If All Else Fails, Become a People Doctor

With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.

Like so many kids growing up in agriculture, I went through a phase – a rather long one at that – of knowing I was going to be a veterinarian when I grew up. Fast forward and here I am on the radio talking about them because, quite frankly, this job was much easier to get into and the hours are way better.

But, I recently had a chance to talk to the founding Dean of Rocky Vista University College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Robert Murtaugh, about the comparison of vet school to medical school. Is it really as hard as they say to get in??

“Yeah, it’s actually probably more difficult these days to get into veterinary school than it is to get into medical school. There’s roughly 35 vet schools in the U.S. and close to 300 medical schools. The number of qualified applicants for veterinary school every year is around 12,000 – 13,000 applicants and currently only 3,800 of those get admitted.”

So you’re looking at a roughly 30% chance of getting admitted in any one year. I asked Dr. Murtaugh what helps to stack one application over the next knowing that all of these students are likely quite qualified. We’ll chat more about that right here tomorrow in your Southeast Regional Ag News.