Equine Vet?!?

Question

I would like to be an Equine Vet. I know you have to train in large animal and then later go into equine vet. What will increase my chance of getting in to vet school? I know grades and experience but what kind? When they interveiw you what do they ask you? What is good to know before entering? Anything will help! ANYTHING! If your a vet then can you tell me about school and about your work life? ANYTHING WILL HELP!!

Answer 1

If you are serious, contact me and I will be glad to discuss.  I am a mixed animal practice veterinarian and see about 40% equine.  It would be helpful to know where you are in your education and extracurricular activities you do.

Answer 2

make sure to take lots of science and math classes and get at least B's in them. Study hard and show that you are willing to challenge yourself.

Activities: while you are in school try working at a barn or animal hospital so you get experience with equines and smaller animals, this will show the Vet school that no only can you keep you grades up, but you can also volunteer, or work part time at a clinic.

I am not a vet, but I do know my horse vet is always on call day or night. You could be in the middle of shopping for groceries and have to stop because you just received a call that a horse is sick and needs urgent care.

Like I said before, keep your grades as high as you can, join animal related clubs, volunteer your time at a shelter, or clinic, and you should do fine.

Answer 3

Good grades and test scores are important, yes, but what's equally important is the kind of life experiences which you have had and can present to the admissions committee. You will need to have had plenty of math and science classes at the undergraduate level, or have completed a pre-vet program at whichever college you end up at. Generally, most students don't apply to actual vet school until they are juniors or seniors in college- because they have to wait at least that long to accumulate enough credits to apply, and take the VAT or VCAT. Scoring well on that exam is important and helps determine what kind of program you get into.

Apart from the math and science classes, you will also need to complete the core requirements which all schools have, such as taking classes in things like English, History, a couple of years or more of a foreign language ( Spanish is particularly in demand in the US, because of the huge number of immigrants to this country from Latin America) as well as certain electives like Music, the Arts, and so forth.

This same thing is true at the high school level as well, and I gather from your question that this is where you are right now. What you need to do in addition to getting good grades, though, is to try to do an internship somewhere, such as at a vet hospital or animal shelter, so you can get exposure to the field and gain experience. You could also call up the local vets near your area and see if one or more of them is willing to allow you to ride along with him or her when they answer farm calls. That will give you a feel for what it's like to be a large animal or equine vet. Try to get jobs in the summer doing this type of thing as well. If you can, you may even want to try working on a breeding farm in the spring, so you can watch foals being born and the like. Otherwise, anything to do with horses in general is a good way to gain experience. Work in the barn where you ride if you can- and take lots of lessons from different people. Explore different sports and disciplines in riding, so you can see what kind of care is needed for horses in each one- you'll be surprised at how the requirements differ. Spend time at a racetrack on the backside, if there is one near your home, and get to know the grooms, hot walkers, and the track vet there. READ, READ, and READ, lots of books about riding, horses, and horse care.

I hope these ideas are helpful. I have known several vets in my life, and most of them started their careers in the ways I have mentioned. I even knew one vet student who put himself through school by being a farrier- which is another way to gain horse experience and knowledge. The last time I heard anything about him, he was working at the Arlington Park racetrack near Chicago, and doing very well there.

Answer 4

I'm aiming to be a large animal vet too :)

I've just started college, taken biology and chemistry to help support it. I also did 3 separate sciences at GCSE which gives me 2 extra GCSEs in science.

I havent got my grades back yet but I've been told it should be A and A*, maybe a B at GCSEs and As at A-level.

I think maths would have been a better option for me to take too to support the measurements side of things, but hopefully chemistry will cover that.

I have a horse of my own, which helps obviously, and I've looked after them and ridden for 8 years.

So do plenty of volunteer work at your local stables or farm, it looks brilliant on your CV and the extra experience is beneficial, if you can try to get a job looking after them.

If you havent done your work experience do one with horses or large animals.

Some surgeries allow people to come into the surgery and watch.

You need to get very high grades and study hard :)

Best of luck!

x*x

Answer 5

Math is very important to figure out doses of medication, biology classes, and you have to have patients for both the animal and owner:)

Answer 6

Look for the required pre requisites of high school and college courses required by your chosen vet school.

http://careers.dyc.edu/guide/sec5/vet_sc...

A link with wonderful information on applying to veterinary schools......

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/ne...

A link to applying for vet school at Cornell University...just for your information.

Good luck to you...large animal vets are becoming rarer to find as many vets are turning their focus to a small animal practice.

http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/77572/

Edit:  And, for the troll.....bite me.