Veterinary Medicine | College of

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 human.

Contact

2015 SW 16th Avenue
352.294.4202
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Admissions
Veterinary Academic Building
352.294.8804
Email

Mailing Address
Office for Academic and Students Affairs
College of Veterinary Medicine
P.O. Box 100125
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32610-0125

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
  • Provision of wholesome food

To answer these challenges, the goals of the College of Veterinary Medicine are to:

  • Educate veterinarians for Florida’s specific needs.
  • 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 to provide wholesome food for our nation and developing countries, and will provide insight into human diseases for which animal models exist.
  • Provide a veterinary medical center necessary for training interns, residents and graduate students, and for the continuing education of practitioners.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Veterinary students participate in the professional degree program leading to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), which requires 150 semester credits 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.

The professional curriculum provides a nine-semester program consisting of core didactic classes and clinical clerkship experiences. 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. During Phase III (semesters 5-9) the student enters rotations through the required clerkships and elective areas of concentration.
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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 coursework.

Sequencing of preprofessional coursework should be planned carefully, preferably under the guidance of preprofessional advisors. The Office for Academic and Student Affairs 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 75 credits of college-level coursework, exclusive of physical education and military training courses.
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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.

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

  • Residency
  • Academic Performance
  • Animal and Veterinary Experience
  • Evaluation Forms and References
  • Extracurricular Activities
  • Communicative Skills
  • Candidate interview
  • Competitiveness of the Applicant Pool

When to Apply

The College of Veterinary Medicine is a participant in the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). The common application, currently accepted by all AAVMC participating colleges is available in January via VMCAS. By mid-May you will be able to add specific programs who wish to apply. In addition to completing the full VMCAS application, applicants must also complete and submit a required UF vet med professional application.
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This secondary application is used to determine residency for tuition purposes. The completed secondary application must be received by the submission deadline of the VMCAS application. Admission is granted only for the Fall semester of each school year and only on a full-time basis.