Animal and Veterinary Sciences

An important aspect of the degree in Animal and Veterinary Sciences (AVS) is the requirement for hands-on experience with economically important domestic species. At the University’s Witter Center, AVS majors are given numerous opportunities to increase their competency with, and eventually manage, dairy cattle, and Standardbred horses. We consider the experiential learning at the Witter Center to be a vital part of our students’ education, because it allows them to use their knowledge to solve practical problems on a working farm. Pre-veterinary students need 300 hours of field experience working with one or more veterinarians for their application to veterinary college. Alternatively, animal science students complete a field experience of at least 320 hours related to their potential career interests, such as an internship on a sheep farm, a zoo, or working at a veterinary clinic.

With the degree comes a variety of career opportunities which include: veterinarian or medical doctor (after successful completion of veterinary or medical school), technical sales and service work in animal agriculture, laboratory animal technician/ manager, dairy or livestock farm employee, equine boarding or training stable employee, food processing industry employee, Positions with Cooperative Extension, livestock feed and drug sales personnel, agribusiness loan organization staff, agricultural consulting company staff, humane care associations employee, educator, and dog groomers and trainers.