What is a graduate school?
As a PhD student my understanding of the function of a graduate school was limited. For me, it was simply a central administrative office where I had to register, pay my termly 'tuition' fees and submit my thesis when I finished. Since then, I have fortunately learned that they offer much more than this; at the time, however, I was simply not required to interact with my school beyond this formal and superficial manner. Perhaps it was symptomatic of the rather traditional PhD 'programmes' offered at that time by most British universities

Graduate Schools form an integral part of a University and offer students the opportunity to pursue an academic training beyond the undergraduate level. To embark on a postgraduate or degree a candidate must have attained a certain standard of academic qualification. This usually means a 'good' first degree, for example a high grade Bachelor of Science (BSc) honours degree. However, every student is usually assessed on his or her own merits so that other factors may also be taken into account.

All graduate schools offer a different number and range of postgraduate degrees. In general, however, there are taught degrees, which are fully structured with compulsory lectures to attend and examinations to pass, and research based courses. The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is usually a university's principal research degree, during which candidates pursue supervised research for at least three years. The research based Master of Science (MSc) is usually a two year supervised research degree and the Master of Philosophy (Mphil) one year of a more flexible nature. For veterinary graduates who wish to pursue postgraduate courses with a clinical bias there are many options available. Because the range of these degrees is large, and the names of equivalent degrees vary widely from country to country, it would be more informative for readers to contact a graduate school directly to find out exactly what it has to offer. It is worth mentioning, however, that the most prestigious of these degrees is one that originated in North America and is often called the Doctor of Veterinary (DVSc), however, this may vary from one school to another. Despite being most commonly offered in North America, it is becoming more widely available elsewhere in the world. It is a research based degree that requires submission of a thesis in veterinary clinical research, at a level comparable to the PhD. Of all the clinically related postgraduate courses, this one is the most significant for a future career in the veterinary research environment.

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