Becoming a Veterinary Doctor is a similar process to becoming a human Doctor. Generally, an undergraduate degree must be obtained and many pre-medicine courses must be taken. Getting very good grades in undergraduate school and volunteer work is essential to getting into the school you want to. Since there are only 28 veterinary schools in the country that graduate only about 2100 students per year, getting into veterinary school is more competitive then medical school. GRE scores are also required for application.
Applications for veterinary schools require listing all transcripts, graduate exam scores, awards, clubs involved in, as well as essays about yourself. Many schools have additional applications that ask other questions. After applications are submitted, schools will send out letters for interviews (some do not interview in person). After personal interview with a board of faculty and/or veterinarians, Final decisions are made and you will be notified of acceptance or rejection.
If accepted, you are on your way through four more very tough years of school. The first two are typically lectures or learning about the basic sciences like physiology, anatomy, immunology, etc. You will be expected to know many species and their differences including dogs, cats, birds, cows, sheep, pigs, and horses...all quite different in structure and function. The last four years of school are clinical rotations that teach you how to integrate all of the basic information and introduces you to "working up" a patient and how to provide treatments and work with clients. Rotations may be within the schools teaching hospital or with other veterinarians in the field. After successful completion of the four years of post-graduate work, you are awarded the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree and must still pass national and state board exams (some states only use national) to prove your competency as a Veterinarian in the state you choose to practice. If you pass, you are then a full fledged Doctor and are free to practice medicine. Many people also choose to do residency programs or internships, similar to human doctors, to obtain experience in specialty fields such as dentistry, radiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, etc.
What type of grades do you need to get into Vet School?
Now this doesn't mean you have to be a straight A student. Veterinary colleges look at many factors in deciding who is a possible candidate including extra activities, experience in working with animals and more but a solid background in biology, science and math is usually desired. The good news is that the veterinary field has significantly diversified in the past decade so colleges also include individuals not from the "normal" statis quo.
How long does it take to become a Veterinarian?
It requires 4 years of college and an additional 4 years of veterinary medicine. Internship or residency credits are not required but are offered to achieve advanced qualification or specialty certification. The exception being that it was recently required that foreign graduates need additional veterinary medical residency credits. This is a debated subject
