Our veterinarian, Dr. Miele, carries the title “VMD” after his name, rather than the more common “DVM.” So what do they mean and what’s the difference?
Veterinary colleges in the U.S. bestow one of two titles upon their graduates:
DVM = Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
or
VMD= Veterinariae Medicinae Doctoris
The degrees are essentially the same, but VMDs are graduates specifically of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. UPenn‘s veterinary college opened in 1884. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association‘s Membership Directory and Resource Manual, the school is “the first school of the currently accredited veterinary colleges in the United States [that] had its origins in medicine, rather than in agriculture.”
And adding to the acronym confusion is DMV, which stands for Department of Motor Vehicles. You wouldn’t think this applies, but I just stumbled across a website that repeatedly referred to veterinarians as DMVs. I’d like to think our wait times are slightly less onerous. ~~ Jen
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