subject: Veterinary School Internship Programs [print this page] If you are going to school to become a veterinarian, veterinary school internship programs should play an integral role in the advancement of your career. You must take many steps to become a veterinarianpre-veterinary studies, graduate-level veterinary courses to licensing examinations to internships and residencies. The internship is perhaps the most important step of all, because it helps students and recent graduates take what they have learned in their classes and put it to practice in the field before becoming a licensed veterinarian and taking on patients.
Veterinary school internship programs are not the only important considerations in the completion of your degree and the beginning of your career, of course. You need to get into college and vet school in the first place, which will be much easier if you have gotten good grades and have a background working with animals. Volunteering and taking extra time to study biology, math and science will really help. You need to get good grades while youre getting your bachelors degree, so you can get into a good veterinary program, which is an additional four years of graduate school. Then you have to pass the national level exam administered by the National Veterinary Medical Board in order to legally work as a veterinarian.
Many veterinary programs do not require internships or residencies to pass, but it is always a good idea to intern somewhere for the experience. If you want to get an advanced qualification or specialty certification you will need the internship or residency credits, though, and it will be much easier to begin your career once you have this experience. After interning at the office of an experienced veterinarian you will know what the job is like day in and day out, which your coursework and lab hours wont prepare you for.
Veterinary school will teach you how to provide medical care for animals, but an internship will show you what the career is actually like on a daily basis, including working with the animals owners. It is just as important, if not more important, as the classes you take.
