Curriculum and Veterinary Education in United States

About the Study

Anesthesia Veterinary education is the tertiary education of veterinarians. To become a veterinarian, one must first complete a degree in veterinary medicine (DVM, V.M.D., BVS, BVSc, BVMS, BVM) etc. In the United States and Canada, almost all veterinary medical degrees are first entry degrees, and require several years of previous study at the university level. Many veterinary schools outside North America use the title "Faculty of Veterinary Science" instead of "College of Veterinary Medicine" or "School of Veterinary Medicine", and some veterinary schools in China, Japan and South Korea (such as the DVM degree-awarding Department of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry at Guangxi University in China and the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology use the term "Department". Veterinary schools are distinct from departments of animal science offering a pre-veterinary curriculum, teaching the biomedical sciences (and awarding a Bachelor of Science degree or the equivalent), and providing graduate veterinary education in disciplines such as microbiology, virology, and molecular biology.

Aspiring veterinarians can earn several types of degrees, differing by country and involving undergraduate or graduate education.In the United States, schools award the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (DVM). This degree is also awarded in Bangladesh, Canada, Ethiopia, Hungary, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Tobago and Trinidad. Other countries offer a degree equivalent to the North American DVM. In the United Kingdom and countries which have adopted the undergraduate system of higher education, a bachelor's degree is equivalent to a DVM (after five or six years of study). In the US, a four-year DVM degree such as Bachelor of Veterinary Science, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine or Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery follows a fouryear undergraduate degree (eight years of study after high school). In Ireland, the Veterinary Medicine Programme at the University College Dublin awards the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (MVB). At the University of Edinburgh, the degree is BVM&S (Bachelors of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, and the University of Glasgow, the degree awarded is the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery (BVMS). Some veterinary schools offer a degree enabling the recipient to practice veterinary medicine in their home country but does not permit the individual to take a licensing examination abroad; for example, veterinary schools in Afghanistan offer only the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. Although Ethiopia awards a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, it is not recognized in the US or Western Europe. Nearly every country requires an individual with a veterinary degree to be licensed before practicing. Most countries require a non-national with a veterinary degree to pass a separate licensure exam for foreign graduates before practicing. In the US, the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) administers a four-step examination recognized by all American state and territorial veterinary licensing boards, the US federal government, and the District of Columbia. The European Parliament issued a September 30, 2005 directive providing EU-wide standards for veterinary medical education and the recognition of veterinary degrees from member states. Licensure requirements are diverse. In South Africa, the Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, Act 19 of 1982 provides for automatic licensure if an individual has graduated from one of several universities in South Africa, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom (including the University of Pretoria, Massey University, University of Bristol, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Liverpool, and the University of London as of 2008) or has passed the licensure examination administered by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. All others must pass an examination and register with the South African Veterinary Council.