Students interested in a career in veterinary medicine should perform well in general science and biology in junior high school and pursue a strong science, math, and biology program in high school. Before applying to veterinary college/school, students must successfully complete preveterinary undergraduate course work. Each college/school of veterinary medicine establishes its own preveterinary requirements, but typically these include demonstrating basic language and communication skills, and completion of courses in the social sciences, humanities, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics.

Admission to veterinary school is highly competitive with the number of qualified applicants admitted to veterinary schools varying from year to year. Applicants may be required to take a standardized test (for example, the Graduate Record Examination). There are presently 28 AVMA-accredited colleges/schools of veterinary medicine in the United States, four in Canada, and six in other countries. Each school is regularly evaluated by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association and must maintain the quality of its program to remain accredited.

After completing the required veterinary medical curriculum (usually over a period of four years), many graduates choose to pursue additional education in one of 20 AVMA-recognized veterinary specialties (surgery, internal medicine, animal behavior, dentistry, ophthalmology, pathology, laboratory animal medicine, preventive medicine, etc.).