Veterinary Schools in Japan?

[kiyoki-chan]

Does anyone know any good veterinary schools in japan? My plan right now is finish high school, go to 4 year college/university and do study abroad for one year. After 4 year college/university, transfer to a graduate school in japan to study veterinary medicine. Any help, comments, etc. is appreciated

 

[Mike Cash]

Why not go to veterinary school in the States? A quick search reveals that people who have finished veterinary school abroad or who hold a veterinarians license from abroad can be eligible to sit the national licensing exam in Japan.

http://www.tottoku.com/17jyuuisi.html

２．外国の獣医学校を卒業し、又は外国で獣医師の免許を得た者であって、獣医事審議会が受験資格を認定した者

It goes without saying that you're going to have to possess an outstanding degree of Japanese language proficiency in order to sit the exam. You're young yet, so you have time. Better get cracking on it now, because you'll be pretty well loaded up with other academic work in college.

 

[kiyoki-chan]

I might just do that and take Japanese in college/university as well as veterinary medicine i guess. I have another question, is there any good schools in japan that teach Japanese to students without any knowledge of the language? because my parents always said that if you're to learn a language, best learn it in that country sorry for stupid questions...

 

[Mike Cash]

Yes, there are some schools here that teach Japanese. Some are high-quality, very reputable places. Others are low-quality dumps that merely pretend to teach, mostly to help people with a student visa scam. The key is to carefully research schools and ask around for opinions of them from former students before you send them any money.

A couple that seem to come well-recommended:

The Yamasa Institute - Study Japanese in Japan
http://www.musashi-nihongo.jp/e/index.html

 

[kiyoki-chan]

I might just study over in japan like before to learn the language then return there for vet med, but i'm not sure :X

 

[Mike Cash]

Always choose the path that will leave open the most options for you as you travel through life.

For example:

Check to see whether a Japanese veterinary degree/license will be respected in the US ("reciprocity" is a term that might help when hunting info).

We already know that a foreign degree/license can be used in Japan. And we know that an American degree/license will be good in America. So an American education leaves you a choice of location.

But what if a Japanese degree/license is not recognized in the US? Then in the event you decide to leave Japan (it happens, trust me) to go home, what are you going to do? There is also the possibility that you may not make it as a vet in Japan. The field is pretty much saturated, from what I understand. The possibility exists, then, that you could invest all that time and money into something that ends up a total bust (depending on license reciprocity).

You're still young yet, so you have plenty of time to get your ducks in a row. First off, look into that license reciprocity thing from the US side.

 

[kiyoki-chan]

Thanks Mike_Cash! ^.^