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HIGH SCHOOL OUTREACH
Is
veterinary medicine for you?
- Do you enjoy working with animals?
- Are you good at
solving complex problems?
- Do you realize
that learning is a lifelong process?
Dear Future
Veterinarians:
Are
you aware of the career opportunities for a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine?
The career options are tremendous. As most of us know veterinarians can have
private practices, but there are also many other careers like: State inspection;
Federal inspection; Research; Military; and private industry. As you can see a
career in veterinary medicine is very diverse.
We, at the MSU
PreVeterinary Club, are writing this letter to inform Montana high school
students how to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. There are many things
that students in high school should do to improve their chances of becoming a
veterinarian in this highly competitive field.
The most
critical element needed to get into veterinary school is an excellent college
grade point average. Veterinary Schools require a heavy course load consisting
of biology, chemistry, physics, and math. To help students deal with this course
load at the college level we encourage students to take complementary courses in
high school. Other requirements for veterinary school admission include Graduate
Record Examination (G.R.E.), veterinary medical exposure, animal experience,
letters of recommendations, and personal development. We recommend students
begin while still in high school gathering veterinary medical exposure, animal
experience and personal development. Veterinary colleges recommend a minimum of
300-400 hours of veterinary experience that can be as a volunteer with your
local veterinarian. Become active in extra-curricular activities and clubs to
show community awareness and involvement.
Many people
are unaware that the state of Montana doesn’t have a veterinary college. Montana
students enter into a preveterinary program at a Montana school and then attend
an out of state veterinary college. Although Montana doesn’t have a veterinary
college it does participate in the WICHE (Western Commission for Higher
Education) program. This program includes veterinary schools at Washington State
University, Colorado State University, Oregon State University, and the
University of California, Davis. These schools reserve admission slots for WICHE
students in exchange for a support fee from the state of Montana. The Montana
Commission for Higher Education then budgets money each legislative session for
these support fees. This allows Montana residents to attend Veterinary School at
the in-state tuition rate. The average college GPA for WICHE students from
Montana is a 3.8. It helps to be prepared for college by working hard in high
school!
We hope that
this helps those of you who are thinking about a possible career in Veterinary
Medicine. Don’t hesitate to contact the preveterinary advisor or us if you have
any further questions.
Sincerely,
High School
Outreach
Preveterinary
Medical Program
Opportunities
in Veterinary Medicine
Private
Practice-including emphasis on companion animals, large animals, equine,
exotics, or mixed practices.
Research-for
government agencies such as the National Institute of Health, Centers of Disease
Control, Food and Drug Administration, United States Public Health Service.
Research related job opportunities are also available in private industry:
developing, testing and producing drugs for humans and animals. You could even
work in a human research laboratory as a laboratory animal veterinarian.
Inspection and
Regulation-Veterinarians are employed on the state and federal government levels
doing such things as food and health inspection for the USDA.
Sales-positions
are available for veterinarians as drug representatives.
Military-there
are diverse veterinary medical opportunities in research, surgery, pathology,
toxicology, biological warfare prevention, epidemiology, and food inspection.
So,
you want to be a veterinarian. What can you do, NOW?
Be realistic!
Veterinary medicine
is a science. You need to have a lifelong interest in scientific learning. The
emphasis of your future education will be in science.
Get experience!
Now is the time to
start getting veterinary medical experience and animal experience. You may get
veterinary experience by working, for pay or on a volunteer basis, with a local
veterinarian. Local animal shelters, farms, or ranches are good places to get
animal experience. Experience that is related to other types of medicine or
research is also beneficial.
School!
Take college
preparatory courses focused on science. You should take all the biology your
school offers, as well as chemistry, physics, and the highest level of
mathematics offered. These classes will give you a good background for the
classes you will need to take in college to prepare you for veterinary medical
school.
How
do Montanan’s get accepted to veterinary school?
Montana does not have
a College of Veterinary Medicine. Therefore, Montana preveterinary students must
leave the state to attend vet school. The options available for Montana
residents are through WICHE, as an out-of-state student, or moving to gain
residency in another state.
Western
Interstate
Commission
for
Higher
Education
The WICHE program allows
students admitted to Washington State University, Oregon State University,
Colorado State University, or University of California-Davis to attend that
school at the in-state tuition rate. Currently, there are only nine slots
supported by Montana and the status of the WICHE program for 2001 and 2002 will
be determined in the 2001 Montana Legislative Session. Since there are only
seven slots for the aspiring veterinarians in Montana, these spots are extremely
competitive.
Out-of-State
Applications
The requirements for
admission differ for each of the 27 veterinary schools in the United States.
Therefore, it is to your advantage to qualify for all of them that admit out-of
state students.
Check out veterinary
medicine on the web! Try these web sites and any links from them:
http://www.aavmc.org/students_admissions/career_center.htm
http://www.aavmc.org
Department
Responsible for the Preveterinary Curriculum:
Veterinary Molecular Biology
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717
Phone: (406) 994-4705
Fax: (406)
994-4303
www.vmb.montana.edu
The preveterinary
advising office is located in room 207, Linfield Hall on the MSU-Bozeman campus.
The phone number is 994-5598.
Appointments can be
scheduled with preveterinary advisor Dr. Mattix.
Contact Dr.
Rebecca J. Mattix using e-mail at rmattix@montana.edu
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