. They only admit foreign students if the student is coming from a country where the medical education is sub-par. I'm not sure of vet education - that, you'd need to check - but I wanted to raise the issue so you can ask the right questions.
3 :
Most Australian veterinary courses are undergrad but they have only limited places - for instance there are only 130 places in NSW of which only 10 are dedicated for overseas students. Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and WA only have a single vet science (I think all are undergrad). South Australia has a postgrad degree but their intake is only 40 - so the competition is extremely hard especially for international students. In general, 10-20% of places are for international, 30% are for either postgrads coming in or people not straight from school and the rest are for students from school.