Doctor Of Veterinary Medicine Research Articles

Structured Intervention of Early Term Preclinical Veterinary Students Experiencing Academic Peril Improves Academic Performance.

Veterinary medical students experiencing curricular challenges naturally look to their institution for resources to facilitate improvement in academic productivity. Academic remediation programs tend to be institution-specific, and their impact on student success is uncommonly interrogated using rigorous objective assessment. This study investigated the deployment of an academic development program (ADP) in the second semester of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Program. The research focused on the impact of the ADP on student attrition, mean semester course grade improvements, and performance on the Veterinary Educational Assessment (VEA) examination. Performance metrics were compared between the ADP group and a control group (CG) of students from one semester ahead who were determined to be demographically equivalent and in the same class (bottom) quartile as the ADP group but did not have any structured academic remediation. The findings indicate that students participating in the ADP had less attrition and gradual increases in end-of-semester grades, such that by the beginning of their 5th semester, ADP students' grades were indistinguishable from upper quartiles in their class. This trend was not observed in the CG class with significant differences still present between the lower quartiles (i.e., CG) grades and the remainder of the class (p = .0046). ADP enrollment had a positive effect on VEA scores with mean scale score increased by 4.83 points (p = .017). This study provided the framework for a successful institutional academic remediation program that could be modeled at other institutions striving to bolster student support services.

Perfectionistic Cognitions, Self-Compassion, and Psychological Distress Among Veterinary Students

ABSTRACT Veterinary students may be at risk for experiencing mental health concerns. Some scholars have suggested that maladaptive perfectionism is a contributing factor, although little research has examined this empirically. The main objectives of this study were to explore the relationships between perfectionistic cognitions, self-compassion, and psychological distress among 472 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students in the United States. Veterinary students reported experiencing more frequent perfectionistic cognitions than a normative non-clinical sample of college students. There were no significant differences in overall psychological distress between veterinary students and a normative clinical sample of college students seeking services at university counseling centers. Participants who reported experiencing more frequent perfectionistic cognitions also tended to report lower self-compassion and greater psychological distress. Self-compassion mediated the relationship between perfectionistic cognitions and psychological distress, which suggests that improving self-compassion may be one way of reducing the impacts of maladaptive perfectionism on veterinary students’ mental health.

Qualitative description of One Health perception, educational opportunities, and goals of students in programs related to human, animal, and environmental health

Abstract For One Health (OH) to exemplify holistic and integrative practice, future users of OH should represent a diversity of backgrounds. Representation from each of the classic OH pillars (i.e. human, animal, and environmental health) can be a starting point for building OH teams. One way to ensure that classic pillar representatives are aware of and can apply OH is to involve them in OH learning opportunities while they are early in their careers as students. Therefore, this study engaged post-secondary students in Ontario, Canada, enrolled in programs related to the classic OH pillars to identify their perceptions of OH, OH educational opportunities they would like access to, and their OH-related goals. Eight Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students at the University of Guelph Ontario Veterinary College, 8 Doctor of Medicine (MD) students at the Western University Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and 8 students in environment-related undergraduate programs (ES) at the University of Guelph were recruited for 1-h semi-structured interviews (n = 24). Thematic and content analysis with inductive coding was used to produce a qualitative description of OH themes across interview responses. Seven themes were identified that fell under three categories: (a) the current state of OH as perceived by students (themes 1–3: “a good idea with room to grow,” “inclusive and collaborative, but with who?” and “human health is a priority”), (b) meeting student needs (themes 4 and 5: “convenient knowledge acquisition” and “guidance for practical application”), and (c) supporting the future of One Health (themes 6 and 7: “leveraging strengths” and “inclusion and diversification”). This work identified how DVM, MD, and ES student participants perceived OH, its barriers (e.g. lack of awareness) and facilitators (e.g. OH champions), what can be added to current OH learning opportunities within programs and in self-directed learning resources, and generated novel ideas for how OH can be applied. Integrating findings from this qualitative description into educational programming may improve student engagement with OH and support them when tackling complex health issues. One Health impact statement This study engaged post-secondary students in programs relevant to human, animal, and environmental health. Listening to future One Health (OH) actors from multiple disciplines can identify new ways to effectively teach and use OH. Participants believed that OH could improve how we address complex issues but felt that OH was unclear or difficult to use. They identified OH champions as key to facilitating OH use in real-world settings and a general lack of OH awareness or knowledge as the biggest barrier to its implementation. Participants wanted to learn more about OH in a convenient manner and with a focus on clear and practical guidance on how to use it. Previous studies have typically focused on veterinary student perspectives. Equal inclusion of medical and environmental student perspectives provided a more holistic look at what future OH users may need to support their future engagement in it. Future work should involve students from other disciplines and under-represented communities to continue to improve our educational OH initiatives.

Surveyed veterinary students in Australia find ChatGPT practical and relevant while expressing no concern about artificial intelligence replacing veterinarians

AbstractBackgroundChat Generative Pre‐trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a freely available online artificial intelligence (AI) program capable of understanding and generating human‐like language. This study assessed veterinary students’ perceptions about ChatGPT in education and practice. It compared perceptions about ChatGPT between students who had completed a critical analysis task and those who had not.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study surveyed 498 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students at The University of Sydney, Australia. Second‐year DVM students researched a veterinary pathogen and then completed a critical analysis of ChatGPT (version 3.5) output for the same pathogen. A survey based on the Technology Acceptance Model was then delivered to all DVM students from all years of the programme, collecting data using Likert‐style, categorical and free‐text items.ResultsOver 75% of the 100 respondents reported having used ChatGPT. The students found ChatGPT's output relevant and practical for their use but perceived it as inaccurate. They perceived ChatGPT output to be more useful for veterinary students than for pet owners or veterinarians. Those who had completed the critical analysis assignment had a more positive view of ChatGPT's practicality for veterinary students but noted its authoritative tone even when delivering inaccurate information. Over 50% of the students agreed that information about tools such as ChatGPT should be included in the veterinary curriculum. Students agreed that veterinarians should embrace AI but disagreed that AI would eventually replace the need for veterinarians.ConclusionsA critical appraisal of outputs from AI tools such as ChatGPT may help prepare future veterinarians for the effective use of these tools.

Advancing One Health through veterinary education: a mixed methods needs assessment for implementing a WOAH-harmonized national veterinary medicine curriculum in Ethiopia.

International organizations now actively promote and implement One Health collaborative approaches to prevent, detect, and control diseases in humans and animals, recognizing the critical importance of the veterinary and agricultural sectors. Moreover, Veterinary Services are chronically under-resourced, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Given the importance of National Veterinary Services to food security, nutrition, poverty alleviation, and global health security, strengthening veterinary capacity is a priority for the international community. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) outlines a set of minimum competencies veterinarians need to support National Veterinary Services effectively. To improve the quality of veterinary education, Ethiopia has developed a new 2020 national curriculum that is harmonized with the WOAH competencies. A mixed methods needs assessment was conducted to identify barriers and challenges that Ethiopian veterinary medicine programs have faced in implementing the new WOAH-harmonized national curriculum. Representatives from active veterinary programs granting a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree were invited to share their experiences via an online survey and follow-up focus group discussion. Fourteen veterinary programs, representing 93% of eligible programs nationwide, participated in the needs assessment. Quantitative analysis indicated that the most difficult topics associated with the new curriculum included Organization of Veterinary Services (Competency 3.1), Inspection and Certification Procedures (3.2), and practical applications of the regulatory framework for disease prevention and control (multiple competencies). Challenges associated with specific instructional methodologies, particularly the facilitation of off-site (private and public sector) student training, were also perceived as barriers to implementation. Focus group discussions elucidated reasons for these challenges and included limitations in faculty expertise, resource constraints (e.g., supplies, infrastructure), and access to off-site facilities for hands-on teaching. The results of this needs assessment will be used to identify and prioritize solutions to implementation challenges, helping Ethiopian veterinary medicine programs move the new WOAH-harmonized curriculum from theory to practice. As veterinarians are integral partners in advancing One Health, strengthening the capacity of Veterinary Services can ultimately safeguard animal and human health, grow economies, and improve lives.

The Transition from Letter Grading to Modified Pass-Fail Grading at a College of Veterinary Medicine: A Narrative Inquiry of Student Experiences.

Compared with traditional letter grading, pass/fail grading is an assessment approach that can alter the educational environment and enhance student wellbeing without compromising education quality. Little is known about the experiences of students during the transition from traditional grading to pass/fail grading. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an abrupt move to modified pass-fail (MPF) grading at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU-CVM), followed by a decision to permanently adopt MPF grading for the entire core pre-clinical doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) curriculum. This study employed a narrative inquiry of surveys and interviews to facilitate deep understanding of student perspectives during the transition to MPF grading. Focus was placed on understanding what this transition meant for DVM students in terms of life and learning quality. Our analysis identified seven key themes that captured student experiences, which were generally positive, during this transition: education culture, student perceptions of instructor impact, shift from extrinsic to intrinsic valuation of curricular content, competitiveness for external merit-based opportunities, use of letter grading and MPF in a single semester, student recommendations, and wellbeing. Through exploration of these themes and presentation of concerns identified in students' stories, this study provides guidance for other programs considering revision of their own assessment frameworks.

Predictors of Perceived Curricular Difficulty in the First Semester of Veterinary Education.

Transitioning from undergraduate education to the professional curriculum of veterinary medicine poses serious challenges for many students in their first year. Several academic and personal factors contribute to the challenges students face in this critical period. This study investigated factors affecting academic performance in the first semester of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program. The research focused on the interplay of variables including undergraduate preparedness, science GPA, undergraduate major, anxiety, perceived curricular difficulty, expectancy of future success, and academic performance. Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze relationships among variables. The findings indicated that students with low science GPAs and non-animal science undergraduate majors experienced less preparedness, leading to perceived curriculum difficulty and decreased expectations of success. This chain reaction elevated academic anxiety, negatively impacting academic performance. The study provided recommendations for intervention strategies that might enhance student success by addressing stressors impacting students' feelings of preparedness and coursework related anxiety to promote academic achievement and well-being.

Spanish for Veterinarians Part 2: A Survey Gauging Student Perspectives on a Profession-Specific Language Learning Experience.

This article describes the distribution and results of a survey that was disseminated among students enrolled in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) programs in the United States. It is a critical component to a substantial effort being undertaken at Colorado State University (CSU) to overhaul their current Spanish for Veterinarians offerings (outlined and discussed in Spanish for Veterinarians Part 1: An Approach to Weaving Spanish Language Education into DVM Curricula) into a cohesive Spanish language program that offers consistent synchronous exposure to the language and guided practice over several semesters of instruction. The information obtained in this survey informs on veterinary student interest in and availability to engage in Spanish coursework created specifically for the veterinary field, as well as students' previous Spanish language learning experience. Additionally, it investigates the reasons motivating students' desire to participate in a Spanish for Veterinarians program, and their expectations and perspectives about receiving credit and paying for enrollment. It also includes students' online learning preferences and overall suggestions for optimal engagement in a Spanish language learning experience offered during DVM School. The anonymous results indicated that most respondents had taken Spanish only in high school, followed by those with one or two college-level courses. Interest in learning Spanish for the veterinary field is high and most students are willing to dedicate 2 to 4 hours weekly to language learning. This information guides curricular design decisions for a new Spanish for Veterinarians program that is currently being developed at CSU.

Assessing the Mental Well-Being and Help-Seeking Behaviors of Pre-Veterinary Undergraduates at a Land-Grant Institution.

Recent research conducted within the veterinary profession has reported higher rates of depression and stress than the general US population. While this decline in mental well-being has been documented in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students and veterinary professionals, there is a lack of research on the mental well-being of the pre-veterinary population. This gap led us to conduct a survey in the fall of 2021 utilizing the DASS-21 and ATSPPH-sf inventories to assess the levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and help-seeking stigma in pre-veterinary students to better understand when the decline in veterinary mental well-being begins. A pre-test survey was completed by 233 pre-veterinary students in September, and an identical post-test survey was completed by 184 pre-veterinary students in November. From the pre- and post-test data, depression, anxiety, and stress scores increased as students advanced in academic status during their undergraduate degree. Juniors reported the highest averages of depression, anxiety, and stress compared with their peers. In the post-test, sophomores and juniors exhibited higher rates of depression than freshmen, and juniors and seniors exhibited higher rates of stress than freshmen. Current VMCAS applicants exhibited higher levels of stress than non-VMCAS applicants in the pre-test and lower levels of stress in the post-test. In both the pre-test and post-test data, respondents averaged a neutral attitude toward help-seeking. Based on these results, a decline in pre-veterinary mental well-being occurs as students' progress in their undergraduate career and should be further studied to assess its impact on Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and veterinary professional well-being.

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Investigating the Relationship between Multiple Mini-Interview Communication Skills Outcomes and First-Year Communication Skills Performance and Reflections in Students at the Ontario Veterinary College.

An important outcome for veterinary education is ensuring that graduates can provide an appropriate level of care to patients and clients by demonstrating core competencies such as communication skills. In addition, accreditation requirements dictate the need to assess learning outcomes and may drive the motivation to incorporate relevant and appropriate methods of entry assessments for incoming students. Predicting the success of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students based on entry assessment performance has been scantly investigated and can be challenging. Specifically, no research presently exists on predicting DVM students' first-year performance in relation to communication skills at the time of program entry. Objectives of this exploratory study were to investigate (a) the relationship between communication skills outcomes from multiple mini-interview (MMI) data and first-year academic performance related to communication and (b) the relationship between communication skills outcomes from MMI data and self-reported first-year communication reflections. A retrospective single-class study was conducted. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation statistics, regression models, and paired t-tests to identify relationships among variables. Paired t-tests showed that students felt more prepared to meet second-year expectations over first-year expectations. Spearman's correlation revealed an association between MMI communication scores and one pre-year 1 survey question related to professionalism. Noo relationships were observed between MMI communication scores and marks from a self-reflection assignment in a communications course, or grades from a clinical medicine course that included clinical communication. The merit for further exploration of the relationship between communication competencies and student performance is discussed.

Of Poets and Doctors

In this personal narrative, adapted from my memoir of my years in Doha, I present a digest of the educational philosophy that informed four years of my teaching at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, as WCM-Q was known when first established. As an author, artist, educator and practitioner of complementary alternative medicine who has worked with international students over many years, and in my therapeutic practice treated many clients from diverse backgrounds, I had much to bring to my teaching and to my position as Coordinator of the Writing Program in the college's Premedical Studies department. The years 2005 – 2009 were crucial in Qatar's development as an “education economy” and cosmopolitan crossroads, and I was eager to work with first and second year premed students on their way to our Medical Studies program—the first to grant American medical degrees anywhere overseas. It's not really so difficult for motivated, well instructed students to learn to write college level essays, but I also wanted these science-minded future doctors to learn what sorts of questions are asked in fields of the humanities. I wanted them to have a taste of what Socrates meant when he said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Such inquiry goes with learning the skills of close reading, literary analysis, and research methodology, which were the bases of my writing seminars. As well, in my course on literature and psychology, I introduced future doctors to the archetype of the shaman as wounded healer. I related this concept to my own undergraduate crisis that resulted in my choosing to become a poet rather than a doctor of veterinary medicine, and eventually to becoming certified as a hypnotherapist and establishing my private practice. Things might have changed somewhat since I left Qatar, but in this presentation I hope to inform my audience of what we started with at WCM-Q and how I succeeded with my students. I invite colleagues to consider how they approach the subjects of Narrative Medicine and Medical Humanities today to teach students in the Middle East.

The role of demographic and academic features in a student performance prediction

Educational Data Mining is widely used for predicting student's performance. It’s a challenging task because a plethora of features related to demographics, personality traits, socio-economic, and environmental may affect students' performance. Such varying features may depend on the level of study, program offered, nature of subject, and geographical location. This study attempted to predict the final semester’s results of students studying Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) based on their pre-admission academic achievements, demographics, and first semester performance. The imbalanced data led to non-generic prediction models, so it was addressed through synthetic minority oversampling technique. Among five prediction models, the Support Vector Machine led the best with 92% accuracy. The decision tree model identified key features affecting students’ performance. The analysis led to the conclusion that marks obtained in Biology, Islamiat, and Urdu at Matric and English at Intermediate level affected the students’ performance in their final semester. The findings provide useful information to predict students’ performance and guidelines for academic institutes’ management regarding improving students’ achievement. It is speculated that adoption of digital transformation may help reduce difficulty faced in data collection and analysis.

Effects of a cognitive-behavioral skills building program on the mental health outcomes and healthy lifestyle behaviors of veterinary medicine students.

To evaluate the effects of a cognitive-behavioral skills building program (ie, MINDSTRONG; The Ohio State University) on the mental health outcomes and healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students. DVM students (n = 62) before beginning their program at a large public Midwest land-grant university. All 171 incoming DVM students (class of 2024) were required to take the cognitive-behavioral skills building program (7 weeks in length) before starting their 2020 school year. Students were given the option to consent to the study portion of the program. Consenting participants completed a pre- and postsurvey containing demographic questions and 5 valid and reliable scales, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 that assesses depressive symptoms, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 that evaluates anxiety, the Brief Inventory of Perceived Stress that measures stress, and the Healthy Lifestyle Beliefs and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors scales. Descriptive statistics described sample characteristics, paired t tests assessed changes over time in the outcomes Personal Wellness Assessment, and Cohen's d determined effect sizes. 62 DVM students completed both surveys. Postintervention, students had significant improvements in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors. Although this study used a small convenience sample of DVM students from a single university, a cognitive-behavioral skills building program demonstrated the ability to decrease rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation and improve healthy lifestyle beliefs and behaviors. Requiring DVM students to participate in such programming could provide benefit during their professional education and throughout their careers.

Predictive value of veterinary student application data for assessing adjustment to year 1 of veterinary school

Background: The veterinary education literature warns of psychological distress among doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) students. Despite its impact on veterinary education, there is little research on predictors of DVM student wellbeing, as most researchers have focused on predictors of academic performance. Methods: We used best subset regression to examine the relationship between application variables and student’s self-reported first year well-being. Objective: To determine whether variables available in students’ applications to veterinary school predicted self-reported well-being in their first year. Results: Age, graduate record exam (GRE) score, pre-DVM grade point average (GPA), hometown population, and paid employment experience were all significant predictors of various facets for self-reported first year well-being and involvement among DVM students. Conclusions: The predictive value of these variables, while significant, was quite low; consequently, veterinary educators should not base policy decisions on this information alone. We hope that our model serves as a useful tool to predict which applicants may need additional wellness resources during their first year.

Creating a teaching technician team for support of veterinary student training laboratories

Veterinary technicians play valuable roles in most veterinary colleges and have particular strengths in coaching new learners. We moved to a teaching technician ‘float team’ model to provide teaching support to core pre-clinical laboratories in our DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) curriculum. The teaching technician team model has enabled us to better utilize staff skill sets and training, created efficiencies and expanded support provided to core laboratory courses, provided skill development and advancement opportunities for team members, and improved our ability to recognize and mentor our teaching staff. This model also allowed us to effectively adjust to the rapidly changing structure and increased numbers of laboratories brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic without increasing numbers of staff involved in laboratory teaching.

Factors influencing aspirations for practice ownership by veterinary professional students at the University of Sydney.

Understanding the factors that influence the aspirations of future veterinary practitioners is critical to assist succession planning. The aim of this study was to discover factors that currently influence veterinary students' desire to own a veterinary practice in the future, including whether these aspirations were influenced by a student's experience throughout their years of veterinary studies. The study surveyed University of Sydney students enrolled in the postgraduate Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in 2020. A response rate of 29% was obtained (142/508). Of those 142 respondents, 50 (35%) indicated that they wished to own a practice in the future, 40 (28%) indicated that they did not wish to own a practice in the future and 52 (37%) were unsure. The results demonstrate that practice ownership is currently only influenced by factors that are external to a student's experience at university, given that there was no significant difference between practice ownership aspirations between DVM years. After excluding those who were unsure, veterinary students whose parents or guardians own, or have owned, a business are three times more likely (OR=3.19; 95% CI=1.35-7.73; P < 0.01) to aspire to practice ownership than those students whose parents have not. Asian students showed significantly less interest in practice ownership than Caucasian students (OR=0.41; 95% CI=0.16-0.99, P < 0.05). Further qualitative research is required to better understand these findings so that tailored advice can be provided to students and veterinary schools to positively support graduating veterinary professionals towards future practice ownership.

Writing for Wikipedia: An Exercise in Microbiology, Writing, Research, Communication, and Public Service.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on how postsecondary education was and is delivered. Educators were forced to rapidly move their instruction online and find new and innovative ways to convey content, stimulate student engagement, and satisfy curricular requirements. The purpose of this article is to describe the use of a Wikipedia writing assignment in Veterinary Bacteriology and Mycology, a second-year course in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) curriculum at the University of Saskatchewan. Students had the opportunity to write and edit incomplete articles on topics related to course content. In addition to deep exploration of a topic, this fostered in students the development of research and communication skills, which have been articulated as core competencies in veterinary programs.

Ethology and Zoopsychology in the system of training a doctor of veterinary medicine

The authors have analyzed and summarized data sources regarding the necessary teaching of ethology and zoopsychology for students of the faculties of veterinary medicine. Ethology and zoopsychology is a compulsory subject for almost all educational institutions of this profile in Europe and the USA. In Ukraine these subjects are constant at the studying programs of the psychology faculties of the different universities, which prepare the specialists of reworking agrifood, the specialists of horse breeding, the felinologiests and others, but these ones are not consist a part of the preparing programs for the vet medicine students. Nevertheless, for a treatment and prevention it needs to understand the animal behavior features of and to might find out the approaches, to use humane methods without any animal damages and suffering. Ethology it is science, which studies the animal behavior from the biology side but Zoopsichology is close to both biological and psychological sciences and investigate not only natural behavior, but also the animal psyche. Therefore, until today there is a lot of unknown and obscure things into natural behavioral processes so the new explorations raise the curtain over the issues to understand animal and find access to its. It is only conditionally might be dividing the biological and psychological aspects of behavior because of it is impossible to connect they together without take into consideration the psyche factors. The animal psyche is necessary component of the ontho- and phylogenesis which is regulates the relationships between an organism and the environment. The tasks of Zoopsychology are studying of the formation of the psyche processes in animal during the ontogenesis, an origin of the psyche and its development, but Ethology tasks are – the stages of the ontho- and phylogenetical development of the behavior, determine its importance as a development factor, studying of the individual or population adaptation of the animals. The main respect comes to species-specific (instinctive) components of behavior. Ethological analysis is based on the study of biological methods of holistic behavioral act. Particular attention is paid to biological (etological) mechanisms of behavioral acts, the relationship between species and other taxa of animals on these grounds. Ethology studies the changes of the animal behavior in comparison with norms during emergency too. Its achievements are used in animal husbandry and other sectors of the economy, as well as in the development of scientific bases for keeping animals in captivity.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Pre-Veterinary Opportunities and Recommendations for DVM Admissions.

During the summer of 2020, a survey-based study was conducted at North Carolina State University, a land-grant university, to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on pre-veterinary students' ability to gain experience hours for Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) admissions. Of the 286 respondents (47% of the respondent pool), 92% reported losing at least one animal, veterinary, research, extracurricular, or work opportunity due to COVID-19, and 59% were not able to find a replacement. Of the lost experiences, 74 (20.8%) were for academic credit, resulting in 131 total academic credit hours lost, while only 12 credit hours were gained via alternative experiences. Of respondents, 30% (29.7%) identified as applicants of the 2020-2021 Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) cycle. More than half (52.6%) of the sample identified being concerned about the strength of their VMCAS experiences due to these lost opportunities. Many respondents reported considering delaying application submissions by taking a gap year (17.5%) or having had their intended graduation timeline affected (14.8%). Since the majority of veterinary colleges utilize a holistic review process, this study provides a basis for understanding the effects of COVID-19 on the duration, depth, and diversity of experiences gained by future DVM applicants. This article also provides recommendations for DVM admissions adaptations based on the outcomes of the data.