The DVM Degree

Unlike medicine, veterinary medicine has a single degree pathway: the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). There is no equivalent to the MD/DO distinction. DVM programs are accredited by the AVMA Council on Education, and graduates are licensed to practice across all species and settings—companion animal, large/food animal, equine, exotic, lab animal, and public health, among others.

Some students pursue combined DVM/PhD programs if they’re interested in academic or research-focused careers, though these are uncommon and worth discussing individually with your advisor.

Specialization (similar to medical residency) happens after the DVM through internships, residencies, and board certification in fields like surgery, internal medicine, cardiology, or oncology.

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) is your premier resource when preparing to attend veterinary school.

Training & Scope

• DVMs complete four years of veterinary school, generally including both didactic coursework and clinical rotations in a teaching hospital
• Unlike physicians, DVMs are trained and licensed to treat multiple species
• Practice settings span companion animal (small animal) medicine, large/food animal and equine medicine, exotic and zoo medicine, laboratory animal medicine, public health, and research
• DVM programs are accredited by the AVMA Council on Education (COE)
• Specialization after the DVM is pursued through internships, residencies, and board certification

Who Might Be Drawn to the DVM Path?

• Students who enjoy working with animals and are comfortable that the role is centered as much on people—communicating with clients, leading a care team—as it is on animals themselves
• Those interested in a wide scope of practice across species, rather than specializing in human medicine alone
• Applicants drawn to rural, agricultural, or food-animal settings, where veterinarians often play a public health role
• Students interested in non-clinical paths such as research, public health, regulatory medicine, or laboratory animal medicine
• Those who can handle the emotional demands, including euthanasia decisions and client grief, with resilience and compassion

Healthcare Competencies for Veterinary School

A common refrain among admissions advisors is that veterinary medicine is roughly 80% people and 20% animals—meaning your ability to communicate with clients, collaborate with a care team, and handle conflict matters just as much as your comfort with animals. The AAVMC’s Competency-Based Veterinary Education (CBVE) framework outlines the competencies admissions committees screen for within these domains:

• Clinical Reasoning & Decision-making
• Individual Animal Care & Management
• Animal Population Care & Management
• Public Health
• Communication
• Collaboration
• Professionalism & Professional Identity
• Financial & Practice Management
• Scholarship

Because burnout and compassion fatigue are widely recognized challenges in this profession, admissions committees also want to see that you understand the realities of veterinary practice. These will include financial pressures and work-life balance, as well as the emotional weight of the job.

Experiential Opportunities

VMCAS asks applicants to document experience across several categories:

• Veterinary Experience working directly with a licensed veterinarian (e.g., assisting, observing exams or surgery)
• Animal Experience hands-on animal care that doesn’t involve a veterinarian (e.g., kennel work, farm work, wildlife rehab)
• Research
• Employment (veterinary or non-veterinary)
• Volunteer Experience

Breadth matters as much as raw hours: admissions committees want to see exposure across more than one species or practice setting (for example, both small and large animal, or both general practice and a specialty clinic), not just a single long-term placement. Individual schools set their own minimum hour expectations, which vary significantly. Check each program’s requirements in the VMSAR directory.

Students are encouraged to visit the Experiential Opportunities and explore jobs, internships, fellowships, and other relevant opportunities on Handshake, especially through use of the Health Professions Collection.

Pre-Vet students should utilize the Health Professions Portfolio to keep track of experiential opportunities, reflect on experiences, and carefully consider how each one connects to the health professions competencies as well as their own goals.

Growth Years, Standardized Testing, & Application Timeline

Growth Years

It is common to take at least one or more Growth Years between graduating from undergrad and matriculating to veterinary school. While it is possible to attend veterinary school in the fall immediately after graduation, these students would need to complete the admission requirements and most of the experiential requirements by the spring semester of their junior year. This aggressive timeline is not recommended for most students.

Having time between undergraduate and veterinary school offers many advantages. One advantage is that you are able to complete the required courses at a pace that will allow you to make the most of Wesleyan’s liberal arts curriculum. You are also likely to be a stronger candidate because of the additional clinical, volunteer, employment, or academic experience you will gain by the time of your application.

Growth years allow applicants to deepen their hands-on animal and veterinary experience before applying, since undergraduate schedules rarely allow for the breadth of exposure admissions committees expect. This time is often used for full-time veterinary technician work, farm or ranch work, or research.

Standardized Testing

The GRE was historically required by most veterinary schools, but this has changed significantly. The large majority of U.S. programs have now made the GRE optional or eliminated it entirely. A small number of schools may still recommend or require it, and a few may even accept the MCAT in its place. Students should check each program’s current requirement individually in the VMSAR before their application year, as this landscape is actively evolving.

Sample Veterinary School Application Timeline

Here is a sample timeline for an applicant looking to matriculate to veterinary school in the fall of 2028. You can extrapolate this to your own schedule, keeping in mind that the benchmarks are typically standard year-to-year.