International?

[ylrebmik]

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Does anyone from the US go for international schools? What is it like...good decision? Anything you want to say about it?

🙂

 

[aggiegolf]

Best decision I ever made. The only thing I didn't like about a lot of international vet schools is that they take 5 years to complete the program. I chose the Caribbean because of US clinicals and location. Although if I had to do it over again I would have given the AVMA accredited vet schools in Australia a chance. But yea, totally changed my view of the world...in a good way.

 

[laurafinn]

It was a good decision for me. I'm happy with the quality of the education I"m receiving, and at the compressed time period I could do it in -- 5 years total vs. 3 years for pre-reqs plus 4 years for vet school.

There are a few downsides, as with anything. There are very, very few on-campus jobs, so for extra money, you'll probably need to do factory work, retail, or cleaning. The school has recently made a policy that it will not recalculate your student loans to make up for any exchange rate fluctuations, so really, I would NOT recommend coming here if you don't have a backup source of funds. There's nothing so fun as seeing $4,000 of your loan money disappear because the US dollar dropped yet again. Also, there is a sector of Kiwi society that is xenophobic and resents any "square pegs." You can mostly avoid this, but it's out there.

 

[ylrebmik]

It was a good decision for me. I'm happy with the quality of the education I"m receiving, and at the compressed time period I could do it in -- 5 years total vs. 3 years for pre-reqs plus 4 years for vet school.

There are a few downsides, as with anything. There are very, very few on-campus jobs, so for extra money, you'll probably need to do factory work, retail, or cleaning. The school has recently made a policy that it will not recalculate your student loans to make up for any exchange rate fluctuations, so really, I would NOT recommend coming here if you don't have a backup source of funds. There's nothing so fun as seeing $4,000 of your loan money disappear because the US dollar dropped yet again. Also, there is a sector of Kiwi society that is xenophobic and resents any "square pegs." You can mostly avoid this, but it's out there.

What school do you go to?

 

[laurafinn]

What school do you go to?

Massey, New Zealand's one and only vet school 🙂 It's AVMA-accredited.

 

[quakk]

yah...

besides getting a first-rate veterinary education, i get to live in perth (the world's 5th most livable city) for 5 years.

it's been a fantastic experience. living abroad and experiencing life in a different culture is something that will never be experienced by 99% of my friends, but i find that it vastly expands my mind.

the faculty here are great - down-to-earth, approachable, knowledgable. the administration is constantly striving to improve the program, and are very receptive to student concerns and suggestions.

the experiences i've had here have been outstanding. i'm interested in wildlife, and i've worked at the zoo, the aquarium, a wildlife rehab centre, done a population survey with the australian platypus conservancy, had a behind the scenes two-day seminar at a raptor centre, etc.

one side benefit of studying in australia (and new zealand, i believe) is that you can practice anywhere in the british commonwealth when you finish. and as far as i know, there's no licensing exam for that, either.

as for accreditation, seems to me it's a nice to have, but only an obstacle if you don't. there are ways around that. the core material is pretty much the same wherever you go. i've met many good people from non-accredited programs. i think it's not so much where you go as what you make of it.

Does anyone from the US go for international schools? What is it like...good decision? Anything you want to say about it?

🙂

 

[ylrebmik]

yah...

besides getting a first-rate veterinary education, i get to live in perth (the world's 5th most livable city) for 5 years.

it's been a fantastic experience. living abroad and experiencing life in a different culture is something that will never be experienced by 99% of my friends, but i find that it vastly expands my mind.

the faculty here are great - down-to-earth, approachable, knowledgable. the administration is constantly striving to improve the program, and are very receptive to student concerns and suggestions.

the experiences i've had here have been outstanding. i'm interested in wildlife, and i've worked at the zoo, the aquarium, a wildlife rehab centre, done a population survey with the australian platypus conservancy, had a behind the scenes two-day seminar at a raptor centre, etc.

one side benefit of studying in australia (and new zealand, i believe) is that you can practice anywhere in the british commonwealth when you finish. and as far as i know, there's no licensing exam for that, either.

as for accreditation, seems to me it's a nice to have, but only an obstacle if you don't. there are ways around that. the core material is pretty much the same wherever you go. i've met many good people from non-accredited programs. i think it's not so much where you go as what you make of it.

Wildlife is what I'm interested in too 🙂

so if you study in australia... would it be hard to come back to the states if you chose to and get a license?

 

[Tiraka]

Depends where you go - Murdoch U, U of Melbourne, and U of Sydney are all AVMA accredited. If you went to one of those three, you would be eligible to practice in the US as long as you pass the NAVLE and state boards (same as US schools). If you go to a non-accredited school, you have to take a much more difficult (and expensive) test to practice in the US.

I was persuaded not to apply to any international schools because of the expense that comes with the extra year. In retrospect, I wish I had at least applied, because I think it would be such a fantastic experience to live abroad for several years.

LauraFinn - I'm curious, did you go to Massey straight from high school?

 

[freyamaxine]

I was persuaded not to apply to any international schools because of the expense that comes with the extra year. In retrospect, I wish I had at least applied, because I think it would be such a fantastic experience to live abroad for several years.

University of Melbourne is only a 4 year course. I believe that is the same as the American schools?

At Melbourne you do a pre-vet year which you do the full first year subjects (with labs) of Biology, Chemistry and Physics (calculus based). From lurking around on these boards its sounds like you would have completed these requirements in your pre-reqs for the American schools?

After Vet school I think it would be great to go and work oversea's for a few years. It sounds like American vets get paid heaps for new grads compared to Australia. The structure of Australian university's means that I will only have about 50K AUD in debt that I have my entire life to pay off (gets erased if I die) in my taxes after I am earning a certain amount.

 

[ylrebmik]

University of Melbourne is only a 4 year course. I believe that is the same as the American schools?

At Melbourne you do a pre-vet year which you do the full first year subjects (with labs) of Biology, Chemistry and Physics (calculus based). From lurking around on these boards its sounds like you would have completed these requirements in your pre-reqs for the American schools?

After Vet school I think it would be great to go and work oversea's for a few years. It sounds like American vets get paid heaps for new grads compared to Australia. The structure of Australian university's means that I will only have about 50K AUD in debt that I have my entire life to pay off (gets erased if I die) in my taxes after I am earning a certain amount.

So at your school you have a four year pre-vet degree or just 1 year?

Would you say international schools are very general compared to us schools? meaning that whether you wanted to go into exotics or dogs it is all good?

 

[freyamaxine]

So at your school you have a four year pre-vet degree or just 1 year?

Would you say international schools are very general compared to us schools? meaning that whether you wanted to go into exotics or dogs it is all good?

The pre-vet is one year, it is not a degree. You can do the one year of pre-vet in a multiple different degree streams such as science, animal science etc.

The Bachelor of Veterinary Science is a 4 year course. The university of Melbourne is a very general course. There are only electives during the final year of the course when in clinics.

Here is the degree structure if you are interested https://app.portal.unimelb.edu.au/CSCApplication/view/2008/875-VS

You can also extend the Vet degree to 5 years if you do a year of research after 2nd or 3rd year (called Bachelor of Animal Science). Information on this course : https://app.portal.unimelb.edu.au/CSCApplication/view/2008/885-AA

 

[birdvet2006]

Does anyone from the US go for international schools? What is it like...good decision? Anything you want to say about it?

🙂

I went to the University of Glasgow, an AVMA accredited school in the UK (Scotland to be exact). It was a 5 year course and I am very thankful I went there. It was an excellent experience, one I wouldn't give up for almost anything. I only regret the debt, but it happens even at state-side schools.

The education was very broad. Very little "tracking" (in final year you could take a lot of food animal clinical stuff, or a lot of equine clinical stuff...everyone had to do the same amount of cats & dogs). It prepares you well for the NAVLE (North American licensing board exam).

 

[hislightrq]

I second Birdvet2006. I'm in my final year at Glasgow and I'm so glad I came. In fact, I'm already starting to miss Scotland and I haven't even left yet! Although there are always cultural differences to surmount, I've found the whole experience has given me so much both personally and educationally.

I'm also very glad of the well rounded education. It can be very easy to think you know what you want to do and then end up in a completely different position after graduation. Covering so many aspects of veterinary medicine here in Glasgow means I can do almost anything once I graduate. I've also just found out that I passed the NAVLE with no problems and feel that Glasgow prepared me well.

Glasgow is a great city to live in with London, Paris, Brussels, etc just a short, cheap flight away. You can't beat the travel experiences here.

If you want to read a bit more about my experience check out my journal.

 

[laurafinn]

LauraFinn - I'm curious, did you go to Massey straight from high school?

Nope - I had a BA already, but no pre-reqs. (If you have the pre-reqs done and have recently been in school full-time, you can get accepted into the Massey vet program directly, so it would be 4.5 years, not 5 years.)

 

[Moonpaw]

Does anyone have anything to say about RVC?

 

[birdvet2006]

Does anyone have anything to say about RVC?

RVC is a great school. I know a couple (American) people who graduated from there. I also visited the school to do a 2-week externship at their equine hospital during Christmas and New Years one year. Nice campus (the vet school proper - I didn't visit the main uni campus)! Great education.