Graduate Degree Program
Introduction
As a unit of the Graduate College of the University of Illinois. the
Veterinary Clinical Medicine (VCM) department offers a graduate program
leading to the Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
degrees. Graduate work may be pursued in the Anesthesiology, Equine Medicine
and Surgery, Farm Animal Reproduction, Medicine, and Surgery, Imaging/Radiation
Therapy, Small Animal Medicine (Emergency and Critical Care, Internal
Medicine), Small Animal Surgery, and Specialty Medicine (Cardiology, Dermatology,
Oncology, Ophthalmology) sections of the department. The department, along
with the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, has state of the art facilities
and equipment for studying the health and diseases of animals.
The primary goal of the M.S. degree program is to prepare students to
be life long learners in careers involving specialty clinical practice,
teaching, industry, government, or research. The primary goal of the Ph.D.
degree program is to prepare students for an academic or research career.
After completing the graduate program, the student will be able to conduct
research both independently and as a team member. Adequate training in
planning research projects and writing research proposals will provide
the student the ability to function with teams of scientists from various
areas of the biomedical or agriculture fields. The student's experience
in clinical teaching and critical review of the literature will form the
basis for the student's development of teaching programs within their
discipline.
A Residency program, designed to train a veterinarian for specialty clinical
practice, can be combined with the graduate program. While the requirements
for the M.S. can usually be completed in a shorter time period (2 years),
the duration of a combined Residency/M.S. program is usually three years,
reflecting the time required to satisfy the objectives of each program.
Directions for completing the application process are described below,
and applications must be approved by both the Graduate College of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Graduate Program Advisory
Committee of VCM.
Application Procedures and Addresses
Applicants to the VCM graduate program must apply to 2 separate places: (1) the VCM department, and (2) the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prospective applicants should contact the department head or a faculty member of VCM before starting the application process, in order to determine whether a suitable research training position is available.
The VCM contact address is:
Theresa Schafroth
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1008 West Hazelwood Drive
Urbana, Illinois 61802
For additional information, contact Theresa Schafroth, Telephone 217-244-7434,
or email schafrot@illinois.edu
The application to VCM should be sent to the VCM contact address stated above and must include all of the following:
(1) letter of intent
(2) curriculum vitae
(3) official transcripts from each university that the applicant has
attended, and
(4) three letters of recommendation evaluating the applicant's potential
for graduate studies.
Applicants to the combined Residency/M.S. program need only submit one
copy of requirements (1), (2), (3), and (4) to the VCM department; however,
an additional requirement for application to the graduate program is that
in part (3) the application must include official transcripts from each
university that the applicant has attended (not just the official veterinary
school transcript).
Applicants that do not have a D.V.M or equivalent degree from an accredited
College of Veterinary Medicine must also include the results of the General
Test (an assessment of verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing abilities)
of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE; www.gre.org) in their application
to VCM. The GRE requirement is waived for applicants to the combined Residency/M.S.
program.
Foreign applicants must also include the following in their application to VCM:
(1) evidence of financial support (such support should be discussed with the department head before formal application is made)
(2) evidence of satisfactory performance on the TOEFL test (Test of English as a Foreign Language; www.toefl.org) for students from countries where English is not their native language. A satisfactory TOEFL score is at least 550 (on the paper based test) or 213 (on the computer-based test); these TOEFL scores are the minimum required by the Graduate College. The evidence of financial support and satisfactory performance on the TOEFL test requirements are waived for applicants to the combined Residency/M.S. program.
Applicants must also apply to the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (www.grad.uiuc.edu). It is strongly recommended that you apply online to the Graduate College. A small fee will be charged for your application to the Graduate College.
Admission requirements for the M.S. degree
Admission requirements to the M.S. degree graduate program include a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) degree or equivalent, or an appropriate undergraduate degree, and a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (based on 4.0 = A). Admission averages are computed from the entire professional curriculum for those with a D.V.M. or equivalent degree, or from the last 60 hours of undergraduate studies for those without the D.V.M. degree. Applicants with a grade point average below 3.0 may be considered for admission on limited status on the basis of individual merit. Applicants with a graduate degree, and applicants that have completed some graduate course work, will be evaluated on the basis of their graduate work as well as their undergraduate or professional record.
Admission requirements for the Ph.D. degree
Admission requirements to the Ph.D. degree graduate program include a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) degree or equivalent, a M.S. degree or equivalent, or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) or Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree or their equivalent, and a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (based on 4.0 = A). Admission averages are computed from the last degree. Applicants with a grade point average below 3.0 may be considered for admission on limited status on the basis of individual merit. Students seeking to transfer from other graduate programs will be judged on the basis of past undergraduate and graduate performance.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Annual Security Report
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Annual Security Report is available. This report includes statistics from the previous three years concerning reported crime that occurred on campus, in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security and other safety information. You may obtain a paper copy of this report by contacting the Division of Public Safety or by accessing the following Web site: http://www.dps.illinois.edu/clery.htm