<p>A friend of mine is convinced she wants to go to vet school because she is interested in animals used as model systems for disease and pathogen research. She will be applying this year. I have been telling her to look into graduate school, but am unsure which programs in particular might be most beneficial/interesting for her beyond my own knowledge base of infectious disease.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Sounds to me like your friend would be better advised to look into a PhD program in pathobiology. While there are research pathways available to veterinary students, particularly those interested in public health, vet school is primarily about becoming a medical doctor for animals.</p>
<p>I can speak partly for veterinary medicine side. If she wants to practice veterinary medicine, go to DVM program. After she graduates with DVM, she can go to residency program in laboratory animal medicine to become a lab animal vet. </p>
<p>"The Laboratory Animal Veterinarian’s Role</p>
<p>A career in laboratory animal medicine is far from routine. For most, no two days are alike. The primary function of the laboratory animal veterinarian is to provide for the health and well-being of research animals. This is accomplished through a wide variety of activities including the design and implementation of clinical and preventative veterinary medical programs, oversight of animal husbandry programs, participation in institutional animal care and use committees, consulting and training of biomedical researchers and technicians, and other related activities. Additionally, laboratory animal veterinarians may perform independent research and serve as consultants and collaborators to research investigators in a wide range of disciplines. This breadth of functions creates diverse opportunities and challenges unique to this veterinary specialty." [Career</a> Information](<a href=“http://www.aslap.org/career.php]Career”>http://www.aslap.org/career.php)</p>
<p>Anyway, some vet schools also offer combined residency/PhD program in lab animal medicine for graduate veterinarians. The PhD program combined with residency training is usually comparative medicine or comparative pathology. </p>
<p>There is also a forum for pre-vet and vet students that she may be interested >> [Veterinary</a> Forums [ DVM ] - Student Doctor Network Forums](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/forumdisplay.php?f=163]Veterinary”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/forumdisplay.php?f=163)</p>
<p>I second gbesq’s post. Vet school is a professional school (like med school) and its objective is to train people to become medical doctors for animals. For someone who is primarily interested in animals as model systems for disease and pathogen research, a grad program sounds like a far better option. Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) in particular offers a variety of excellent grad biosciences programs with strong ties to Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. [This</a> listing](<a href=“http://gradeducation.lifesciences.cornell.edu/allfields]This”>http://gradeducation.lifesciences.cornell.edu/allfields) offers a nice overview of the grad biosciences programs offered at Cornell.</p>
<p>Otherwise, many grad biosciences programs, including those at Harvard and Stanford, to name two, do involve many faculty whose research makes extensive use of animal models. In fact I think it would be rather difficult to find a biosciences program that did not make use of animal models!</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you!</p>
<p>Virion: That’s right on the money, I believe. I feel better having seen that since I also tend to think of vet school as only a clinical practice route. This is good to know for making informed decisions (which it hasn’t really been thus far).</p>
<p>gbesq and Aceflyer: Pathobiology is top of the list for degrees I have suggested she look into, along with micro departments that are closely tied with vet sci. I will continue to nudge her toward giving grad school serious consideration.</p>
<p>I’ll bug her some more to really weigh whether she wants to focus on the animals versus focus on the disease.</p>
<p>I currently work with animal models of Rheumatoid Arthritis and can address the impact of veterinary vs research training. Qualified animal pathologists are a vital, and often overlooked, component of strong disease model research. There is incredible complexity and subtlety to animal research that veterinary training can provide exposure to. There is also a lot of opportunities that DVMs have that Phds do not including pet care, animal facility management, rederivation, consulting, IUCAC. </p>
<p>The trade off is much like the tradeoffs for MD vs Phd- DVMs don’t do much research during veterinary school but can gain experience during a fellowship. The salary/benefits are absent in DVM programs.</p>
<p>There are also DVM/Phd programs that provide all the analogous benefits to MD/Phd programs. If your buddy wants a research career perhaps a combined program would be helpful but a strictly DVM program wouldn’t enhance her publication record or ability to qualify for great fellowships like a Phd would. Hopefully this was of some use and your friend will find her way.</p>