Students looking for a way to enroll in veterinary school may only have to look as far as the University of Alberta.
Fourteen of the 20 first year spaces reserved for Alberta residents at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon are filled with students from the U of A’s Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES).
Three additional entrances from Saskatchewan are ALES grads, as are eight of the 30 first-year spaces at the University of Calgary’s new veterinary medicine school.
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That’s 22 spots out of 50 from the ALES, not counting Saskatchewan-based students, said Dr. Craig Wilkinson, ALES’s director of animal care.
Another 10 students from the U of A were also accepted to veterinary programs this year.
Wilkinson said a combination of new courses within ALES, the new veterinary college in Calgary and student interview preparation all helped boost enrolment for U of A grads.
“We’ve created the opportunity for highly qualified young people who couldn’t get across the high bar in the past,” said Wilkinson, referring to the tough interview process for the coveted veterinary positions.
Good preparation
New ALES courses have also helped students prepare for the entrance process.
“Veterinary school is very challenging and it’s difficult to fit in a wide range of courses on different species,” Wilkinson said.
“The fact the students have an understanding and know something about dairy or equine helps. It does make the student stand out.”
In his introduction to animal health course, Wilkinson takes his students to a grocery store to give them an idea of how animal health affects what is sold in grocery stores. Throughout the year, students work their way backward to the farm, gaining a deeper appreciation of animal health along the way.
