  Skip to Main Content  Department of Veterinary
Sciences|College of Agriculture and Natural Resources  Obtaining
veterinary experience prior to applying to veterinary college
This document is based on one developed by Washington State
University as advice to pre-veterinary students about what sort
of veterinary experience they should obtain before applying to
veterinary school.  As a general rule, all applicants to
veterinary school should have more than 1,000 hours experience
working with animals in a veterinary environment.   
Veterinarians participate in a number of key aspects of our day-
to-day lives, including but not limited to advancing knowledge
through biomedical research, providing services for industry,
investigating and diagnosing diseases in diagnostic
laboratories, managing wildlife, engaging in regulatory
oversight via state and federal agencies, promoting public
health through ensuring the safety of food, delivering medical
care to animals, providing health care for animals affiliated
with