One big decision that every student who attends The Ohio State University is what “Career Area of Emphasis” you want to follow. A Career Area of Emphasis is not a track like some schools offer, but a way to decide what electives you will take and what rotations you will complete your fourth year of schooling. Everyone regardless of Career Area of Emphasis takes the same core courses.
There are several different choices for career areas of emphasis: Small Animal Medicine, Mixed Animal Medicine (a more traditional route), Food Animal Medicine, Equine Medicine, and Individualized. The individualized track is designed for people who are interested in careers in public health, government work, zoo/exotic medicine, laboratory medicine, and conservation/wildlife work. In this track, you decide where a lot of your rotations will be and schedule them yourself, because opportunities to study in these various fields are not readily available on your average campus.
A lot of thought goes into what Career Area of Emphasis you choose. I have gone back and forth between mixed animal medicine and an equine emphasis, but at this point I think I will be sticking with the mixed animal route. I love so many different aspects of veterinary medicine in various species that I am not ready to just pick one at this point in my studies.
Tracks or Career Areas of Emphasis are something to ask about when you visit a vet school. Some schools actually “track” where your schedule can be fairly different from students in other tracks of medicine, while schools like OSU have a different route for their student’s education.
