You are looking at 4 years of undergraduate education, followed by a 4-year program at an accredited veterinary college, from which you must leave with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. (They have to give it to you; you can't just take it.) You will also need to become licensed before you can start cutting animals open—for this skill, you will need to pass the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam. No fair looking off the test of the Canadian or Mexican seated on either side of you.