Veterinarian in 1900: The Kahun Veterinary Papyrus is written

Most countries require roughly eight years: three to four years of undergraduate prerequisite study, plus a four-year professional degree (DVM, BVSc or BVetMed), before licensing. Some countries — the UK and Australia among them — compress this into a single five- to six-year integrated degree straight after secondary school, so the total time is similar even though the structure looks different.

It varies by country and career stage. The median pay for a US veterinarian was $125,510 a year in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ranging from around $70,000 for the newest graduates to over $212,000 for the most experienced. Board-certified specialists in fields like surgery or ophthalmology can earn considerably more; pay elsewhere in the world is typically lower in dollar terms.

Is vet school harder to get into than medical school? By acceptance rate, often yes. Many veterinary programmes admit under 10–15% of applicants, a tighter ratio than most human medical schools face, partly because far fewer veterinary schools exist worldwide relative to demand. Applicants typically also need several hundred hours of hands-on animal experience before applying, a requirement medical schools don't impose the same way.