Introduction to
Veterinary Medicine
What is Veterinary Medicine?
 Veterinary Medicine is the medical treatment of animals.
How is it different from a Doctor?
 Must be familiar with many different species.
 Must know many areas such as internal medicine, pediatrics,
obstetrics, surgery, etc.
 Can’t talk to the patient
What animals do Veterinarians treat?
 Pets, livestock, lab animals, zoo animals, wildlife
Wanted:
Job Description
• Diagnose, prevent, and treat a variety
of animal illnesses and diseases.
Administer tests, observe conditions in
animals, perform surgery, and prescribe
medication and/or therapy.
Work environment
• Private clinics, animal hospitals, on the road.
• Veterinarians who treat small domestic animals work
indoors in an office and clinic environment.
• Veterinarians who treat large livestock, such as cattle,
horses, pigs, goats, etc. will work outside at a farm or
ranch.
• Veterinarians supervise Veterinarian Technicians who
usually assist with medical tests and treat, emergency
procedures, and other duties.
• Veterinarians may also be employed at animal control
facilities, humane societies, biomedical facilities,
diagnostic laboratories, wildlife facilities, drug
& food manufacturing companies, military, and food
safety inspection
What is the History of Vet Med?
• Veterinary Medicine developed alongside human
medical advancements.
• Recorded references as early as 9000 bc in the Middle
Eastern shepherding cultures.
• Hieroglyphs in Egypt refer to placing stones in a
female camel’s uterus to prevent pregnancy.
What is the History of Vet Med?
• In American West a veterinarian would
find themselves treating animals and
people alike because of their skills in many
areas.
What are the Career options in Vet Med?
 Veterinarian
 Small Animal
 Large Animal
 Exotic
 Zoological
 Specialist
 Veterinary Technologist
 Veterinary Assistant
 Clinical Pathologist
 Academia
 Research
What education is needed for
Veterinary Medicine?
 A DVM needs 8 years of post secondary education.
 To gain acceptance to a doctorate program, students must
have taken pre-vet courses such as Physics, Chemistry,
Biology, Physiology, Genetics and Statistics. A bachelors
degree in ^ or Animal Science.
 There are only 30 schools of veterinary medicine in
the country = very competitive!
 https://www.avma.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/Education/Accreditation/Coll
eges/Documents/colleges_accredited.pdf
Education
 A Vet Tech needs 4 years of post secondary education.
 A Vet assistant can have 2-4 years of post secondary
education.
 A pathologist will need 4-6 years of post secondary
education
Duties in Veterinary Medicine

 Nutrition

 Grooming

 Training

 General husbandry (care)

 Vaccination

 Spay/neuter
Treat illness/injury
Health screening
Treat parasites
Provide referrals
Humane euthanasia
Answer concerns of
owner
How does someone in Vet Med
contribute to society?
 By promoting animal health and welfare.
 By combating zoonotic diseases.
 By inspecting livestock and foodprocessing procedures to ensure safety of
food supply.
 By preserving and conserving wildlife.
 By conducting scientific research that
impacts the food we eat, the medicine
we take, etc.
Veterinary Medical
Terminology
On the body:
 Dorsal - toward the ceiling or back
 Ventral - toward the floor or belly
 Cranial/anterior - toward the head
 Caudal/posterior - toward the butt rear
 Lateral - toward the side
 Medial - toward the midline
On the limbs:
 Proximal - toward the body
 Distal - away from the body
 Palmar - the front foot pads
 Plantar - the rear foot pads
On the head:
 Rostral – toward the nose
 Caudal – toward the tail/rear
Movement:
• Flexion - decreasing a joint’s angle
• Extension - increasing a joint’s angle
Suffixes
• …ectomy – to remove ______
• …itis – inflammation of ______
• …ose – sugar
• …ase – enzyme
• …gen – producing
• …tomy – incision
• …emia – blood
• …oid - resemble
Suffixes cont.
• … oma – tumor/swelling
• …osis/iasis – abnormal
• …sclerosis – hardening
• …plegia – paralysis
• …rrhea – discharge
• …rrhage – burst forth
• …ptosis – prolapse/falling out
• …spasm - contraction
Prefixes
• Hema/o… - having to do with the blood
• Hyper… - increased levels/activity of ______
• Hypo… - decreased levels/activity of _______
• Hetero… - different
• Homo… - the same
• Psuedo… - false
• Anti… - against
• Peri… - around
Prefixes cont.
• Tachy… - fast
• Mega/macro… - large
• Micro… - small
• Poly… - many
• Pan… - all
• Hap/mono… - one
• Di… - two
• A… - none/not
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Prim… - first
Iso… - equal
Ambi… - both
Laevo… - left
Dextro… - right
Trans… - through
Ex/o… - out
End/o… - in
Prefixes cont.
• Brachy… - short
• Steno… - narrow
• Ortho… - straight
• Leuk/o… - white
• Cirrh/o… - yellow
• Chlor/o… - green
• Melan… - black
• Glauc/o… - grey
Misc terms
• Malignant – cancerous
• Benign – non-cancerous
• Local – in one specific location
• General – all over or in many locations
• Acute – rapid onset
• Palpate – to feel by hand
• Feces/fecal – excrement
• Triage – to collect information and assess the
situation
Misc Terms
• Infectious – can be spread
• Diagnosis – to determine a cause for symptoms
• Prognosis – how it will turn out
• Congenital – with/upon/before birth
• Appendages – arms or legs
• Digits – fingers or toes
• Vestigial – non-functional
• Phalanges – fingers/toes