College of Veterinary Medicine
The College of Veterinary Medicine, which was approved by the Utah Legislature in 2022, paved the way to form an independent four-year program, which includes the construction of a new Veterinary Medical Education building on the USU campus in Logan, Utah. Accreditation through the American Veterinary Medical Association Council of Education (AVMA COE) is now underway. The college anticipates matriculating its first cohort of 40 students in the fall of 2025. In subsequent years, enrollment will increase to 80 students per cohort, with 40 positions for Utah residents.
Curriculum
The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree curriculum aims to train thriving day-one mixed animal veterinarians with the professional, foundational, and applied competencies to serve urban and rural communities in Utah and beyond. The DVM degree curriculum will engage the veterinary community throughout Utah and the broader Intermountain Region through an integrated, competency-based approach. Courses will offer students intensive training on the competencies expected of day-one veterinary general practitioners.
The first year of the veterinary curriculum will provide an integrated systems-based foundation of the structure and function of the bodies of healthy domestic and zoological animals, while also providing an opportunity to develop technical expertise in diagnostics, principles of surgery, and other clinical skills. Lecture and laboratory-based instruction will be augmented through participation in case-based discussions.
The second year focuses on disease conditions through the study of pathology, toxicology, virology, public health, and epidemiology while furthering additional professional skills, such as clinical communication. There are also electives in research; integrative medicine; mare foaling, sheep lambing/goat kidding, and large animal theriogenology.
The third year focuses on the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prevention and management of the most common disorders in domestic and zoological species, including dentistry, emergency and intensive care, isolation, and biosecurity. This will be accomplished through the delivery of medicine and surgery courses using a combination of didactic classroom instruction, simulated models, live animal laboratories, and case studies.
In the fourth year, students will participate in a year dedicated to clinical rotations with community-based partner clinics called Affiliated Veterinary Instructional Partners (AVIPs). During their clinical training, fourth-year students will hone their clinical skills by actively participating in a variety of cases from routine wellness care to complex medical and surgical cases. The range of practices offering student experiences will include animal shelters, zoologic parks, rural mixed-animal practices, species-specific practices, urban practices, emergency/urgent care, specialized veterinary medicine, and clinical practice focusing on diagnostics.
Admission Requirements
Veterinary medicine is a rigorous science-based field. When evaluating an applicant, emphasis is placed on a broad-based science education. Prerequisite coursework is considered an essential foundation. Although applicants can major in any undergraduate subject area, a science-based major may better prepare an applicant for the demanding DVM curriculum. Although the Office of Veterinary Admissions recommends completion of a baccalaureate degree prior to matriculation to the DVM program, it is not required. Applications are evaluated on both overall grade point average (GPA) and the strength of prerequisite coursework completed at the time of application. While some prerequisites may be in-progress or planned at the time of application, applicants will be expected to have completed all prerequisite courses with a C- or higher before entering the program. Applicants must meet minimum GPA requirements (cumulative GPA of 2.9, prerequisite math and science GPA of 3.1) to enter the review process (https://vetmed.usu.edu/cvm/admissions/requirements). Applicants who do not meet these requirements do not undergo further review.
Required prerequisite courses for admission are listed below. Specific USU courses are listed for each prerequisite as example courses.
- Biology, with laboratory (BIOL 1610 & BIOL 1615 ; BIOL 1620 & BIOL 1625 ) - 8 semester credit hours
- Inorganic Chemistry, with laboratory (CHEM 1210 & CHEM 1215 ; CHEM 1220 & CHEM 1225 ) -10 semester credit hours
- Organic Chemistry, laboratory not required (CHEM 2310 ) - 4 semester credit hours
- Biochemistry (CHEM 3700 ) - 3 semester credit hours
- Mathematics (MATH 1050 ) - 4 semester credit hours
- Statistics (STAT 1040 ) - 3 semester credit hours OR Statistics (STAT 2000 ) - 4 semester credit hours
- Physics, laboratory not required (PHYS 2110 ) - 4 semester credit hours
- Genetics, laboratory not required (BIOL 3060 ) - 3 semester credit hours
- English composition/communication - 6 semester credit hours*
- Arts and Humanities/Social Science/History, etc. - 21 semester credit hours*
*If an applicant has received or will receive a bachelor’s degree prior to matriculation, the general education requirements are considered fulfilled regardless of credit hours.
For questions about prerequisite coursework, we recommend contacting your academic advisor for assistance. If you are an academic advisor and need additional assistance, please contact us at dvmadmit@usu.edu.
The Office of Veterinary Admissions considers a solid and broad undergraduate experience to be fundamental preparation for successful completion of the veterinary curriculum. When evaluating an applicant, the Office of Veterinary Admissions will consider both academic and non-academic qualities which may include a personal interview. Applicants are encouraged to gain experience by working or volunteering with a veterinarian, spend time in animal-related fields or research, and participate in extracurricular activities and community service (https://vetmed.usu.edu/cvm/admissions/admissions-process).
Applications for the 2025 admissions cycle will be through the USU School of Graduate Studies. Starting with the 2026 admissions cycle, applications for admission to the USU DVM program will be submitted through the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS), the centralized application service for accredited colleges of veterinary medicine. You can learn about the VMCAS application process and how to become a veterinarian on the AAVMC website. Prospective students can also view the American Veterinary Medical Association’s guide to vet school admittance for tips and advice.
More ways you can prepare to apply
- We encourage applicants to gain both animal and veterinary experience. Hint: Document your hours as you earn them!
- Document your employment history.
- Keep a log of your extracurricular activities (dates of membership, offices held, special projects you accomplished, etc.); any honors, awards, or scholarships you receive; and service in your community.
- Develop your interpersonal and communication skills. While veterinary medicine is rooted in science, successful veterinarians are good communicators as well as skilled clinicians.
High school students
Becoming a veterinarian generally requires seven to eight years of academic training after high school. Applicants complete undergraduate coursework and the majority earn a bachelor’s degree before entering veterinary school. The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program then requires completion of an additional four years of advanced educational instruction and training.
As a high school student, you can start preparing now for admission to college. Although it is important to take math and science courses, involvement in activities that foster leadership opportunities and/or animal experience is encouraged.
High school courses that will provide the best foundation for a college pre-veterinary curriculum are laboratory-based sciences (chemistry, physics, and biology), math, and English.
For further information: vetmed.usu.edu.
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