Practicing in the U.S. after attending an international school?

[bubbles525]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have decided to broaden my horizons and apply to international schools this cycle as well as reapply to American schools. Can anyone clarify for me what exams/criteria a graduate of an international program has to pass in order to practice in the U.S.? or direct me to a web page that could help? I am looking specifically at Massey, Murdoch, and Glasgow. Have not yet investigated Canadian schools. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
~Marie

 

[chris03333]

I have decided to broaden my horizons and apply to international schools this cycle as well as reapply to American schools. Can anyone clarify for me what exams/criteria a graduate of an international program has to pass in order to practice in the U.S.? or direct me to a web page that could help? I am looking specifically at Massey, Murdoch, and Glasgow. Have not yet investigated Canadian schools. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
~Marie

Massey, Murdoch and Glasglow are AVMA accredited. This means you are considered the same as a US grad at these schools. The same can be said for the Canadian schools. Should you graduate from a non accredited school you need to do a program for foreign graduates called ECVFG. Some states allow the PAVE insted (extra exams). ECVFG has a LONG waiting list and is a $6000 examination which I believe is a four day long exam.

 

[mochavet]

As long as you graduate from an AVMA accredited school you will be able to practice in the U.S. without having to do any more than a student who graduated from an accredited U.S. school. This means that you can attend Massey, Murdoch or Glasgow, come back to the states, sit for your state boards and be on your way. The following website lists all international AVMA accredited schools and their websites. Hope this helps!

http://www.avma.org/education/cvea/colleges_accredited/foreign.asp

 

[Infamous]

St. George's has an AVMA-accrediation visit this fall. I wouldn't rule them out.

 

[weeziefive]

I dont know if this makes a difference at all. But I will be attending Murdoch in less than 2 months (yikes) and once I have graduated I will pretty much be able to practise in several countries including Canda, Britain, US etc.

 

[Infamous]

SGU has a couple of very interesting dual-degree programs which may give you a leg up.

"The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine/Master of Science dual-degree program gives veterinary students the opportunity to conduct active and original bench and/or field research in Anatomy, Marine Medicine, Microbiology, Morphological and Clinical Pathology, Parasitology, Pharmacology and Wildlife Medicine."

They also offer an MPH.

I'm just giving you choices!

 

[Infamous]

For Instance, if you want to do ortho.

An MS in Anatomy - will set you way apart.

Just my $.02

 

[dvm'08]

The Caribbean should be your last resort... i would stick to north american schools first, then the UK/Ireland/Australia, and then ross/sgu.

just my opinion though.

 

[Rasmustown]

There is a bunch of Americans and Canadians at University College Dublin www.ucd.ie

Amy

 

[bubbles525]

I think studying abroad can be asset in life and in my future career. I do want to attend an AVMA accredited school in order to reduce the hassle when I want to come back to the states to practice. Plus, some of the schools abroad are significantly less expensive 😉 . I am still applying to US schools. The more I think about my choices the more clear my options become. I applied to six schools last year and only two of them really interest me. I LOVE the program at Western. If I can avoid ever using an animal in my education I will be so thrilled. Plus I think the PBL system was built for me. Learning in an incorporated fashion, working collaboratively, researching the answers for myself it all draws me. The two things that could make me consider not going there are it costing much much less money or the adventure of studying in another country while still getting a great education.
So next cycle I'll be applying to Western, Tufts (my in state), Murdoch, Massey, U of Sydney, U of London, and Glasglow. Of course I'm still hoping Western will send me a letter any day pulling me out of the alternate pool 😀 .

 

[birdvet2006]

The Caribbean should be your last resort... i would stick to north american schools first, then the UK/Ireland/Australia, and then ross/sgu.

just my opinion though.

Well, I never applied to the US vet schools! I applied directly to overseas schools and was accepted, and I came. Now I will be graduating in just over a month and have a small animal internship lined up in California (my home state). I'm pretty happy and must agree that an experience abroad (5 years, no less) has been a great asset to my career and a good thing for my character in general. Though we're AVMA accredited, the UK vet school experience is not quite the same as the US vet school experience. I think we're trained in a different way, at least slightly, and therefore may view things differently (adding diversity to anywhere we go).

Infamous: the only reason I wouldn't recommend SGU is the lack of a federal student aid number - so you can't get Stafford loans. The interest rates on private loans are quite high right now (8% plus), so I would try to go somewhere where you could at least get federal loans! I have heard great things from a SGU student though, so it's definitely a great programme.

 

[Infamous]

The Caribbean should be your last resort... i would stick to north american schools first, then the UK/Ireland/Australia, and then ross/sgu.

just my opinion though.

You would be suprised to find out that many ppl have SGU as there first choice.

 

[Infamous]

Well, I never applied to the US vet schools! I applied directly to overseas schools and was accepted, and I came. Now I will be graduating in just over a month and have a small animal internship lined up in California (my home state). I'm pretty happy and must agree that an experience abroad (5 years, no less) has been a great asset to my career and a good thing for my character in general. Though we're AVMA accredited, the UK vet school experience is not quite the same as the US vet school experience. I think we're trained in a different way, at least slightly, and therefore may view things differently (adding diversity to anywhere we go).

Infamous: the only reason I wouldn't recommend SGU is the lack of a federal student aid number - so you can't get Stafford loans. The interest rates on private loans are quite high right now (8% plus), so I would try to go somewhere where you could at least get federal loans! I have heard great things from a SGU student though, so it's definitely a great programme.

Sounds like a good experience so far. I've been accepted to Murdoch and a few others. To be quite honest though, I have my heat set on SGU. I checked it out and it's the place for me.

 

[dvm'08]

You would be suprised to find out that many ppl have SGU as there first choice.

I somehow doubt that there are a lot of people that have SGU as their first choice - but provided you've researched all your options and that is your informed decision then great. i, however, think that sgu and ross should be your last option. the education may be equivalent to some of the schools in the US, but the stigma of being a Caribbean grad will follow you - whether you like to admit it or not. also, i checked into accreditation, and SGU is undergoing a pre-accreditation visit this fall - this visit is to get the committee out to see what they need to do before the actual accreditation visit - so SGU is a ways away (ie: years) from full accreditation, and is unlikely to get it before you graduate... so you'll have to be prepared to jump through the ECVFG hoops.

 

[birdvet2006]

I somehow doubt that there are a lot of people that have SGU as their first choice - but provided you've researched all your options and that is your informed decision then great. i, however, think that sgu and ross should be your last option. the education may be equivalent to some of the schools in the US, but the stigma of being a Caribbean grad will follow you - whether you like to admit it or not. also, i checked into accreditation, and SGU is undergoing a pre-accreditation visit this fall - this visit is to get the committee out to see what they need to do before the actual accreditation visit - so SGU is a ways away (ie: years) from full accreditation, and is unlikely to get it before you graduate... so you'll have to be prepared to jump through the ECVFG hoops.

DVM'08, did you know about the PAVE option to fulfill part of the ECFVG requirements? If you take the PAVE exam in your pre-clinical years then you don't have to do the $6k test. - Most states are now permitting the PAVE to replace the $6k test (even California, a shocker)! I also don't think this "stigma" of being a Caribbean grad is as bad as you make it out. On VIN, most people only have good things to say about Caribbean grads. Most have proven themselves to be excellent vets.

I don't think the Caribbean schools are in any way beneath the stateside schools in quality, except that they are not AVMA accredited (meaning more paperwork and stress for the students - that's all). I do know several people who have attended Ross, and one of my own personal vets (for my pets at home) is a Ross grad.

 

[dvm'08]

DVM'08, did you know about the PAVE option to fulfill part of the ECFVG requirements? If you take the PAVE exam in your pre-clinical years then you don't have to do the $6k test. - Most states are now permitting the PAVE to replace the $6k test (even California, a shocker)! I also don't think this "stigma" of being a Caribbean grad is as bad as you make it out. On VIN, most people only have good things to say about Caribbean grads. Most have proven themselves to be excellent vets.

I don't think the Caribbean schools are in any way beneath the stateside schools in quality, except that they are not AVMA accredited (meaning more paperwork and stress for the students - that's all). I do know several people who have attended Ross, and one of my own personal vets (for my pets at home) is a Ross grad.

dont get me wrong - i'm not saying they're bad vets... i'm saying that there is a stigma associated with them, and i know a couple vets from ross that have had trouble because of it. I also know a lot of vets who say that they'll never hire a vet from ross. I'm not saying they're justified in that - just making people aware that these attitudes exist. VIN is a pretty isolated environment, and i suspect that users and posters there are not representative of the general population.

I am aware of the PAVE exam, however i dont know that much about it... sounds like a viable alternative though.