WAMC vet-practice owner, non-trad, international

[Nikitha.93]

To give a little context, I'm a 30 year old female from India. The last time I studied biology was in high school (12th grade). I did my undergraduate degree in engineering.

During my senior year in engineering, I went through a traumatic experience. My local municipality had hired men to go around and kill all stray dogs, and many of our beloved dogs (all rescues) were killed in this operation. Deeply saddened and frustrated, I fought for justice and got the mayor suspended.

During this justice seeking period, I got myself involved
with various animal welfare organizations which were out of my city and started reaching out to them. I felt I was doing what I loved, helping animals and fighting for their rights.

Before graduation I set up a small shelter in my small town, which was first in our house, then an old burned down shed, and then slowly grew to a decent size shelter housing over 120+ rescued animals and have rescued and rehabilitated more than 20,000 animals and counting. I have since setup 2 veterinary clinic, hired doctors and significantly increased the animals we reached out to, even pet owners didn't have proper access to veterinary facilities.

Veterinarians are a rare breed in India. And finding a decent veterinarian is harder than winning a jackpot. Most of the times, I end up reading medical textbooks, journals, videos and try to provide diagnostics myself. I had to learn how to give IV Fluids, put urinary catheters, do wound dressing, put splints, simple sutures and handle many everyday cases we get. I have also assisted in various surgeries, and have handled several types of animals ranging from dogs, cats, birds, snakes, cows, monkeys, and more.

Before you judge me for providing medical services to animals without a degree, if i didn't do it, they would have died on the road struggling every second. I have single handedly saved hundreds of animals from the brink of death. If anybody is to be blamed, it is the subpar vet schools here, and the absolutely unskilled veterinarians that they produce. I have hired and fired over 5 doctors because some of them were so bad at their job eg.: One vet showed me an chest xray of a cat and asked what the mass is in the middle, he was pointing to the heart, another vet prescribed paracetamol for a kitten for 7 days, another group of vets told they wouldn't put down a 3 month old kitten which had serve intestinal obstruction, and there was no facility to operate on her so the humane option was to put her down. They said she will anyways die on her own in few hours, so don't bother. I literally begged and then i had to learn to give IV all by self. I have even given IVs to crows. Sorry for the rant, many such situations actually inspired me to pursue veterinary medicine, because i know i can be a much better vet and provide quality treatment to the animals which die all alone on the streets of India.

II can't pursue vet school in India because they have an age bar. And I don't want to either.
To pursue this goal, I need help. I have the fire in me to do whatever it takes, but I just need some direction.

1. I know I don't satisfy many prerequisites for vet school. Is going to a 3/4 year pre-vet school the only solution to this? Can I take the prerequisite courses from a community college in the US and then get into vet school? If I take a BSc degree in India, will it be accepted in US? Is it possible to cram all the courses and finish it in a year ?

2. Let's assume that I do a pre vet program and pass with flying colors. What are my chances of getting into a vet school? I'm hoping that my extensive background in animal care will provide some boost to my chances? 3. Do you suggest any other path to achieve my goal of becoming a veterinarian quicker? With my estimates it will probably take me 7-8 years to become a vet. I'll be 38 when that happens, and I'm fine with that. But I also want to know if there is a faster or better way to do this. Any suggestions about Universities outside US who do provide 5/6 yr DVM? 4. Any alumni from AVMA accredited vet schools that can provide some pointers in maximizing my chances with admission, scholarship?

I truly appreciate any help. You will not only be helping me, but also thousands of animals that I will save in the future.

Thanks!

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[wayne455338]

First, you can complete your prerequisites in the community college without earning the degree. However, depending on the schools you are applying to, some courses must be finished in the 4-year accredited colleges, especially the higher level of science classes. You have to check each program to make sure those classes you take are eligible. For your degree in India, you have to confirm with the programs if they will accept that. If you are just talking about the degree itself, I think most schools will accept it. However, if you are talking about the credits you have taken in India, then I would say most of them will not be accepted because most vet schools require the prereqs finished in the US and within 6 to 10 years, but again, you have to double-check with the school you are applying to.
Second, there is no quicker way to become a veterinarian here in the US. Everyone goes the same pathway, finishing the prerequisites and getting the experience, building a good relationship with the veterinarians you are shadowing to get a strong recommendation, etc. You can finish prerequisites in 2 years while shadowing the vet. It is possible to make it happen in 2 to 3 years if you make yourself a really strong candidate when applying to vet school. If you want to know more about each program in the US, you can go to the VMCAS website to find out. I don't know anything about vet school outside of the US, maybe someone can help you with that.
As an international student, you are always in the most competitive pool when applying to vet schools. Most of the schools here conserved a certain amount of seats for the in-state students. An international student does not have a residency here in the US so you will be always considered an out-state student. The out-state pool usually has 50 seats at most for the out-state students, and the out-state candidates can be up to 2000. You can find the statistics online for each program. If you want to increase your chance to go into vet school, apply to schools that are more holistic will be your best bet. It is impossible to predict your chance right now because you did not list any of the required information such as your grade, how many of vet experience, animal experience, extracurricular activities, etc.
Again, You have to do research before you apply because each school looks something different. Good luck on your journey.

 

[whateverforever]

If you want to go to an AVMA school, it would likely be faster, cheaper and easier to get a seat in a 5 year program at Glasgow/RVC/Dublin etc.

If you intend to practice in India I don't know that'd you necessarily need to go to an AVMA accredited school. Perhaps you could go to an EU or UK accredited school that is not AVMA accredited?

 

[WonderingStudent]

I would make a list of schools that you would want to ideally apply to and see what the prereqs are. Additionally, if you have a course from previous schooling you took that could be utilized for prereqs, keep in mind some schools have a limit on how old the prereq can be (ie cannot be taken more than 10 years ago) so i would ensure to check on the school’s site or call admins to check.

In regard to if it would be possible to complete all prereqs in a year, it depends on how many courses you would need to take but I would highly doubt it. Some schools only allow a certain number of courses to be in progress when applying so keep that in mind.

I agree with whateverforever. UK schools may be a good option. Where do you hope to practice?

There is sadly no secret formula to getting into vet school. Having more experience in the field is always good but there are many other applicants with a good amount of experience.

I have students in my class that are in their 50s - it is definitely possible to complete vet school as a non traditional student.