Unlocking the Path to Veterinary Excellence: Evaluating the Impact of Prerequisite Courses in Shaping Future Veterinarians

Prerequisite courses are classes taken by individuals during their undergraduate career. For the majority, prerequisite courses lay a foundation for future classes that could either expand on the topics already covered or go into further detail (Sato, et al. 2017). More specifically, individuals who are interested in pursuing a career as a veterinarian are required to take certain prerequisites before applying to veterinary school. These prerequisites include General Chemistry, General Biology, General Physics, Microbiology, Genetics, Animal Physiology, Calculus, Organic Chemistry, English, Biochemistry, and Statistics (VMCAS). Looking in more detail, two groups of veterinarians, those who specialize and those who do not, will further exhibit the importance of these courses in their daily practice. Through a series of survey questions as well as application problems pertaining to these prerequisite courses, it was revealed that 43% of all participants could not answer basic concept questions correctly. On the other hand, many participants still believed several courses should continue to be a prerequisite because of the knowledge they need in veterinary school as well as in their careers. Furthermore, there appears to be no association between specialty and daily use of prerequisite courses.