College of Veterinary Medicine
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.
Contact Information
Location: 2015 SW 16 Avenue
Phone: 352-294-4244
Academic Advising and Admissions:
Veterinary Academic Building
Room V1-100H
352-294-4263
Mailing Address:
Office for Students and Instruction
P.O Box 100125
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32610-0125
Website: www.vetmed.ufl.edu
Overview
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 answer these challenges, the goals of the College of Veterinary Medicine are
- 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 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 interns, residents and graduate students, and for the 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
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.
Refer to the curriculum.
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 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.
Refer to the undergraduate course requirements.
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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
- Academic Performance
- Verbal and Quantitative GRE Scores – Graduate Record Examination
- 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). Applications are available in early June via VMCAS. In addition to completing the VMCAS application, applicants must also complete and submit a required UF vet med professional application. 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 the end of September of the year applying. Admission is granted only for the fall semester of each school year and only on a full-time basis.
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