Program Overview

Introduction to the D.V.M. Program

The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) Program at Colorado State University is designed to provide students with a comprehensive education in veterinary medicine, preparing them for a variety of roles within the profession. The program emphasizes experiential learning, with a focus on hands-on experience and clinical skills development.

Curriculum Overview

The D.V.M. Program is a four-year program that includes a combination of classroom instruction, laboratory work, and clinical experience. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in the biomedical sciences, as well as the clinical skills and knowledge needed to practice veterinary medicine.

Years One and Two: Building a Biomedical Foundation

The first two years of the program focus on building a biomedical foundation, with courses in anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. Students also participate in hands-on learning experiences, including laboratory work and clinical rotations.

• Veterinary Doctoring: Provides training in block-relevant skills and longitudinally builds core skills such as physical exam and surgical tissue handling.
• Applied Clinical Medicine: Models clinical reasoning and problem-solving through weekly team-based learning exercises relevant to the material being taught within the content block.
• Veterinary CALL (Culture, Advocacy, Leadership, and Livelihood): Teaches aspects of veterinary professionalism, allows career exploration, and reinforces personal and professional well-being.

Summer after Second Year through Third Year: Transition to Clinics

The summer after the second year, students participate in a transition to clinics program, which includes primary care rotations, surgical and anesthesia experience, and immersive coverage of additional primary care topics.

• Primary Care: Select a small animal or large animal/mixed track for primary care experiences during Transition to Clinics.
• Surgery/Anesthesia: Gain surgical and anesthesia experience and develop tissue handling skills through spay
  euter and mass removal with rescue and shelter animals.
• Core Weeks: Spend each week of this four-week block learning about select areas of primary care: non-traditional species, diagnostics, dentistry, and anesthesia.

Year Four: Clinics and Electives

The final year of the program is spent on the clinic floor, with students participating in specialty rotations at the small animal specialty hospital, livestock hospital, and/or Johnson Family Equine Hospital. Students also have the opportunity to customize their clinical experience with in-house clinical rotations, local, regional, or international externships, or a combination of both.

Facilities: Built for Education

The Veterinary Health and Education Complex provides students with state-of-the-art facilities for learning and clinical practice. The complex includes a wet lab, team-based learning classroom, simulation labs, and a maker’s space, as well as common areas and outdoor spaces for relaxation and study.

Your Future of Caregiving

The D.V.M. Program at Colorado State University prepares students for a variety of roles within the veterinary profession, including private practice, public health, research, education, and beyond. Students can tailor their training by selecting courses that align with their professional interests and future career goals.

Program Highlights

The comprehensive curriculum at CSU promotes clinical, professional, and relational skills, with unique course offerings such as:

• Client Communication: Courses designed within the internationally recognized Veterinary Communication for Professional Excellence program develop student confidence and skills needed to build partnerships with colleagues and clients.
• Companion Animal Euthanasia Training Academy Certification: Core training that culminates in certification designed to improve the euthanasia experience for the animal, caregiver, and veterinary team.
• The Healer’s Art Course: Centers on four topics – Wholeness, Grief and Loss, Mystery and Awe, and Service – to explore student experiences, beliefs, and values related to working as a veterinary medical professional.

Licensure

The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program at Colorado State University prepares students to pursue professional licensure in Colorado. Students seeking licensure in other U.S. states or territories beyond Colorado are strongly encouraged to work with the academic department and the applicable professional licensure board in the state in which they intend to pursue licensing prior to enrollment at CSU.

Veterinary Program Resources

• Job Board
• D.V.M. Current Student and Faculty Resources
• Support Services and Resources
• Veterinary Teaching Hospital
• New Veterinary Students
• Internships
• Residencies
• Accreditation

Academic Departments

• Biomedical Sciences
• Clinical Sciences
• Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences
• Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology