Veterinary Degrees Online

The Veterinary Science Department provides advising services for students in the pre-veterinary medicine curriculum and offers courses in the biomedical sciences for undergraduate and graduate majors in related sciences. The department also offers several graduate research assistantship positions in microbiology, virology, and molecular biology for students majoring in other departments. Graduate training is supported by active research programs in diseases of food-producing animals.

South Dakota does not have a professional College of Veterinary Medicine. A pre-veterinary medicine curriculum is offered which allows students to obtain prerequisites for application to Colleges of Veterinary Medicine in other states. Students may meet requirements in two or three years of pre-veterinary study. Many students complete a major for the Bachelor of Science Degree before entering the professional curriculum of Veterinary Medicine. Many degree options are available to students in the pre-veterinary medicine curriculum, but popular choices include Animal Science, Biology, Microbiology, Dairy Science, or others. Students typically select a BS option late in their freshman year or during their sophomore year.

Entrance into the professional curriculum in a College of Veterinary Medicine rests with the individual applicant, and is based upon many factors including their academic record and experience. The applicant should be aware of the difficulties involved in being accepted to a College of Veterinary Medicine. Keen competition should be anticipated.

Integrated within the Department of Veterinary Science is the South Dakota Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (ADRDL). The ADRDL is one of 36 full-service veterinary diagnostic laboratories in the U.S. that is accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. The ADRDL is a reference lab that investigates naturally occurring animal health problems. The lab receives over 20,000 submissions and conducts over 400,000 test procedures annually. The lab is the official test center for the SD Animal Industry Board and promotes animal agriculture commerce by performing required export testing. The lab is also integral to national disease eradication programs and serves public health by tracking zoonotic diseases.

The purpose of dairy science studies are to produce specialists who play an important role in engaging the field of animal industry resources with the scientific technology. In order to keep up with development trends in this area of studies and with the modernization of technology, this program includes the basic education for animal breeding, animal production, animal nutrition and pastureland for the production of dairy farming, as well as the factors of agriculture industry and commerce such as consuming and processing of dairy products, and dairy business including marketability. This field consists of the specialized and various courses that teach the high-tech knowledge that is needed to produce milk and to manufacture dairy products. It possesses a research center called the Korean Biotechnology Research Center and graduate courses run by partnership of both academic and research center to activate animal biotechnology. Each major has an experimental center and animal farms equipped by the modernized research facilities

Develop the advanced research skills and knowledge to collect and analyze data that contributes to innovations in veterinary science. Specialize in animal nutrition, reproductive physiology, meats, animal breeding, or muscle biology and growth.

Learn research protocols, conduct literature reviews, design and carry out scientific experiments, and interpret and validate data.

Before entering the two-year program, you’ll select a professor whose research interests match your own. Secure a position as an assistant in his or her lab. This professor will serve on your graduate committee and guide your independent research.

For your thesis, you’ll develop a research methodology, carry out scientific data collection, analyze your results and present your findings to your peers and professors. You’ll also publish your findings in an academic periodical.

You’ll work alongside professors who conduct research that is nationally and internationally significant. Explore topics such as reproduction, growth, and lactation physiology; meat and dairy science and nutrition; and aquaculture. Our professors contribute to innovations in cloning and production processes that are less harmful to the environment.

For students interested in veterinary medicine, undergraduate study at Virginia Tech provides a solid academic background for graduate or professional school.
Today’s Veterinarian

With a firm basis in the biomedical sciences, the veterinarian of today has an opportunity and obligation to help create and advance the body of medical knowledge that serves society. People have always had a profound interest in maintaining their animals’ health and welfare because of their dependence on animals for food, textiles, companionship, and sport. There are over 86,000 professional veterinarians in the United States today, about three-fourths of whom are engaged in private practice and one-fourth who work in various areas of government and corporate veterinary medicine.
Choosing A Major

The required courses and a proficiency in the sciences are essential to understanding veterinary medicine, but concentration in the sciences is not necessary for admission. Pre-veterinary students most often major in animal and poultry sciences, biochemistry, biological science, dairy science, or fisheries and wildlife sciences. Students who elect majors other than biological sciences or chemistry should include some courses in advanced biology or advanced chemistry in their undergraduate programs. Suggested electives include anatomy, genetics, microbiology, and nutrition.

Preparation & Application

Students seeking admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine must show evidence of intellectual ability and achievement, as well as personal preparedness for the program. Prior to entering the college, applicants must have completed 60 semester hours with a 2.8 minimum GPA on a 4.0 scale. Alternatively, students who achieve a GPA of 3.3 over the last two years of college work will be considered to have met the minimum entry requirement. Courses taken during these two years must be at the junior or senior level. Applicants must have taken the general examination of the Graduate Record Examination on or after October 1, 2002.

The following required courses must be completed by the end of the spring term of the year for which the application is being made:8 semester credits each 6 semester credits each
Biological science + lab English
Organic chemistry + lab Mathematics
Physics + lab Humanities/social sciences

Students must complete three semester credits of biochemistry before entering the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The majority of students apply during the fall of their junior year in college. It is not necessary to have completed a bachelor’s degree program before applying; however, most students will have completed three or more years at an accredited university by the time of matriculation.

To apply, students must follow the instructions on the current Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine admissions website,

www.vetmed.vt.edu, and submit a completed Veterinary Medical Colleges Application Service (VMCAS) application prior to the year they seek admission. For more information, contact: VMRCVM Admissions Office, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061; 540/231-4699.

Admission to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine is awarded on a competitive basis. Applications by individuals from underrepresented groups are actively encouraged.
Career Opportunities

Although the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of animal diseases remains a major emphasis, the educational background of today’s veterinarian provides a perspective in solving medical, agricultural, and ecological problems. The need for veterinarians with specialized knowledge has grown during the past two decades in such areas as:
Animal behavior
Aquatic medicine
Comparative medicine
Epidemiology/public health
Laboratory animal medicine
Legal & environmental medicine
Marine biology
Nutrition
Scientific administration
Toxicology
Tropical medicine
Wildlife management

A student may pursue one of the two options within the Animal and Dairy Science major (Science or Production/Business Management). For students selecting the Production/Business Management option, one of the three species emphasis must be selected (Meat Animal, Dairy, or Equine).

Elective courses allow students to complement their animal and dairy sciences interests or prepare to pursue graduate programs.

The ADS department’s Bearden Dairy Research Center and the animal research units at the Leveck Animal Research Center provide students contact with modern techniques and practical experience to give insight to the many technical problems associated with the Animal, Dairy and Aquaculture industries.