Where is the best school in the United States to be an Exotic animal vet? ?

Question

Vet in a zoo?

Answer 1

The only zoo vet school I know of is at University of Florida and from firsthand experience with them I cannot recommend it.  As we are too small to be able to have a vet on staff, the zoo I work at works with their residents for care of our animals, and we have had a number of problems (things outside of simple inexperience).

The Association of Zoo Veterinarians might be able to help you out: http://www.aazv.org/index.cfm.  

You might also ask around to zoos that have a vet on staff (either in person if there's one in the area or by email; my experience with a smaller zoo has shown the staff are usually quite willing to help out where they can).  

This page from the Minnesota Zoo looks helpful:

http://www.mnzoo.com/global/AboutUs/dayi...

Answer 2

I don't know what  the "best" one is, but look for one that has a teaching hospital that works with zoo animals and/or one that offers a zoo related internship or residency. OR look for a zoo that offers an internship or residency.

http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/v...

Question: I want to know more about Zoo Medicine.

Answer : The best way to look for a school that can help you become a zoo veterinarian is to first check and find out if they have an active exotic animal medicine program.  Call the veterinary school that you are interested in and ask them if they have an exotic animal medicine department, how many faculty members do they have in that department, do they work with the nearby/local zoos, how many exotic animal cases do they work with.

The best program for learning about zoo medicine would probably be Kansas State University since that is where Dr. James Carpenter is a faculty member and runs the exotic animal medicine department.  He wrote the textbook on Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Some other top schools to consider are UC Davis, University of Florida, and University of Tennessee. But this is just my opinion based on a number of conversations I've had with various zoo veterinarians.  

http://www.wonderferret.com/zooed/zoo-ve...

http://www.aczm.org/aczm_training%20prog...

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/VMTH/exotic...

http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/vmth/residen...

http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/patientcare/se...

http://www.vet.utk.edu/avi_zoo/index.php

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/hospital/wild...

http://www.vet.uga.edu/sams/courses/exot...

http://vmthpub.vetmed.wisc.edu/sa_servic...

http://www.cvhs.okstate.edu/index.php?op...

http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/vcm/zooresid.htm...

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/wildlife/teachi...

http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/1969.htm

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/studentservices/...

http://www.nczoo.org/education/zoologica...

http://www.mnzoo.com/global/AboutUs/dayi...

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAn...

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/UndergradInter...

http://www.virmp.org/virmp/searchnew.asp...

http://www.aazv.org/displaycommon.cfm?an...

http://www.aczm.org/aczm_career.html

http://www.aza.org/JobListings/index.cfm...

http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/anima...

http://www.avma.org/education/cvea/colle...

http://www.drlucyspelman.com/zoo-wildlif...