Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) and St. Matthew’s University, School of Veterinary Medicine (SMU) on Grand Cayman Island recently finalized an articulation agreement that will allow SRTC’s Veterinary Technician students to seamlessly transition into a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree program.

As outlined by the agreement, students who choose to transfer from SRTC’s Veterinary Technology program to S St. Matthew’s DVM Program will be provided with a smooth curriculum transition which minimizes loss of credit and duplication of coursework. With this goal in mind, the two colleges drafted the articulation agreement to allow any student who has successfully completed the Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology at SRTC to transfer into the education program leading to a DVM degree at SMU. Transfer students must complete all of St. Matthew’s general education requirements that have not been satisfied in the articulation agreement, and will only be allowed to transfer if they have earned an overall GPA of 2.7 or higher. Students must also be recommended by a SMU Admissions interviewer.

St. Matthew’s program is particularly appealing to technical college graduates, as students are not required to earn a bachelor’s degree before continuing on; therefore, they can spend significantly less time earning their DVM. SMU also offers a shorter program as compared to most veterinary colleges. Students can complete their DVM training in 3 and 1/3 years as opposed to the traditional 4-year program. This equates to around 6 and ½ years of total instruction, including their time at SRTC, as opposed to the average 8-year completion time of a traditional veterinary college. DVM students will return to a stateside clinical training site in order to complete their final year in clinical rotations. SMU is an accredited college with a 92% first-time pass rate on the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination.)

Dr. Jennifer Mason, Program Chair for Veterinary Technology, said that even within St. Matthew’s rigorous program, SRTC Vet Tech graduates should expect to thrive at the university. “Our Veterinary Technology Program’s curricula closely mirrors the initial curricula of most Veterinary Medicine Programs and will provide our students with a strong foundation upon which to succeed in obtaining the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.” Like SRTC, SMU also boasts smaller class sizes with a max of 20 per cohort compared to the typical cohorts of 100-175 at most other veterinary colleges.

Dr. Mason said that students in South Georgia who have a goal of becoming a Veterinarian should strongly consider this pathway, “Competition for admission to veterinary colleges is intense! Our program will allow students who may not gain traditional acceptance into a veterinary college the opportunity to matriculate and attain a degree in a shorter period of time, with less financial burden, through a very well-rounded education.” She added, “it is also a good option for our own current and alumni Vet Tech students who have been surprised by how much they love the field and want to further their education and their career… and who wouldn’t want to go spend some time in the Cayman Islands?”