The Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) is a centralized application service for students applying to

veterinary school Veterinary education is the tertiary education of veterinarians. To become a veterinarian, one must first complete a veterinary degree in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM , V.M.D. , BVS, BVSc, BVMS, BVM, cand.med.vet). In the United States and ...

. Created by the

Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) represents colleges and schools of veterinary medicine in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It advocates for issues related to veterinary medical education, oversees the ...

(AAVMC) in 1995, VMCAS handles applications for most of the veterinary schools in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, as well as several in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and Australia.Robert E. Swope, ''Opportunities in Veterinary Medicine Careers,'' 1st ed., McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Participation in VMCAS

As of May 2016, only

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

does not use VMCAS at all. The list of veterinary schools using VMCAS changes over time, as does the degree to which a school may utilize VMCAS. VMCAS is the primary source of information on the veterinary medical school applicant pool in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The VMCAS process

Applicants fill out an online application, which is submitted to VMCAS. The application and accompanying materials pass through a quality inspection cycle and are forwarded to the colleges of veterinary medicine selected by the students. The centralized process considerably lightens student workloads since they may only have to submit one application rather than several.Mary Price Lee and Richard Lee, ''Opportunities in Animal and Pet Care Careers,'' 1st ed., McGraw-Hill, 2001. However, many of the schools using VMCAS may require applicants to submit supplemental applications in addition to the VMCAS application. Colleges also may require that some documents, like transcripts (for example) be sent to them directly. The application cycle typically opens in May of each year. The ''Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements'' (VMSAR) book also contains admission requirements and contact information for all 32 U.S. and Canadian and International veterinary schools. A new edition is published every year.

Current applications

VMCAS and its host organization, AAVMC, have undertaken several initiatives to increase the number of applicants to veterinary school. Applications to veterinary colleges using VMCAS remained flat over the 2002-03 to 2003-04 application cycles while other medical professions experienced 5 to 8 percent growth in applications. Colleges participating in VMCAS generally receive only two applications for every available student slot. At least one group of scholars conclude that VMCAS should begin assessing non-technical competencies and including this assessment in the application process.James W. Lloyd, Lonnie J. King, Jeffrey S. Klausner and Donna Harris, "National Workshop on Core Competencies for Success in the Veterinary Profession," ''

Journal of Veterinary Medical Education The ''Journal of Veterinary Medical Education'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing research and discoveries in the field of veterinary medical education, It is the official journal of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Coll ...

,'' Fall 2003.

External links

American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Web siteAbout the ''Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements'' (VMSAR). Purdue University Press.Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) website

References

{{authority control Veterinary organizations Veterinary medicine in Australia