Veterinarian Paula Bullock provides expert insight into the top college majors for those looking to follow in her footsteps.
A respected veterinarian with more than two decades of experience, Paula Bullock has also established her own wildly successful nonprofit animal rescue, and, earlier in her career, hosted a popular pet adoption-focused radio show. Today at the helm of George’s Place Animal Sanctuary, which offers free veterinary care and transport to rehomed pets, Bullock provides expert insight into the education options currently available to the next generation of proud veterinarians.
“Often I’m asked, ‘What are the best college majors for aspiring veterinarians?'” says Paula Bullock, speaking from her office in Durham, North Carolina, famed for its technology companies, scholarly institutions, and the Museum of Life and Science, home to wildlife habitats for bears, lemurs, and more.
It’s important, first and foremost, Paula Bullock reveals, that aspiring veterinarians tailor their undergraduate studies to the precise prerequisites of their preferred veterinary school where possible. Some schools, Paula Bullock says, also offer specialized majors in pre-veterinary studies. “Alternatively, aspiring veterinarians can look to earn an appropriate degree in a broader subject,” suggests the expert.
According to Paula Bullock, such pre-veterinary studies will typically focus on subjects along the lines of biology, chemistry, and math. “Additional coursework, however, will, of course, include animal science, for example,” adds Bullock, “plus the likes of biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, and similar.”
Top-rated veterinary schools in the U.S., it’s reported, as of 2020, include Paula Bullock‘s personal choice of North Carolina State University, plus Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Colorado State University, Ohio State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and California’s UC Davis. University of California, Davis, is, in fact, currently rated among the very best in the world for studies in this field, reports show.
Admission can be competitive, Paula Bullock states, across all facets of veterinary education, including when applying for many of the best prerequisite college majors for aspiring future veterinarians. Outside of focused pre-veterinary studies, some of the top college majors for those interested may include infectious diseases, epidemiology, biostatistics, and public health, according to Bullock.
“Those who undertake either pre-veterinary studies or complete one or more relevant majors may,” she goes on, “outside of veterinary work, also seek a future career in environmental technology, as one example, or as an animal technician, should they wish.”
Paula Bullock has recently spoken at length regarding the latest pet adoption statistics, breakthrough innovations within veterinary medicine, and, earlier this month, showcased the crucial advocacy work of the American Veterinary Medical Association. She’s also opened up about the many ways in which pets can be good for your health, explored the Labrador Retriever’s place as the nation’s favorite dog, and has talked in detail about her own lifelong love of animals.
Paula Bullock briefly returns her focus to the best college majors for aspiring veterinarians. “Regardless of any prerequisite studies, anyone wishing to pursue a career as a veterinarian will eventually be required to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,” notes Paula Bullock in closing, “plus complete the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination, and acquire full licensure in order to either diagnose or treat pets and other animals in practice.”