{"id":3088,"date":"2023-04-20T20:26:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T20:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/programs-of-study\/years-1-4\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:44:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:44:28","slug":"years-1-4","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Years 1-4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\"><div class=\"text-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What&#8217;s life like for a veterinary student?<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<h3><strong>In a word &#8211; tough &#8211; just like anything worth doing. Completing the four years required to receive a DVM takes dedication and significant effort.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>At Iowa State, veterinary medicine faculty members make the subjects exciting, from the first-year courses that focus on the basic sciences through classes later in the course of study that focus on clinical medicine.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>And your journey will not be done alone. From caring and helpful faculty to tutoring services to pairing first year students with second year &#8220;mentors&#8221; to learning accommodations, the College of Veterinary Medicine does its best to help students succeed. That&#8217;s because the college wants Iowa State veterinarians to go out, be successful and make an impact on the world just like those that proceeded them at Iowa State have done.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--video-embed\">\n\t<div class=\"video-embed\">\n\t\t<div class=\"video-embed__media-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/rfuSMNbSa8E\/maxresdefault.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t alt=\"Video Poster\" loading=\"lazy\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"video-embed__video\" data-aria-label=\"YouTube Video: Years 1-4 Video\"\n\t\t\t\t\t data-vid=\"rfuSMNbSa8E\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<h3>Year 1<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Students paired with a second year &#8220;mentoring&#8221; student<\/li>\n<li>Basic science courses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Year 2<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Coursework focuses on more specific veterinary medicine subjects<\/li>\n<li>Surgery training begins<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Year 3<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Instruction begins on small and large animal instruction<\/li>\n<li>Surgery lab courses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Year 4<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Clinical rotations in the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital and the Large Animal Hospital<\/li>\n<li>Rotations are held and required in the summer, fall and spring semesters<\/li>\n<li>Students choose between 4 options\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/small-animal-option\/\">Small Animal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/food-animal-option\/\">Food Animal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/mixed-animal-option\/\">Mixed Animal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/equine-option\/\">Equine<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/preceptorships-externship\/\">Preceptorships\/Externships<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s life like for a veterinary student?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":3060,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3088","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What&#8217;s life like for a veterinary student?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Future DVM Students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-28T16:44:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/years-1-4\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/years-1-4\\\/\",\"name\":\"Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-20T20:26:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-28T16:44:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/years-1-4\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/years-1-4\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/years-1-4\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prospective Student Information\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"VM4 Species Track Options\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/prospective-student-information\\\/vm4-species-track-options\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Years 1-4\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/\",\"name\":\"Future DVM Students\",\"description\":\"College of Veterinary Medicine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vetmed.iastate.edu\\\/future-dvm-students\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students","og_description":"What&#8217;s life like for a veterinary student?","og_url":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/","og_site_name":"Future DVM Students","article_modified_time":"2026-05-28T16:44:28+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/","url":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/","name":"Years 1-4 - Future DVM Students","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-20T20:26:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-28T16:44:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/years-1-4\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prospective Student Information","item":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"VM4 Species Track Options","item":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/prospective-student-information\/vm4-species-track-options\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Years 1-4"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/#website","url":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/","name":"Future DVM Students","description":"College of Veterinary Medicine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3088"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8795,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3088\/revisions\/8795"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/future-dvm-students\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}