Overview

The College of Veterinary Medicine was authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1965 and opened its doors to students in 1976.

Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine is concerned with the total health of all members of the animal kingdom – including man. Modern veterinarians serve the needs of the public in many significant ways: prevention of disease in animals and humans, enhancement of animal agriculture and wildlife management, humane health care of animals, research on diseases of animals and provision of wholesome food.

• To educate veterinarians for Florida’s specific needs.
• To perform research on metabolic and infectious diseases of animals. These investigations will provide new knowledge concerning diseases of domestic animals, will assist in the control of devastating subtropical diseases that must be controlled in order to provide wholesome food for our nation and developing countries, and will provide insight into human diseases for which animal models exist.
• To provide a veterinary medical center necessary for training of interns, residents and graduate students, and for continuing education of practitioners.
• To provide a resource for dissemination of current information to veterinary practitioners, state and federal agricultural and public health agencies, and consumers of food and health services.
• To serve as a center where veterinary practitioners can consult with specialists and where animal patients can be referred for sophisticated diagnostic procedures. This will provide a service to practitioners and afford veterinary students access to more cases and a greater variety of disease entities.

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Curriculum

The professional curriculum provides a nine-semester program consisting of core didactic classes and clinical clerkship experiences. Students are introduced to physical diagnosis, radiology and clinical problems during the first year. The core also includes experience in clinical clerkships. Elective clerkships permit students to study in depth those aspects of basic and clinical veterinary medical science most relevant to their interests and needs.

Three phases of study within the veterinary medical curriculum are based conceptually on the study of the normal animal (Phase I), the study of disease processes and therapy (Phase II), and clinical applications (Phase III). Phases I and II are organized on an organ system basis; each system is considered in turn, an approach that lends itself to the concept of comparative medicine. Phase I occupies the first two semesters of the curriculum; Phase II the second two semesters. After four semesters of study, the student enters rotations through the required clerkships and elective areas of concentration.

Veterinary students participate in the professional degree program leading to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), and 150 semester credits are required for graduation. Students with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 or above may graduate cum laude. A cumulative GPA of 3.75 or above is required for magna cum laude recognition.

Undergraduate Preparation

Students intending to apply for admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine should plan to complete a bachelor’s degree. However, outstanding students may be admitted after three years of preprofessional course work.

Sequencing of preprofessional course work should be planned carefully, preferably under the guidance of preprofessional advisers. The Office for Students and Instruction in this college welcomes inquiries of a general nature, but semester-by-semester course scheduling should be monitored by the college offering the bachelor’s degree.

Pre-veterinary students may major in a program offered by any department or college but must complete the preprofessional requirements. Applicants to the professional curriculum must present a minimum of 80 semester hours of college-level course work, exclusive of physical education and military training courses.

Credit for Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or College Level Examination Programs (CLEP) is acceptable at the level identified in the academic advising section of this catalog.

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Admission

Student selection for the College of Veterinary Medicine will be made by the dean based on recommendation of the Faculty Committee on Admissions using the following criteria as the basis for selection:

• Residency – Admission priority will be given to Florida residents. Non-Florida residents with superior academic qualification and/or unique educational or personal backgrounds will be given consideration.
• Academic Performance – Evidence of superior scholastic achievement.
• GRE Scores – Graduate Record Examination.
• Background and Experience – Knowledge of the veterinary medical profession. Some type of animal care experience is highly desirable.
• Evaluation Forms – Evaluation of character and potential of applicant as a future veterinarian. Please use the evaluation forms provided on the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) website.
• Extracurricular Activities – Achievements, leadership ability and participation in community activities.
• Communicative Skills – A brief statement from applicant concerning reasons for seeking admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine.
• Personal interview.
• Competitiveness – In the case of repeated applications, there are no guarantees that an applicant who interviews one year will interview the next, or that pursuit of recommended experience and course work will guarantee success. The competitive quality of the applicant pool each year shapes the list of interviewees and successful candidates.

When To Apply

The College of Veterinary Medicine is a participant in the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). Applications are available after July 1 via VMCAS. In addition to completing the VMCAS application, applicants must also apply to UF. This secondary application is used to determine residency for tuition purposes. The completed secondary application and transcripts validating academic work through the end of the summer term must be received by October 31.

Admission is granted only for the first semester of each school year and only on a full-time basis. Further information relative to the admissions process is contained in the Information for Professional Students.

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