Will career goals influence acceptance into vet school?

[HeartSong]

I'm going to vet school not to become a vet but to become an animal behaviorist. I have to have my DVM before I can be certified as an animal behaviorist. Will this have any influence on my getting in? Also, does anyone know of any kind of internship in behavior that I can do after graduation? Thanks.

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[medtechv79]

I think that's kinda cool to be doing a specialty(?) like that. I don't know too many animal behaviorists so I don't see why vet schools would frown upon such an idea. I can't tell u anythings since I'm not a current vet student....but to me anyone going into a specialized area should be pretty valuable. I'm sure other ppl on this board can give u better advice.

 

[NCaggie]

Hey HeartSong,
I've always been interested in behavior too. What part of the country are you in? I know an animal behavioralist in NC, she is one of my good friends. I can talk to her and see if she has anything available, or see if she knows anyone who does. As for the admissions teams looking down on your interests in animal behavior, i doubt they will. You will bring a not to common view to the table. Good luck!!

 

[HeartSong]

Thanks for the advice, it's encouraging to hear that it might be a positive aspect to have a unique specialty in mind. I'm in Oklahoma, going to college in Kentucky for one more year, then vet school back in Oklahoma, but willing to go pretty much anywhere after vet school. There is actually a dog college in Canada that I'm thinking about going to b/c they certify in behavior and in dog daycare business.

 

[electric]

Which college is that, Heartsong? Just curious.

 

[HeartSong]

I'm not sure what it is called really, here's the website http://www.dogtrainingcareers.com/home.htm
I guess it's not technically a college, it just has college-style courses. And you can get certified through its courses which you can't do in the USA as far as I know and I have been looking for a few years. I believe it is in Waterloo, Ontario but they have a correspondance option.

 

[electric]

yeah, they mention on the site that the certification is provided by the school. I'd be careful with having that recognized anywhere else.

 

[HeartSong]

I'm still going to get certified with the Animal Behavior Society. That's why I'm going to go ahead and complete vet school. But I don't know of anywhere else that teaches that much. Anyone can work as a behaviorist and have a dog daycare center without any kind of certification. So as far as I can tell this is the best that I can currently get. There are many training schools that give you certificates from their school, so I think it might be a lot like that. It won't be my only qualification, only something in addition to everything else.

 

[VeganSoprano]

I think it definitely does not hurt to know exactly what you want to do. Being able to tell this to an adcom will be viewed positively because it shows that you have really thought about this and know exactly why you want to be a DVM and what contribution you hope to make to the profession. It won't get you in if you're not an otherwise solid candidate, but it might push you over the top if you're on the border between "admit" and "waitlist" or "waitlist" and "reject".

Overall, if you are looking to enter an underresourced area of veterinary medicine, that helps your cause. So if you're looking to become a food animal vet, you will have a somewhat easier time being admitted than an equally qualified applicant whose interest is small animal medicine.