Western University of Health Sciences Reviews of Doctorates in Veterinary Science

"While the PBL learning process has its benefits, it leaves many gaps in knowledge and in no way justifies the cost. The administration and faculty are often very disorganized and regularly waste our time and money. The only benefit of going to this veterinary school is leaving with a DVM behind your name... oh and 400K in debt. If I could do it over again, I would have reapplied to Davis to save cost and get a more legitimate education."

"WesternU is a very expensive veterinary school that provides an education that is not realistic considering starting salaries. The "self-directed" education leaves MANY gaps in knowledge and makes the tuition expense all the more puzzling. You certainly in no way get what you pay for. Anecdotally, graduates from this veterinary program are far less prepared compared to other veterinary schools."

"Pros - a different kind of teaching curriculum that allows the student to really take charge Cons - the area, and some students are not able to adapt to this new teaching style as well"

"The DVM program is a self-learning program that enables students to look for information themselves to better prepare for the future."

"I think the program is a great program. It is unique and relatively new and so has some things to work out. The biggest draw back of the program is its cost!"

"The veterinary medicine program is really good if you aren't a competitive person and work well in groups. The environment is very supportive and as long as you are flexible, you will do well with what is expected out of you from the didactic years and later the clinical rotations. If you are someone that needs rigorous teaching and lectures, this is not a good program for you. The third year can be very confusing because there is no teaching hospital so third year students must go to different clinical sites but it is good for networking and the faculty are very good at one on one time with students."

"As are all veterinary schools, this is a rigorous program! I have had success here, especially by working well with faculty and making a lot of good career connections!"

"The biggest pro is the fact that they indeed are training us to be practice ready veterinarians. They do this through what is known as problem-based learning (PBL), in which we are given a real clinical case to guide our learning of the basic sciences of veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, people believe PBL is just to diagnose the disease of the case, but it goes beyond that. We ask ourselves what symptoms are associated with that particular system. We then do our own research to learn about the pathology, the anatomy, the physiology, the behavior, the epidemeology of the case. The cons are that it may take a while to get used to it, especially if you're from a didactic learning institution. The transition is tough, but because you yourself have looked for the answers you will be ready to be a real veterinarian."

"Having a large animal hospital facility would help students so that they would not have to leave campus. Having a teaching hospital (Banfield) to show how to do basic surgeries."

"Perhaps two of the most outstanding positive qualities of my graduate program are the sheer amount of interaction we have with faculty, staff, and even professionals within the field that are outside of a university setting and the PBL based curriculum. Faculty absolutely bend over backwards to help you seek additional educational or career opportunities, and the PBL style fosters incredible critical thinking and problem solving skills that are proving invaluable. The biggest con to the graduate program is the cost and location. It is an expensive area and tuition is high. The immediate surrounding area is not so wonderful, but a quick 10-15 minute drive can put you in much nicer areas."

"The Pros of attending Western U is the reverence for life philosophy where we do not practice on live animals so no one is harmed during practice. The Cons of Western U is the surrounding areas near campus do lack the diversity and the college town feel."