Graduate Certificate in Veterinary Science
Summer and Fall 2025 Applications are now open!
About Us
Welcome to our Graduate Certificate in Veterinary Science, crafted by experienced veterinary professors for aspiring veterinary students and dedicated animal health professionals.
- Explore new and exclusive courses not available to undergraduates, designed to deepen your understanding of critical veterinary science concepts.
- Gain valuable insights and guidance from veterinary student mentors who share their experiences and provide valuable advice on successfully navigating the path to veterinary school acceptance.
- Acquire the skills necessary to excel in veterinary school, setting the stage for a successful and fulfilling career in animal health.
- Benefit from personalized career coaching provided by esteemed faculty from our College of Veterinary Medicine, ensuring you are well-prepared for the professional journey ahead.
- Seamlessly bridge the gap between your undergraduate studies and the commencement of your veterinary school journey, with our certificate program serving as a link to a successful transition.
Academic and Career
Coaching
Improve Your Veterinary
School Application
Build Your
Network
If you don’t have time to commit to the full-time, 12-week program, we also offer the program as a part-time 2-semester program with a time commitment of approximately 10 hours per week. This program is perfect for individuals with full-time careers. Both programs are 100% online and are affordably priced at $9,060 ($755 per credit hour).
More About Our Program
This program is tailored for students aspiring to:
- Strengthen their veterinary school applications
- Establish a robust foundations for academic and professional success in the animal health field
- Cultivate critical thinking skills for solving complex animal health problems
- Elevate their professional competencies for excellence
What students will gain from the program:
- A Graduate Certificate
- Strengthened veterinary school application through targeted coursework
- Transcripts reflecting completion of graduate-level courses
- Comprehensive academic and career guidance
- Access to a valuable professional network of veterinary professionals and College of Veterinary Medicine faculty
- Personalized mentorship from faculty at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine
What will students learn during the program:
- Animal structure and function
- Mechanisms of host homeostasis
- Understanding the role of microbes in health and disease
- Principles of health evaluation and disease diagnosis
- Emphasizing the significance of critical thinking in disease investigation
Courses
VCM 507 Veterinary Form and Function
Students will gain foundational knowledge in anatomy and physiology, with an introduction to case-based thinking and the fundamentals of application, when assessing clinical or herd health problems at the systems level as required in approved courses for the Master of Veterinary Science and the graduate certificate.
VCM 509 Biology of Veterinary Pathogens
The course includes an overview of relevant veterinary microbiology and the interaction between microbes and their hosts. The course will build upon knowledge acquired in VCM 507, and relevant physiology pertaining to disease prevalence, prevention, and pathology will be discussed. The host immune system will be highlighted, and important bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites will be studied. Current and emerging pathogens, and the relevance of potential zoonotic spillovers to human populations will be discussion points.
VCM 513 Science of Homeostasis
Students will develop an integrated, science-based approach to health problems by helping them understand how each organ system contributes to whole-body homeostasis. In this graduate-level course, students will be introduced to the concept that life is difficult – that individual animals and populations are continually exposed to internal and external hardships and to specific health challenges. To live healthy and productive lives, animals must resist and/or adapt to a wide range of health ordeals and difficulties. This ability or capacity of an individual to adapt to change and challenge is termed homeostasis and is a key concept in the design and implementation of health management strategies.
VCM 514 Science of Health Evaluation
Participants will apply their foundational knowledge of anatomy, physiology, immunology, microbiology, and pathology in evaluating and solving health failure problems in the major body systems. The graduate-level course will use a problem-driven, case-based approach to train students how to apply the basic principles of health science in solving clinical problems in individual animals. Participants will learn to ask thoughtful, focused, and purposeful questions when collecting clinical data, and how to use a problem-oriented approach in evaluating health problems, constructing inquiry pathways, and designing therapeutic and disease management strategies.