Pre-Veterinary Medicine

The state of Arkansas does not have a school of veterinary medicine, but any student interested in becoming a veterinarian may enroll in the pre-veterinary medicine curriculum at UCA and prepare for application to any of several out-of-state schools. For example, the School of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University (LSU) admits numerous Arkansas residents each year. Arkansas residents also have been admitted to Tuskegee University (Alabama), Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, and Oklahoma State University.

The interested student should anticipate spending three to four years preparing for admission to any school of veterinary medicine. The major and minor fields of study most commonly chosen are biology and chemistry, respectively. Students entering veterinary medicine school before they have completed a degree may, upon successful completion of the first year of veterinary school, be awarded a degree from UCA provided they have met the following requirements:

• Completion of 96 hours of study, with at least 75 hours in residence at UCA,
• Completion of all UCA Core requirements, and
• Completion of a major area of study. Courses in the veterinary medicine curriculum may, with the approval of the department chair, be used to satisfy the major requirements.

The minimum course requirements for admission to LSU are given below. All requirements for admission may be completed at UCA. Because these requirements may change and because other schools’ requirements differ from these, correspondence with each of the schools to which the student will apply should begin early enough to allow correction of deficiencies in that student’s course of study.

Granting of credit for CLEP subject exams may be considered. Credit earned by passing CLEP general exams is not accepted by LSU. For this and for any other exception, the student must secure permission in advance from the School of Veterinary Medicine at LSU.