KSUCVM - SCAVMA - Senior FAQ

FAQ - Seniors

National Boards | State Boards | Internships/Residencies

You will have to pass the National Board Exam to be able to practice veterinary medicine (in addition to graduating of course). The National Board Exam will be offered twice during your senior year, once in November/December, and once in April. You will have a 2-4 week window in which to take the exam in an approved testing center. There are 360 multiple choice questions that you will have 6 ½ hours to complete. The questions will be given in 6 blocks of 60 questions each, and you will be able to take short breaks in between each block, with a maximum of 45 minutes break total for the entire exam. Grading is similar to the SAT, with the range from 200 to 800, with 425 being the minimum passing score. The cost to you to take the test is $325, which you will have to pay each time you take the test (if you have to retake it). There is a 60 question sample test available online, along with more information about the National Board Exam at www.nbec.org/information.html.
You must register for the National Board Exam through a state veterinary board. It does not matter which state you take your national board through, however, you will have to have your national board exam results transferred to whatever state you end up practicing in, unless you took them through that state. In addition, some states will charge an additional fee for you to take the national boards through them. So, if you do not yet know what state you will be practicing in, it is easiest just to take your national board exam through Kansas, and then have your results transferred to whatever state you end up in. If you plan on registering through a state other than Kansas, you can find the contact info for the individual state veterinary boards at www.aavsb.org/dlr.asp.

In addition to taking the National Board Exam, you will also have to take the State Board Exam in whatever state you plan to practice in after graduation. Different states have different test dates, costs of taking the exam, and different requirements. To find out when the State Board Exam will be offered for the state that you are interested in practicing in, go to www.aavsb.org/dlr.asp, select the state that you are interested in on the drop down menu, and then click on the Veterinary Requirements button. There are a few states that seem to have an error in place of a Veterinary Requirements button, but the contact info is listed, so you may just have to contact them to find out when the dates of the exams are. Most states only offer state boards once or twice a year, so if you want to have a second chance to take it before you graduate, start checking out the dates early! A few of the states have discrepancies on their pages also, according to Donna in the office, so you may want to contact the state veterinary medical board anyway, just to verify dates.

Unlike human medicine, you do not have to complete an internship/residency to be able to practice veterinary medicine. Once you graduate from vet school and pass the national boards, you are able to practice veterinary medicine. However, you do have the option of doing an internship and/or residency for additional training and the ability to become board certified in a certain area of veterinary medicine.
A typical internship is one year long, and can be done anywhere that offers internships. However, just because somewhere offers an internship does not mean that it is a good internship, or that you will receive any benefit out of doing it. The best internships are offered at large non-profit veterinary hospitals (i.e. Animal Medical Center in NY) or university veterinary hospitals. Internships are not regulated, so Dr. Smith down the street could offer an internship, which means that you could end up doing an internship that is basically just working as an average vet with no actual training and half the pay. So, it is in your best interest to be very selective as to the internships that you apply for. There are a variety of types of internships available, from small animal rotating internships (meaning you would learn in all aspects of small animal medicine from surgery to internal medicine), to specialty internships in one area such as surgery. Generally, a rotating internship is better than a specialty internship, but it depends on the reasons for which you are taking the internship.
Residencies are generally three years long, with the end goal being to specialize in one certain area, such as small animal surgery. In addition to completing the three years of residency, you would also then have to take boards in that specific area to be considered a board certified specialist. Residencies are also not regulated, and can be offered by anyone, but, to be eligible to take the specialty boards exam, there are certain criteria, which are usually listed on that specialty boards website. So again, before applying for a residency, you need to be very selective, and thoroughly research the residencies that you are applying for.
Any graduate of a College of Veterinary Medicine may apply for an internship or residency. However, competition is very stiff, and only about one internship is available for every ten graduates. Residencies are even more competitive, with about one residency available per ten internships. So ~10% chance of an internship, ~1% chance of a residency. Because of this, grades and letters of recommendation figure very highly in an internship/residency application. While the most emphasis is usually placed on the letters of recommendation, many internships will toss out all applications of students below a certain grade point average, or in the bottom half of their class, and so on. Overall, if you graduate with a 3.0, your chances are very slim (although not impossible), a 2.0 your chances are pretty much nonexistent, a 3.5 or above, your chances get much better. Individual classes are also looked at – if you got A’s and B’s your first two years, but B’s and some C’s your last two years, your chances are much less than vice versa, since the more practical clinical classes and hands on are in the last two years.
Letters of recommendation weigh very heavily in the application process. It also matters who wrote the letters of reference. The letters need to be from clinicians, not instructors (such as your first 2-3 years), and if the person reading your application knows the person who wrote the letter of reference personally, that makes a large difference. So, when you are in your senior clinics, and you want to ask for a letter of reference from a clinician in an area of veterinary medicine that you are interested in, the letter of reference will hold a lot more weight if it is written by someone who is well known, such as the head of the department, or someone who is well published, or even just someone who personally knows the people who will be looking at your application, versus a resident or a clinician who may be newly board certified but who hasn’t really had the time to make a lot of contacts yet. If you know the people doing the selecting process personally, you may also have an edge, although it is not generally feasible to make yourself known to them. But, if you are set on getting an internship at a certain veterinary hospital, doing an externship there may give you that extra little edge. (That is of course assuming that you impress the heck out of them while you are there, and you get to know the people that are doing the selection process.)
Benefits of completing an internship and/or residency are training and more confidence in practicing veterinary medicine, and of course, more money. Most (not all) hiring veterinarians are willing to pay someone who has completed a quality internship on average 10-25% more than a fresh graduate. Salaries for board certified veterinarians vary depending on the specialty, but on average range from $100,000 to $150,000. The downside is that the average internship only pays $20,000 - $22,000, and the average residency only pays $26,000 - $28,000. But, it pays off in the long run.
You do not have to be a fresh graduate to be accepted into an internship or residency. However, many internship/residency programs will select fresh graduates over those who might have been in private practice for a few years. This doesn’t mean that you are out of luck if you go into private practice after graduating, and then decide you want to specialize after a few years and go back to do an internship/residency, some people do this quite successfully. It all depends on the criteria and views of the committee or people looking at the applications. You also do not have to complete an internship in order to be accepted into a residency program. But, most residency programs will look preferentially at applicants that have completed an internship over those that have not, and where the internship was completed also makes a large difference. (Large non-profits/universities vs. small unknown clinics.)
For more information on the internship/residency application process, go to www.virmp.org. This site lists all of the available internships and residencies, the cost of applying, the deadlines for applying, and tells how applicants are matched up with internships/residencies. If you are serious about applying for an internship/residency, Dr. Roger Fingland, the hospital administrator for the KSU-VMTH, who is also on the committee that provides the matching service, would be more than happy to discuss your options with you. To discuss possibilities or to learn more information from him, just make an appointment with him through Bertie Lovett in the hospital business office.

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