The College of Veterinary Medicine was authorized by the Florida Legislature in 1965 and opened its door to students in 1976.

        Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine is con-cerned with the total health of all members of the animal kingdom–including man. Modern veterinarians serve the needs of the public in a variety of significant ways: pre-vention of disease in animals and humans, enhancement of animal agriculture and wildlife management, humane health care of animals, research on diseases of animals and provision of wholesome food.

Goals

• To educate veterinarians for Florida’s specific needs.
• To perform research on metabolic and infectious diseases of animals. These investigations will pro-vide new knowledge concerning diseases of domestic animals, will assist in the control of devastating sub-tropical diseases that must be controlled in order to provide wholesome food for our nation and develop-ing countries, and will provide insight into human diseases for which animal models exist.
• To provide a veterinary medical center necessary for training of interns, residents and graduate students, and for continuing education of practitioners.
• To provide a resource for dissemination of current information to veterinary practition-ers, state and fed-eral agricultural and public health agencies, and con-sumers of food and health services.
• To serve as a center where veterinary practitioners can consult with specialists and where animal patients can be referred for sophisticated diagnostic proce-dures. This will provide a service to practitioners and, at the same time, afford veterinary students access to more cases and a greater variety of disease entities.

        The professional curriculum provides a nine-semester program consisting of a core curriculum and elective clinical experiences (clerkships). The core provides the body of knowledge and skills common to all veterinari-ans.

        The first four semesters concentrate primarily on the basic medical sciences. Additionally, students are intro-duced to physical diagnosis, radiology and clinical prob-lems during the first year. The core also includes experi-ence in each of the clinical areas (clerkships). The elective clerkships permit students to study in depth those aspects of both basic and clinical veterinary medical science most relevant to their interests and needs.

        Three phases of study within the veterinary medical curriculum are based conceptually on the study of the normal animal (Phase I), the study of disease processes and therapy (Phase II), and clinical applications (Phase III). Phases I and II are organized on an organ system basis; each system is considered in turn, an approach that lends itself to the concept of comparative medicine. Phase I occupies the first two semesters of the curriculum; Phase II the second two semesters.

        After four semesters of study, the student enters rotations through the clinical clerkships of required or core clerkships and elective areas of concentration.
Only those students enrolled as full-time veterinary students may participate in the professional degree pro-gram leading to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.). A total of 150 semester credits are required for graduation. Students with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 or above on courses in the profes-sional curriculum are graduated with honors. A cumula-tive GPA of 3.75 or above is required for high honors.

Undergraduate Preparation

        Students intending to apply for admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine should plan to complete a bachelor’s degree. However, outstanding students may be admitted after only three years of preprofessional course work.

        Sequencing of pre-professional course work should be planned carefully, preferably under the guidance of pre-professional advisers. The Office for Students and In-struction in this college welcomes inquiries of a general nature but semester-by-semester course scheduling should be monitored by the college offering the bache-lor’s degree.

        Pre-veterinary students may major in a program of-fered by any department or college at the university but they must complete the pre-professional requirements listed below. All applicants to the professional curricu-lum must present a minimum of 80 semester hours of college-level course work, exclusive of courses in physi-cal education and military training.

        Credit for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs is acceptable at the level identified in the Academic Advising section. Please note, however, that credit for CLEP may not be used to fulfill general education requirements.

Preprofessional Course Requirements

• Biology – a minimum of 15 semester credits, includ-ing two semesters of animal biology or zoology (lec-ture and laboratory), one semester of genetics, and one semester of microbiology (lecture and laboratory).
• Chemistry – a minimum of 19 semester credits, including two semesters of inorganic chemistry (gen-eral and qualitative, lecture and laboratory), two se-mesters of organic chemistry (lecture and laboratory) and one semester of biochemistry.
• Physics – a minimum of eight semester  credits, including two semesters of lecture and laboratory.
• Mathematics – a minimum of six semester  credits, including one semester of calculus and one semester of statistics.
• Animal Science – a minimum of six semester  cred-its, including one semester of animal science and one semester of animal nutrition.
• Humanities – a minimum of nine semester credits.
• Social Science – a minimum of six semester credits.
• English – minimum of six semester credits, includ-ing two semesters of English composition.
• Electives – variable number to bring minimum total to 80 semester credits.
• Minor variations in credits will be accepted. The applicant must complete these courses by the end of the spring term of the year of admission to the profes-sional program.
• The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants.

Admission

        Selection for admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine will be made by the dean based on recommen-dation of the faculty committee on admissions using the following criteria as the basis for selection:

• Residency – Highest priority  is given to  residents of Florida. Consideration will be given, however, to a limited number of non-Florida residents with excep-tional qualifications. Application is limited to per-manent residents of the United States.
• Academic Performance – Evidence of superior scho-lastic achievement.
• GRE Scores – Graduate Record Examination.
• Background and Experience – Knowledge of the veterinary medical profession. Some type of animal care experience is considered desirable.
• Letters of Reference – Evaluation of character and potential of applicant as a future veterinarian.
• Extracurricular Activities – Achievements, leadership abilities and participation in community activities.
• Communication Skills – A statement from the appli-cant elaborating on the reasons for seeking admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine.
• Personal interview.
• Competitiveness – In the case of repeated applica-tions, there is no guarantee that an applicant who in-terviews one year will interview the next, or that pur-suit of recommended experience and course work will guarantee success. The competitive quality of the ap-plicant pool each year shapes the list of interviewees and successful candidates.

        Application packets are available after July 1 from the Veterinary Medical College Application Service, VMCAS Application Request, AAVMC, 1101 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 710, Washington, DC 20005.  Only one application is necessary for any VMCAS college.

        The completed application (including tran--scripts validating academic work through the end of the summer term and completed recommendation forms) must be received in the VMCAS office with a postmark no later than October 1.

Who May Apply

        Application to the College of Veterinary Medicine is limited to citizens and permanent residents of the United States. Applications will be accepted only from those applicants who have completed the preprofessional re-quirements, or who will complete them by the end of the spring term of the calendar year in which admission is sought.

        Admission to the College of Veterinary Medicine is granted only for the first semester of each school year and only on a full-time basis. A prescribed number of spaces is available for each class, and a formal application with supporting credentials is required for each applicant.

        Further information relative to the admissions proc-ess is contained in the brochure Information for Appli-cants to the College of Veterinary Medicine. This may be obtained from the Office of the Dean for Students and Instruction, College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 100125 University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0125.

Computer Requirement

        All students entering the university are expected to purchase or lease computer hardware and software, as required by their programs of study. Refer to the univer-sity requirement in the Admissions section of this cata-log, the university’s home page at http://www.ufl.edu or to the CIRCA home page at http://www.circa.ufl.edu/ computers for general computer information as well as a link to the college’s web page for specific requirements for each program.