Veterinarian Qualifications: Eligibility, Courses, Colleges, Skills 2023

The key qualification of a veterinary doctor is possessing a BVSc or Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree. This 3 year-long program enables the applicants to learn the application of medical, diagnostic, and healing principles to various types of animals and help them get better.

BVSc Veterinary Pathology, BVSc in Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, MVSc Veterinary Anatomy and Histology are some of the courses to become a successful veterinarian. Candidates can seek admission to these courses by appearing for the NEET, UP RPVT Veterinary entrance examinations.

Veterinary doctors refer to those who treat animals, cater to their medical requirements, tend their health and injuries. They can also be referred to as veterinary physicians or veterinary surgeons. Some of the colleges famous for BVSc are BHU Varanasi, VCRI Chennai, IVRI Bareilly.

An article published in “The Indian Express” shows that there are only 63000 registered veterinarians when the requirement is approximately 1.1 to 1.2 Lakhs. The average basic salary of a practicing Veterinarian in India is approximately rupees 572,000 per year. Check: Career as a Veterinarian

Table of Contents

Who is a Veterinarian
Veterinarian Qualifications

2.1 Undergraduate Courses

2.1.1 Eligibility Criteria

2.2 Postgraduate Courses

2.2.1 Eligibility Criteria

Skills Required to Become a Veterinarian
Average Salary of a Veterinarian

4.1 Experience Wise

4.2 Specialization/Course Wise

Veterinarian Qualifications: FAQs

Who is a Veterinarian?

A “vet” or “veterinarian” refers to a professional who is skilled and qualified to analyze, diagnose, treat several kinds of infection in animals and birds.
In addition to healing the animals, veterinarians are also supposed to do the research work.
In case the said animals accidentally consume poisonous food or substances that give them allergies, vets have to perform emergency manual extractions or surgery.
Sometimes, they have to euthanize the pets too, if the situation demands.
Depending on the requirements, skills, and courses, there are various kinds of job positions for veterinarians, like, veterinary surgeon, animal breeder, veterinary officer, food safety and inspection veterinary doctors, research veterinarians, etc.
Due to the decline of animal health and the rising tendency to have pets among the city dwellers, the demand for veterinarians also has increased incredulously.

Courses to Become a Veterinarian	Types of Veterinarian

Veterinarian Doctor Qualifications

After scoring at least 50 % marks in their class 10+2 examination with the science stream, applicants need to get through the NEET or any other equivalent examinations. After the successful completion, selected applicants have to join some courses and complete those successfully.

NEET Registration	NEET Syllabus

Undergraduate Courses to Become a Veterinarian

Top Courses	Duration	Average Fees
BVSc Animal Nutrition	3 years	INR 1-2 lakhs per year
BVSc Livestock Production and Management	3 years	INR 40,000-1,00,000/ per year
BVSc Veterinary Pathology	5 years	INR 5000-6,30,000/ per year
BVSc Veterinary Microbiology	5 years	INR 10,000-1,00,000/ per year
BVSc Veterinary Surgery and Radiology	3 years	INR 10,000-6,00,000/ per year
BVSc Animal Genetics and Breeding	5 years	INR 40,000-1,00,000/ per year

BVSc Eligibility Criteria

Applicants are required to be from Science Stream.
Candidates need to score at least 50% in the 10+2 examination (for SC/ST candidates, 45%).
This percentage may differ from one institution to another.
Applicants need to pass the NEET entrance examination to get admission to such colleges that accept only NEET scores.

Postgraduate Courses to Become a Veterinarian

Top Courses	Duration	Average Fees
MVSc Veterinary Parasitology	2 years	INR 50,000-3,00,000 lakhs
MVSc Veterinary Biochemistry	2 years	INR 1-6 lakhs
MVSc Veterinary Microbiology	2 years	INR 50,000-5,00,000 lakhs
MVSc Pharmacology and Toxicology	2 years	INR 5,0000-5,00,000 lakhs
MVSc Animal Genetics and Breeding	2 years	INR 10,000-2,00,000 lakhs
MVSc Livestock Products Technology	2 years	INR10,000-50,000
MVSc Animal Nutrition	2 years	INR 8,000-3,00,000 lakhs
MVSc Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension	2 years	INR 28,000-3,25,000 lakhs
MVSc Veterinary Surgery and Radiology	2 years	INR 50,000-2,00,000 lakhs

MVSc Eligibility Criteria

Applicants need to have a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Husbandry and Veterinary science or just Veterinary Science
They need to score at least 55% marks in their graduation.
Look out for the desired cut-off marks provided by particular colleges in the case of merit-based examination.

Skills Required to Become a Veterinarian

Candidates must possess impeccable observation skills including the ability to analyze the patient and provide a quick diagnosis. They must be able to spot the signs of fear, sadness, anger, agitation in the patient’s animal.
Like any other doctor, veterinarian doctor qualification also includes incredible communication skills. In addition, to be able to communicate with the patient party, the vet must be able to communicate with his or her team members to ensure smooth functioning of the whole process.
Candidates must be very empathetic towards the animals. Animals tend to be more sensitive than human beings and if the vets are not empathetic, animals cannot trust them completely. One cannot become a good veterinarian without genuinely loving and caring for the animals.
Gentleness is another essential skill of a good veterinarian. Since animals are very sensitive, one needs to be extremely gentle with them to gain their complete trust.
A good veterinarian doctor also possesses good organizing skills. He or she may need to collaborate with other departments in case of some emergencies or some critical situations. Good organizational skills will help in this case.

Average Salary of a Veterinarian

The salary of a veterinarian depends on many things. It can be based on the years of work experience the concerned person possesses or it can depend on the specialization of the applicant. Organizations like PETA, BAIF, LLP, Alvira Animal Health Ltd., Alltech Biotechnology Pvt. Ltd. are some of the potential organizations in India to offer job opportunities to a veterinarian.

Experience Wise Salary

Years of Experience	Average Annual Salary
1 year or less	INR 495,000/
4 years	INR 491,000/
9 years	INR 524,000/
19 years	INR 900,000/
20 years or more	INR 800,000/

Specialization/Course Wise Salary

Specialisation/ Course Name	Average Annual Salary
BVSc Animal Nutrition	INR 4-6 lakhs
BVSc Veterinary Pathology	INR 4-8 lakhs
BVSc Animal Genetics and Breeding	INR 4-6 lakhs

Veterinarian Qualifications: FAQs

Ques. How many marks do applicants need to score in NEET?

Ans. Applicants need to score more than 500 in NEET, especially if they want to get admission in a Government college.

Ques. Does a veterinary college require an MCAT score?

Ans. Yes. Most of the colleges require an MCAT score. If they don’t check that, they will definitely check the score or Biology GRE.

Ques. Name some of the good colleges to offer BVSc in Veterinary Surgery and Radiology Course?

Ans. Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Kolkata), Grant Medical College (Mumbai), Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Puducherry) are some of the best colleges to offer the aforementioned course. Applicants can go through the official websites to search for any other college as per their requirements.

Ques. What can be my career choices after pursuing BVSc in abroad?

Ans. The following are some of the popular career options: Companion Animal Veterinarians, Research Veterinarians, Food Animal Veterinarians, Equine Veterinary Science.

Ques. What are some of the common jobs for BVSc graduates?

Ans. Some of the career options are Veterinary Surgeons, Veterinary Pharmacologists, Veterinary Epidemiologists, Veterinary Food Inspection Specialists, Veterinary Neurologists, Veterinary Physicians, and so on.

Ques. What is the primary work of a veterinary surgeon?

Ans. This job includes a lot of responsibilities: performing emergency surgery, carrying out some blood samples, just simple regular check-ups, and diagnoses. It depends on the situational demands as well.

Ques. How do veterinarians get paid?

Ans. Vets can work as private consultants or in public hospitals. They can secure jobs in many sectors related to veterinary science.

Ques. How long does it take to become a fully established Veterinarian and gain veterinary doctor qualification?

Ans. This will depend on the specialization, degree level, and country. In India, it takes generally 8 years to become a licensed and established Vet.

Ques. Can one pursue a human doctor after pursuing a Vet?

Ans. No. Like human doctors are strictly forbidden to pursue Veterinary medicine, Vets are also forbidden to practice as human doctors

Ques. Can one pursue BVSc without NEET?

Ans. No. Admission to the BVSc course is based on the NEET score. Therefore, one cannot pursue BVSc without appearing for NEET.