College of Veterinary Medicine

Location: Stan L. Albrecht Agricultural Sciences Building, Room 205

Phone: (435) 797-1516

FAX: (435) 797-2118

E-mail: vetmed@usu.edu

Website: https://vetmed.usu.edu

Faculty and Staff Directory: https://vetmed.usu.edu/directory/index  

Interim Dean:

 Dirk Vanderwall, Agricultural Sciences 427, (435) 797-9438, dirk.vanderwall@usu.edu

Associate Dean for Academic Programs:

Heloisa Rutigliano, Agricultural Sciences 233, (435) 797-9877, heloisa.rutigliano@usu.edu

Associate Dean for Clinical Programs:

Kerry Rood, Agricultural Sciences 239, (435) 797-1882, kerry.rood@usu.edu

Associate Dean for Research:

Ralph Meyer, Biotechnology Center 211, (435) 797-1774, ralph.meyer@usu.edu

The College of Veterinary Medicine has one department:

Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences (VCLS)

Interim Department Head, Ralph Meyer, Biotechnology Center 211, (435) 797-1774, ralph.meyer@usu.edu

Mission Statement

The mission of the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is to provide a state-of-the-art professional veterinary medical education; engage in leading-edge basic and clinical biomedical research; and serve the public through continuing education, disease control, and outreach to serve the needs of the citizens of the State of Utah and beyond.

To meet its Mission, the CVM has the following objectives:

1) graduate exceptional veterinarians with highly developed practical and professional skills,

2) provide the veterinary profession with expertise relevant to Utah’s current and future animal and public health needs,

3) create veterinary proficiency and knowledge that will support rural development and sustainability, including livestock production and equine industries,

4) pursue innovative scholarship in veterinary and biomedical research, and

5) foster an environment that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion for all.

Current Program

Currently, the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine is a partner in the Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah (WIMU) Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine. This arrangement allows our veterinary medical students to spend their first two years at USU, and then finish the  remaining two years of their clinical training at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Upon completion of their training, students receive their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. Currently, 30 students are admitted to USU’s veterinary program each year, which includes 20 Utah residents and 10 nonresidents.   

The new College of Veterinary Medicine, which was approved by the Utah  Legislature in 2022, paved the way to form an independent four-year program which includes the construction of a new  veterinary education building on the USU campus in Logan, Utah. Accreditation through the American Veterinary Medical Association Council of Education (AVMA COE) is now underway. We expect to matriculate our first cohort of 40 students in the fall of 2025. We will continue to increase enrollment to full capacity by admitting 80 students per cohort each year, with 40 of those being Utah residents. Students accepted into the WIMU program prior to the Fall of 2025 will not be allowed to transfer into the new program and must complete the requirements and expectations presented as part of the WIMU program.

Academic Departments and Degrees

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine - DVM

Department of Veterinary Clinical and Life Sciences – MS, PhD

Currently as part of WIMU, USU offers a non-tracking DVM program, meaning that students select elective courses for interest rather than a track devoted to a single medical specialty or area of emphasis. The first year of veterinary school is devoted to learning about normal states of healthy animals while developing technical expertise in diagnostics, anatomy, principles of surgery, nutrition, and immunology.

The second year focuses on diseased states through the study of pathology, toxicology, virology, public health, and epidemiology while furthering additional technical skills, such as clinical communication. There are also electives in research; complementary and alternative medicine; and international veterinary medicine.

Third-year students continue to build a broad base of knowledge and focus on the study of medicine, which includes courses in pharmacology, small and large animal medicine and surgery, theriogenology, and nutrition.

In their fourth year, students participate in clinical rotations to practice the art and skill of veterinary medicine under the guidance of veterinary clinicians practitioners both onsite in the veterinary teaching hospital at WSU,  and through clinical rotations at outside facilities.

Admission Requirements

Veterinary medicine is a rigorous science-based field. When evaluating an applicant, emphasis is placed on physical and biological science preparation. Prerequisite coursework is considered an essential foundation, while excellence in additional upper division science courses further indicates that an applicant is more likely to be able to successfully complete our program. Applicants can major in any undergraduate subject area and are evaluated based on the rigor of the coursework completed as a requirement of that major.  The Admission Committee strongly recommends completion of the baccalaureate degree prior to matriculation to the DVM program. If a baccalaureate degree has not been earned by the time of application or matriculation, the committee will still base its decisions on the strength and breadth of the applicant’s educational background. Applicants are evaluated on the strength of prerequisite coursework completed at the time of application.  While some prerequisites may be in progress or planned at the time of application, applicants will be expected to have completed all the prerequisite courses with a C- or higher before entering our program.

The Admissions Committee for the WIMU Program views a solid and broad undergraduate experience to be crucial preparation for successful completion of the veterinary curriculum. When evaluating an applicant, the Admissions Committee considers both academic and non-academic qualities which may include a personal interview. When evaluating an applicant’s academic qualities, the Admissions Committee members ask themselves: How likely is it that the applicant will be able to successfully complete our rigorous, science-based veterinary curriculum? Answering this question begins by considering the applicant’s academic indices including cumulative GPA; science GPA; last 45 semester hour (or last 60 quarter hour) GPA; science and math prerequisite GPA; grades in upper division science courses; course load per semester; undergraduate major and academic institution; advanced degrees; and record of academic honors, scholarships, etc. 

We recommend contacting your academic advisor or see our course descriptions and course equivalencies for assistance. If you are an academic advisor and need additional assistance, please contact us. 

The Veterinary Medical Application Service (VMCAS) is the centralized application service for accredited colleges of veterinary medicine. You can learn about the application process and how to become a veterinarian on the AAVMC website. Prospective students can also view the American Veterinary Medical Association’s guide to vet school admittance for tips and advice.

The new program will accept qualified applicants from any college or university’s undergraduate program, just as USU’s College of Veterinary Medicine does now in the WIMU program. In its 10+ years of operation, the USU portion of the WIMU program has accepted students who have studied at every higher education institution in Utah as well as many outside the state. While the new program’s requirements have yet to be finalized, they will likely be very similar to our current requirements as part of the WIMU program, which can be viewed on the website for Washington State University’s veterinary medicine program. Any substantive changes to the admission requirements will be phased in over time, allowing students time to prepare and plan accordingly. 

More ways you can prepare to apply

• Shadow a veterinarian or volunteer at a local clinic. Be sure to keep track of the hours and as the contact information of the veterinarians with whom you work.
• Keep a log of your extracurricular activities (dates of membership, offices held, special projects you accomplished, etc.); any honors, awards, or scholarships you receive; and service in your community.
• Develop your interpersonal and communication skills. While veterinary medicine is rooted in science,  successful veterinarians are skilled doctors as well as good communicators.
• Visit American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges and Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements

High school students

Becoming a veterinarian generally requires eight years of academic training after high school. Applicants complete undergraduate coursework and the majority earn a bachelor’s degree before entering veterinary school. The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program then requires completion of an additional four years of advanced educational instruction and training.

As a high school student, you can start preparing now for admission to college. Although it is important to take as many math and science classes as you can, we also look for students who are well-rounded, with various interests beyond their academic pursuits.

High school courses that will provide the best foundation for a college pre-veterinary curriculum are laboratory-based sciences (chemistry, physics, and biology), math, and English.

FACULTY - College of Veterinary Medicine