Most residencies in veterinary medicine are three years, with a handful of two-year programs out there for some specialties. In recent years, the four-year residency has become more common. This is typically a residency in a highly competitive specialty, such as surgery. In effect, the institution is getting you for an extra year for very little pay- they get a reasonably competent specialist for resident pay as opposed to faculty pay. The advantage for the applicant is that some applicants are not willing to sacrifice another year of their life for low pay and delaying their career, so it may be easier to get accepted into a four-year program. So the rub is, should you apply for a four year program?
The principle advantage of pursuing a four-year program is that there are fewer applicants for such programs than for three-year programs. So, you are more likely to be accepted into one than into a three year program. The consequences are that you have another year as a resident, instead of getting to start your career as a specialist. You delay moving to your next destination. Maybe you delay finding relationships (romantic and fraternal). You delay earning Real Money. If you are fanatically dedicated to the discipline and don’t care about the consequences to your life and career, a four-year program may be acceptable.
The disadvantage of a four-year program is primarily time. In a three-year program, you would be done and then earning a decent salary by your ‘fourth’ year. You would also be considered a specialist, and able to apply for private practice or university positions. A four year position is adding 33% of your residency time to your life timeline. Another year may not seem like much, but it can add up.
Ultimately, four-year residencies are designed to take advantage of the competitiveness of some disciplines and take advantage of those applicants who are desperate. The institutions get a year of low-cost high-skilled labor from your fourth year. You get a residency you may not have otherwise gotten. It’s a difficult balance and exemplifies the principles of capitalism: a balance between supply and demand. What you need to ask yourself is: Are you willing to be inexpensive labor for a year in order to get a residency?