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CAREERS IN VETERINARY MEDICINE

[Institute for Career Research] Careers in Veterin(BookFi.org)

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Page 1: [Institute for Career Research] Careers in Veterin(BookFi.org)

CAREERS IN

VETERINARYMEDICINE

Page 2: [Institute for Career Research] Careers in Veterin(BookFi.org)

In sti tute Re search Num ber 71 ISBN 1-58511-071-X

DOT Num ber 073.101-010 O*Net SOC Code 29-1131.00

CAREERS IN

VETERINARY MEDICINEYOUR LOVE OF ANIMALS CAN PROVIDE A REWARDING LIFETIME PROFESSIONAL HEALTHCARE CAREER

WERE YOU THE ONE IN THE FAM ILY WHO WAS AL WAYS BRING ING HOME STRAYS,

FEED ING and nurs ing them back to good health? Did you play “doc tor”with your dog Ralph, putt ing splints on his imag i nary bro ken legs andban dag ing ev ery thing from head to tail? Taking care of un healthy orin jured pets is what most vet er i nar i ans do, but there’s a lot more tothis ca reer than giv ing ra bies shots and set ting bro ken bones.

If you are look ing for a way toturn your love of an i mals into asat is fy ing, life long ca reer, vet er i narymed i cine could be for you. There aremil lions of small com pan ion an i malsto be cared for. Working in a clinic oran i mal hos pi tal, vet er i nar i ans see apa rade of dogs, cats, birds, rep tiles,fish, ro dents, and more. Most peo pleare very at tached to their pets. Whenthe fam ily dog, Prince, has a run-inwith a Volvo, it can be a verytrau matic ex pe ri ence for ev ery onecon cerned. Be ing able to send Princehome, good as new, is a great feel ing.

But small pets aren’t the onlyan i mals that need care. There are alsomil lions of large an i mals who work for us, feed us, and en ter tain us. Manyvet er i nar i ans choose to work withan i mals on farms, ranches, race tracks,

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zoos, or wild life sanc tu ar ies. They per form the same ser vices as thosewho work on pets, but they also ad vise own ers about breed ing andin creas ing pro duc tiv ity or per for mance.

Be ing a vet er i nar ian is much like be ing a doc tor for peo ple.An i mals get sick just like hu mans. They get vi ruses and can cer like wedo, and they get into ac ci dents just like we do. A vet er i nar ian is thepri mary health care pro vider for an i mals. A vet er i nar ian pre ventsdis ease by giv ing shots, di ag no ses and treats ill nesses, ex am ines andtreats in ju ries, per forms sur gery, de liv ers ba bies, pre scribes andad min is ters med i ca tions, and ad vises peo ple on how to keep theiran i mals healthy.

Vet er i nar ians also help keep peo ple healthy. Some dis eases can bepassed from an i mals to hu mans. Vet er i nar ians re search ways topre vent the spread of such dis eases and hope fully wipe them outal to gether. Oth ers make sure our food is safe to eat by in spect inglive stock and meat pro cess ing fa cil i ties.

Op por tu nities for vet er i nar i ans are ev ery where, from big cit ies tosmall towns to ru ral Amer ica. They work in pri vate of fices, clin ics,hos pi tals, uni ver si ties, mil i tary bases, re search lab o ra to ries, stock yards, race tracks, and any place else where there are an i mals.

Most vet er i nar i ans are gen eral prac ti tio ners who fo cus ei ther onsmall or large an i mals. But there are also many ex cit ing spe cial ties tochoose from that pro vide even more job se cu rity, higher in come, andmore pres tige.

There will al ways be a de mand for vet er i nary ser vices. Most of ushave pets and most of us make sure they get rou tine care. Amer i cansare also be com ing in creas ingly aware of new tech nol ogy and spe cialtyser vices and are will ing to pay for them. Even those who don’t ownan i mals de pend on vet er i nar i ans to keep an i mals of all kinds healthy. If you choose a ca reer as a doc tor of vet er i nary med i cine, you’ll bechoos ing a sta ble ca reer that can of fer you sat is fac tion for a life time.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

LIKE MANY VET ER I NAR I ANS, YOU MAY HAVE STARTED TO CON SIDER THIS CA REER

path when you were a child. Maybe it was when you took your firstpuppy to the fam ily vet for shots or tagged along af ter the vet as hemade the rounds to your fam ily farm. Or maybe you’re con sid er ing aca reer in vet er i nary med i cine for the first time, af ter learn ing it’s agreat way to com bine your love of an i mals with your in ter est insci ence and med i cine. Ei ther way, your first step to ward a vet er i naryca reer is to make sure it’s right for you.

Start by talk ing to vet er i nar i ans in your town. If you have a pet,you al ready know a vet er i nar ian. If not, ask your friends and fam ily ifthey know any one you can talk to. When you talk vet er i nar i ans aboutthis pro fes sion, ask why they chose this ca reer and whether it has mettheir ex pec ta tions. Be sure to ask for any ad vice they have to of fer.

The ed u ca tional re quire ments for this ca reer are chal leng ing andyou should start pre par ing even be fore high school if you can. Starting in ju nior high school, you should load up on sci ence and ad vancedmath courses. Nat u ral sci ence courses such as bi ol ogy are par tic u larlyim por tant. As a vet er i nar ian, you’ll be deal ing with all kinds of peo ple, of ten in stress ful sit u a tions. Psy chol ogy and for eign lan guage courseswill come in handy.

Some col leges have pre-vet er i nary pro grams; oth ers do not. Youwill need to get the course cat a log for the col leges of your choice, plus the ap pli ca tion guide lines and re quire ments for the vet er i nary col legeyou want to at tend. With these and the help of your guid ancecoun selor, you can make sure you’re tak ing all the classes you’ll need.

Grades are im por tant, es pe cially when it co mes time to ap ply forvet er i nary school. Right from the start, you need to learn good studyhab its and or ga ni za tional skills. Ad mis sions of fi cers will ex pect you todem on strate a strong ap ti tude for sci ence and a com mit ment towork ing hard through out your eight years of higher ed u ca tion.

Ad mis sion to vet er i nar ian col leges is very com pet i tive. One thingthat can tip the scales in your fa vor is a his tory of work ing withan i mals. It’s never too early to start build ing your resumé. If you liveon a farm, of fer to help the vet er i nar ian or far rier with sim ple tasks oreven just tag along and take notes of their ac tiv i ties. (If you’re a citydweller, you may not know that a far rier shoes horses.) Join 4-H or any other or ga ni za tion that fo cuses on an i mals.

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HISTORY OF THE PROFESSION

VET ER I NARY MED I CINE IS AS OLD AS CIV I LI ZA TION. AN I MALS HAVE PLAYED

im por tant roles among ev ery hu man so ci ety through out his tory. Somewere beasts of bur den or ob jects of re li gious at ten tion, while oth erspro vided trans por ta tion, food, pro tec tion, or com pan ion ship. Peo plein Med i ter ra nean re gions be gan to do mes ti cate an i mals be fore 4,000years BC, and by 2500 BC, prim i tive forms of vet er i nary med i cine wereprac ticed in China, Babylonia, and In dia.

As hunt ing gave way to ag ri cul ture, early vet er i nar i ans de vel opedtreat ments for tak ing care of sick an i mals. The Egyp tians were the first to re al ize the im por tance of pre vent ing and treat ing dis eases amongtheir live stock, but it was the Bab y lo nians who fig ured out thatiso lat ing sick an i mals from the herd was nec es sary to stop the spreadof dis ease.

The first vet er i nary hos pi tals ap peared in In dia around the sec ondcen tury BC. The Hindu re li gion has al ways re vered cows as sa cred andcon sid ered car ing for the beasts a sa cred duty. Hin dus built gosadans(“old cow homes”), gov ern ment-run in sti tu tions which are still inex is tence to day.

The Greeks made the great est strides in vet er i nary med i cine. Theyde vel oped sci en tific treat ment meth ods and re corded case stud ies that were used to teach both an i mal and hu man med i cine and anat omy.Like the Egyp tians, Bab y lo nians, and Hin dus be fore them, the Greekscom bined hu man and an i mal med i cine. It was the Greek phy si cian,Hip poc ra tes, who re fined the study of sim i lar i ties be tween an i mal andhu man phys i ol ogy. His find ings were used as the foun da tion forvet er i nary ed u ca tion; many of the pa thol ogy and anat omy les sons hetaught are still valid to day.

Over 200 years later, Hippiatrika, the first text book of vet er i narymed i cine ap peared. Au thors Aspyrtus and Vegetius, cit i zens ofCon stan ti no ple, drew heavily on the ear lier writ ings of Hip poc ra tes.The two are con sid ered by some to be the true found ers of mod ernvet er i nary med i cine.

Not much prog ress was made be tween the fall of the Ro manEm pire and the Re nais sance. Only the horse was med i cally stud ied. Asit hap pened, horse shoes were in vented dur ing the Mid dle Ages, andfar ri ers dou bled as vet er i nar i ans.

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A few ad vances were made dur ing the Re nais sance. For in stance,the in ven tion of the mi cro scope made it pos si ble to study an i malsmore closely and led to new ways to con trol hu man and an i maldis eases.

It was not un til 1762 that vet er i nary med i cine be came arec og nized pro fes sion. And it was thanks to a lot of very sick cows.Vet er i nary prac ti tio ners came to gether in Ly ons, France, to find waysto com bat a dev as tat ing cat tle plague. The usual method ofquar an tine and slaugh ter was n’t enough to stop mil lions of cat tlefrom be ing in fected and the alarm rose as dis ease spread through thehu man pop u la tion as well. The French gov ern ment backed thees tab lish ment of the first vet er i nary col lege in Ly ons, where sci en tistscould work on new ways to pre vent and com bat the spread of dis ease. It was here that re search re vealed the re la tion ship of an i mal dis easesto hu man dis eases. About a hun dred years later, French phy si cian andsci en tist, Louis Pas teur, con firmed this. Pas teur dis cov ered theex is tence of mi cro or gan isms and proved that dis eases could betrans mit ted through meats and dairy prod ucts. To day’s prin ci ples offood hy giene are based on Pas teur’s early re search.

About the same time the Amer i can Col onies were tak ing form, asec ond vet er i nary col lege was es tab lished at the Uni ver sity of Lon don.Soon for mally ed u cated French and Brit ish vet er i nar i ans be gan tomi grate to the New World. In early Amer ica, an i mals were typ i callycared for by their own ers who knew lit tle, if any thing, about vet er i nary med i cine or the re la tion ship be tween an i mal and hu man health.Cat tle-borne dis eases such as an thrax, pleuropneumonia, and hogchol era were caus ing an in creas ing health risk for the pub lic. Thear rival of the Eu ro pean vet er i nar i ans was help ful, but it was nearly acen tury be fore vet er i nary med i cine was or ga nized enough to beef fec tive.

In 1863, the Amer i can Vet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion wasfounded. At that time, its pur pose was to lead the war againstdis eases among do mes tic live stock. The or ga ni za tion has sinceex panded its vi sion and now en com passes the to tal care for allan i mals.

In 1879, the first Amer i can vet er i nary school opened at Iowa State Uni ver sity. Cor nell Uni ver sity awarded the first vet er i nary de gree in1876, even though at that time there was no sep a rate vet er i narycol lege there. The proud re cip i ent of this first Doc tor of Vertinary

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De gree (DVM) de gree was Dan iel E. Salmon, whose name was laterbe stowed on the bac te rium Sal mo nella.

As the 19th cen tury came to a close, health ed u ca tion in thean i mal field ex panded to in clude 22 col leges. Even to day there areonly 27 col leges of vet er i nary med i cine in the US. Of the earlyvet er i nary schools, only the Uni ver sity of Penn syl va nia re mains.

Pub lic health got a big boost in 1884, when Con gress es tab lishedthe Bu reau of An i mal In dus try, within the US De part ment ofAg ri cul ture. The Bu reau reg u lated the im por ta tion of cat tle in or der tocon trol dis eases brought in from other coun tries. It was the first ofmany gov ern ment agen cies to em ploy vet er i nar i ans.

Dur ing the first half of the 20th cen tury, vet er i nar i ans in Amer icafo cused on erad i cat ing dis eases among cat tle and horses. The live stock in dus try thrived as never be fore be cause most of the ma jor live stockdis eases were fi nally un der con trol or erad i cated. By the 1930s,di ag nos tic tech niques, vac ci na tion pro ce dures, and breed ingman age ment were per fected to the point that se ri ous dis eases such as brucellosis were all but elim i nated in hu mans.

When au to mo biles and bi cy cles be gan to re place horses, theout look for the vet er i nar ian pro fes sion looked bleak. But it was n’t long be fore vet er i nar i ans turned their at ten tion to the grow ing petpop u la tion. By the end of World War II, there were as manyvet er i nar i ans in cit ies as there were in ru ral ar eas. With ma jor dis easesun der con trol and new sci en tific dis cov er ies that seem to come alongev ery day, vet er i nar i ans are now able to con cen trate on the finerpoints of vet er i nary med i cine. There is now a broad range ofspe cial ties within vet er i nary med i cine that did not ex ist even a fewyears ago. An ag ri cul ture spe cial ist, for ex am ple, can visit farms andinnoculate herds of cat tle or work in a well- equipped lab o ra torystudy ing food pu rity as it re lates to an i mal drugs and an i mal feedpes ti cides.

We hu mans have an on go ing love af fair with an i mals thatcon tin ues to grow. Our needs have changed and vet er i nary med i cinehas ex panded into new ar eas to meet those needs. Most of us en joyand ap pre ci ate an i mals. If you’re look ing for a chal leng ing andin ter est ing pro fes sion that would ben e fit both an i mals and the peo ple who love and de pend on them, vet er i nary med i cine could be just what you’re look ing for.

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WHERE YOU WILL WORK: PRACTICE SETTINGS

THERE ARE MANY DIF FER ENT WORK SET TINGS FOR VET ER I NAR I ANS, BUT MOST –

about 75% – are in pri vate clin i cal prac tice. The re main der work forcol leges and uni ver si ties, re search lab o ra to ries, zoos, gov ern mentagen cies, and the mil i tary.

Vet er i nar ians work ev ery where, but geo graphic lo ca tion doesaf fect the type of jobs that are avail able. In ru ral ar eas, vet er i nar i anstreat mostly farm and ranch an i mals. The more pop u lated an area is,the smaller the pa tients are. In cit ies, pri vate prac tice vet er i nar i anstyp i cally fo cus en tirely on small com pan ion an i mals. Cities are alsowhere you’ll find em ploy ment with pub lic health agen cies, re searchand de vel op ment lab o ra to ries, phar ma ceu ti cal com pa nies, and an i malfood man u fac tur ers.

Private PracticeMost pri vate prac tices deal with small an i mals, pri mar ily pets, in aclin i cal set ting. Fa cil ities are set up much the same as any doc tor’sof fice. There are rooms equipped for per form ing ex am i na tions,treat ment, and sur gery, plus over night fa cil i ties where an i mals canre cu per ate.

Vet er i nar ians who treat large an i mals work pri mar ily on farms and ranches. Their of fices are mo bile units, vans out fit ted with all thenec es sary in stru ments, equip ment, and med i cines. They di ag nose andtreat their an i mal pa tients wher ever they are; even sur gery may beper formed in the field.

Gov ern ment Em ploy mentAbout 15% of vet er i nar i ans work for some level of gov ern ment. Somework in ster ile lab o ra to ries, mon i tor ing com mu ni ca ble dis eases for the U.S. Pub lic Health Ser vice. Oth ers make the rounds of ag ri cul turalbusi nesses, slaugh ter houses, or meat pack ing plants to per form theirdu ties as in spec tors.

In the mil i tary, vet er i nar i ans serve as pub lic health of fi cers at Army and Air Force bases around the world. They are trained to man agecom mu ni ca ble dis eases by mon i tor ing and con trol ling an i mal andin sect-borne dis eases. Other of fi cers work in lab o ra to ries per form ingbio med i cal re search and de vel op ment.

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Teaching and ResearchIn the ed u ca tional field, vet er i nar i ans with grad u ate de grees teach atvet er i nary col leges and other health sci ence cen ters. Most of theirwork is per formed in the class room; some oc ca sion ally con ductre search in uni ver sity lab o ra to ries.

Most vet er i nary re search ers are em ployed by pri vate in dus try tostudy and as sess new treat ment tech niques, med i ca tions, dis easepre ven tion prod ucts, or an i mal feed.

Industry In dus try pro vides the small est num ber of jobs forvet er i nar i ans, yet the great est va ri ety of oc cu pa tions is in this sec tor.Pri vate in dus try em ploy ers in clude zoos, race tracks, aqua culturecon cerns, mar ket ing com pa nies, con sult ing firms, and man u fac tur ersof feed and other prod ucts for an i mals.

Working ConditionsMost vet er i nar i ans en joy mod ern, pleas ant sur round ings. Non-clin i calem ploy ers in pri vate in dus try, col leges, and re search cen ters pro videclean, well-lit of fices or lab o ra to ries fur nished with the lat esttech nol ogy and equip ment. Vet er i nar ians in these set tings spend most of their time deal ing with peo ple and may never come in con tact withan i mals.

Those in small an i mal prac tices work in com fort able of fices andclin ics that are as clean as any hos pi tal. De pending on the size of theprac tice, fa cil i ties can be noisy when too many dogs and cats voicetheir dis plea sure at be ing there.

Most vet er i nar i ans have rea son able hours, work ing be tween 40 to 50 hours per week. About one-third put in more than 50 hours on thejob. Those who do are usu ally large an i mal prac ti tio ners who spend alot of time on the road or new pri vate prac tice own ers striv ing to build a cli en tele.

Working eve nings and week ends is of ten nec es sary toac com mo date cli ents’ busy sched ules. Those in group prac tices taketurns be ing on call for emer gen cies or other un ex pectedap point ments.

Working con di tions for vet er i nar i ans work ing with large an i malsare the least pre dict able and most likely to be un pleas ant. A lot oftime is spent driv ing to farms and ranches. Much of the work isper formed out side in snow, rain, dust, or heat. Un like small an i malprac ti tio ners, these vet er i nar i ans don’t have the lux ury of san i tary

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con di tions. Even when they work in side sta bles and barns, con di tionsare of ten dif fi cult. An in creas ing num ber of vet er i nar i ans op er ate from well-equipped mo bile clin ics.

All vet er i nar i ans are at risk for be ing ex posed to in fec tiousdis eases and be ing in jured by the an i mals they’re try ing to help. Sickor in jured an i mals in stinc tively lash out by bit ing, scratch ing, andkick ing. Large an i mals can be the most dan ger ous. A 1200 poundhorse can do con sid er able dam age with a sin gle kick. All vet er i nar i ansneed to learn how to pre vent in jury, dis ease, and in fec tion from theirpa tients.

WORK YOU WILL DO

VET ER I NAR IANS ARE AN I MAL DOC TORS. THEY DI AG NOSE MED I CAL PROB LEMS,

treat ill nesses and dis eases, set bro ken bones, dress wounds, pre scribeand ad min is ter med i ca tions, per form sur gery, and in oc u late an i malsagainst dis eases. Vet er i nar ians pro vide healthcare for pets, live stock,ex otic an i mals in zoos, sport ing an i mals, and lab o ra tory an i mals. Likehu man doc tors, vet er i nar i ans use med i cal equip ment such asstetho scopes, sur gi cal in stru ments, and so phis ti cated di ag nos ticequip ment, such as ra di og ra phy (x-rays) and ul tra-sound.

Vet er i nar ians work with peo ple, too. They ad vise own ers on howto care for their an i mals to keep them healthy and safe, and pro videhelp dur ing the breed ing pro cess. In some cases, they are called uponto pro tect hu mans from con ta gious dis eases car ried by an i mals.

Some vet er i nar i ans don’t work di rectly with an i mals; in stead theywork be hind the scenes in lab o ra to ries where they study new ways todi ag nose and treat hu man and an i mal health prob lems. Oc ca sionally,re search ers per form au top sies on dead an i mals to es tab lish the causeof death and de ter mine what steps should be taken to pro tect otheran i mals and hu mans. Other re search ers de velop new med i cines andvac cines.

Vet er i nar ians can be found work ing in pri vate clin ics, mil i tarybases, vet er i nary col leges, zoos, an i mal theme parks, space and ma rine bi ol ogy labs, meat pro cess ing fa cil i ties, farms and ranches, med i calre search fa cil i ties, race tracks, and lab o ra to ries in pri vate in dus try.Vet er i nar ians also work in spe cial ized fields such as oph thal mol ogy,aquaculture, or fo ren sics.

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Private Practice Most vet er i nar i ans are in pri vate clin i cal prac tice.They pro vide med i cal ser vices for an i mals in of fices, clin ics, or an i malhos pi tals. Some make house calls. Most are in gen eral prac tices andhave knowl edge of a va ri ety of dif fer ent spe cies. Those in ru ralcom mu ni ties treat work ing an i mals such as pigs, goats, sheep andhorses, in ad di tion to com pan ion an i mals like dogs and cats. In ur banar eas most vet er i nar i ans in pri vate prac tice limit their care to smallpets. In ad di tion to dogs and cats, they treat birds, rep tiles, rab bits,fer rets, fish, and other small an i mals that are kept as pets. Somevet er i nar i ans spe cial ize in a par tic u lar type of an i mal.

Vet er i nar ians in small an i mal med i cine are gen eral prac ti tio ners.They act as the pri mary phy si cian, sur geon, di ag nos ti cian, andphar ma cist all in one. The healthcare they pro vide in cludes:

Diagnose animal health problems

Vaccinate against diseases such as distemper and rabies

Prescribe and administer medications

Treat and dress wounds

Set broken bones

Hygiene services such as flea dips and shots

Perform surgery

Spay and neuter

Routine checkups

Advise pet owners about animal nutrition, preventativemedicines, behavior, and breeding

Perform euthanasia when an animal is suffering and can’t behelped

Many are also on call any time of day to an swer or treatemer gen cies.

Vet er i nar ians are very at tuned to an i mals and un der stand howthey be have when sick or in jured. They soothe and re as sure fright ened pa tients and are able to com mu ni cate nonverbally. An i mals can’t talk,but they give plenty of clues to doc tors about what’s wrong and howthey’re feel ing. A good vet er i nar ian uses touch, smell, hear ing, andkeen ob ser va tion skills to make a di ag no sis.

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Working in a pri vate prac tice in volves more than treat ing pa tients. There is a busi ness to run. The busi ness end of the prac tice in cludessched ul ing rou tine vis its, set ting ap point ments, send ing spec i mens tothe lab, and bill ing pet own ers. It’s also com mon to main tain a smallken nel where sick an i mals can be quar an tined or those re cov er ingfrom sur gery can re cu per ate.

In ad di tion to of fice help, most vet er i nar i ans em ploy vet er i naryas sis tants, tech nol o gists, and tech ni cians.

Working With Large Animals About 20% of vet er i nar i ans workpri mar ily with large an i mals. Most work in ru ral ar eas, pro vid inghealth care for horses, cat tle, and other kinds of food an i mals.An other 20% in clude large an i mals in what is known as a mixedprac tice. They treat horses, cows, pigs, sheep, chick ens, goats, dogs,and any other an i mal you might find on a farm.

The large an i mal vet er i nar ian pre vents and treats dis ease andin jury among in di vid ual an i mals and herds. They also ad vise ranch ersand farm ers on the proper care and man age ment of live stock. That’san im por tant role since healthy an i mals are es sen tial to theirlive li hood.

In some ag ri cul tural ar eas, there are large, well-equipped stand ing clin ics where own ers must bring their an i mals for ser vices. In mostcases, how ever, vet er i nar i ans op er ate out of mo bile units and spend asub stan tial amount of time driv ing to farms and ranches. This canmean driv ing on rut ted ru ral roads from early in the morn ing to late at night. Most of the work is done in a barn or out side while be ingex posed to all kinds of weather. On a typ i cal day, one of these doc torsmight:

Take blood samples from dairy cows to check for disease

Vaccinate an entire herd of sheep

Deliver a calf by cesarean section

Monitor nutrition and housing conditions

Inspect feed for mold, fungus, and insects

Treat a horse for cuts from a barbed wire fence

Examine a pregnant mare

Advise owners on how to increase production

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Not all large an i mal vets work with ag ri cul tural an i mals. Somespe cial ize in car ing for race horses. Oth ers can be found work ing withex otic an i mals such as ze bras, lions, and el e phants in zoos or wildan i mal parks.

Research and Teaching Vet er i nar ians with ca reers in re searchsearch for better ways to pre vent and cure health prob lems. They work in so phis ti cated lab o ra to ries fur nished with a full range of tech ni callyad vanced equip ment. Some re search ers work for man u fac tur ers thatpro duce food, med i cine, and vac cines for an i mals. Oth ers de velopways to erad i cate an i mal dis eases and while do ing so, of ten makeim por tant con tri bu tions to hu man health. While study ing an i mals,vet er i nar i ans have dis cov ered:

How to prevent botulism

The first tumor-causing virus

Filterable and slow viruses

Salmonella, Brucella, and other pathogenic agents

How to conquer malaria and yellow fever

An anticoagulant used to treat some people with heart disease

Surgical techniques for humans, such as hip-joint replacementand limb and organ transplants

Most re search vet er i nar i ans work for com mer cial firms thatpro duce bi o log i cal or phar ma ceu ti cal prod ucts for hu mans. An i malsplay an im por tant role in med i cal re search. The study of prob lems such as can cer, AIDS, and car dio vas cu lar dis ease de pends on the use oflab o ra tory an i mals. Be fore try ing new drug ther a pies, vac cines, orsur gi cal tech niques on hu mans, re search ers test them on an i mals first.Lab o ra tory an i mals are care fully bred, raised, and main tained byvet er i nar i ans. These are spe cial ists who are trained to se lect the bestkinds of an i mals for par tic u lar re search pro jects and en sure that thean i mals re ceive proper care.

There are about 3,800 vet er i nar i ans teach ing fu ture vet er i nar i ansat schools and col leges of vet er i nary med i cine. Many vet er i naryteach ers di vide their time be tween the class room and the lab o ra tory,par tic u larly on some of the larger uni ver sity cam puses. In ad di tion tocon duct ing re search stud ies, they con trib ute to sci en tific pub li ca tionsand de velop pro grams for state-re quired con tin u ing ed u ca tionpro grams for grad u ates.

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Veterinarians in Government Vet er i nar ians play an im por tantrole in pub lic health and safety. They are re spon si ble for pro tect ing the pub lic from an i mal dis eases. Those work ing in reg u la tory med i cinestrive to con trol or elim i nate cer tain dis eases that can be trans ferred to hu mans from an i mals. Some are em ployed by state and fed eralagen cies to pre vent the in tro duc tion of for eign dis eases ar riv ing withan i mals from other coun tries or ship ments of an i mals from state tostate. For eign an i mals are placed in quar an tine where they areob served and in spected be fore be ing re leased on Amer i can soil.An i mals are tested for dis eases such as tu ber cu lo sis, brucellosis, andra bies – dan ger ous dis eases that can be life threat en ing to bothan i mals and hu mans.

The De part ment of Ag ri cul ture em ploys vet er i nar i ans to de velopnew vac cines and test them for safety and ef fec tive ness. Thesevet er i nar i ans are also re spon si ble for en forc ing two ma jor an i malpro tec tion laws, the An i mal Wel fare Act and Horse Pro tec tion Act.

The US De part ment of Ag ri cul ture also runs the Food Safety andIn spec tion Ser vice (FSIS). Vet er i nar ians in volved in food safety workhere, and also for state and mu nic i pal food in spec tion ser vices topro tect the pub lic from dis eased live stock and un safe meat andpoul try. Some work in lab o ra to ries to de ter mine the safety and theef fec tive ness of med i cines and ad di tives given to food an i mals. Oth ersare live stock in spec tors who ex am ine live an i mals for trans mis si bledis eases, ad vise own ers on treat ment, and quar an tine an i mals.

Other vet er i nar i ans work as meat, poul try, or egg prod uctin spec tors. They make the rounds of slaugh ter ing and pro cess ingplants where they in spect car casses for dis ease. They make sure thean i mal prod ucts we eat are fit for hu man con sump tion. It is theirre spon si bil ity to en force gov ern ment reg u la tions re gard ing food pu rity and san i ta tion.

Vet er i nar ians work for pub lic health agen cies at all lev els ofgov ern ment. Spe cial ists known as epidemiologists in ves ti gate an i maland hu man dis ease out breaks such as in flu enza, plague, ra bies, anden ceph a li tis. In ad di tion to food pro cess ing plants, they in spectres tau rants. Those in en vi ron men tal health pro grams study andeval u ate the ef fects of var i ous pes ti cides and in dus trial pol lut ants onan i mals and hu mans.

Vet er i nar ians work ing as re search ers in gov ern ment pro videvar i ous lab o ra tory ser vices in clud ing fo ren sics, di ag nos tics, andtest ing.

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Vet er i nar i ans work for the Ag ri cul ture Re search Ser vice, Fish andWild life Ser vice, En vi ron men tal Pro tec tion Agency, Na tional Li brary ofMed i cine, and Na tional In sti tutes of Health

Private Industry Pri vate in dus try em ploys vet er i nar i ans pri mar ily for re search. Phar ma ceu ti cal and bio med i cal re search firms needvet er i nar i ans to de velop, test, and su per vise the pro duc tion of drugs,chem i cals, and bi o log i cal prod ucts that will be used for an i mals,hu mans, or both. These vet er i nar i ans are usu ally spe cial ists who havere ceived ad di tional ed u ca tion, train ing, and cer tif i ca tion. Theirspe cial ties in clude phar ma col ogy, vi rol ogy, bac te ri ol ogy, pa thol ogy,par a si tol ogy, tox i col ogy, nu tri tion, en do cri nol ogy, and lab o ra toryan i mal med i cine.

Vet er i nar ians work in the ag ri cul tural chem i cal in dus try, wherethey test the ef fects of pes ti cides and food ad di tives on lab o ra toryan i mals. An i mal feed man u fac tur ers – par tic u larly those that pro ducefeed for live stock and poul try – de pend on vet er i nar i ans for qual itycon trol, dis ease con trol, and nu tri tional con tent.

Not all vet er i nar i ans in pri vate in dus try work in lab o ra to ries.Ag ri busi nesses, pet food com pa nies, and phar ma ceu ti cal com pa niesem ploy vet er i nar i ans as man ag ers, tech ni cal con sul tants, sales peo ple,and mar ket ing con sul tants.

Specialized Fields A vet er i nar ian can choose from a wide ar ray ofspe cial ties. Some re quire spe cial train ing and cer tif i ca tion; oth ers aresim ply lim it ing their scope of prac tice.

There are def i nitely ad van tages to spe cial iz ing. Vet er i nar ians withspe cialty cer tif i ca tion are in de mand es pe cially in the ar eas oftox i col ogy, lab o ra tory an i mal med i cine, and pa thol ogy. Those who livein ur ban ar eas will find it eas ier to suc ceed with some sort of spe cialty. Those who plan to work in en vi ron men tal and pub lic health,aquaculture, zoos, or re search will need spe cific train ing andcer tif i ca tion.

There are 20 vet er i nary spe cial ties rec og nized by the Amer i canVet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion. Some of the most pop u lar spe cial tiesare in ter nal med i cine, oph thal mol ogy, pa thol ogy, sur gery, andre pro duc tion. To be come board cer ti fied in any of these spe cial ties, avet er i nar ian must grad u ate from a col lege of vet er i nary med i cine,ob tain ex ten sive post-grad u ate train ing and ex pe ri ence, and pass acre den tial re view and ex am i na tions set by the par tic u lar spe cialtyor ga ni za tion.

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PROFESSIONALS TELL ABOUT THEIRCAREERS

I Treat Pets in a Pri vate Prac tice “I guess you could say I in her ited my love of an i mals from my par ents. An i mals,es pe cially dogs, were al ways a part of our fam ily. We never hadfewer than three or four pets in all the time I was grow ing up.When I was young, the dogs were my best friends. As I grewolder, I be gan to ap pre ci ate their in tel li gence and loy alty, and Ifound my self want ing to re ward them by tak ing good care ofthem.

It took me a lit tle lon ger to warm up to the oc ca sionalhouse hold cat. But even tu ally they won me over, too. I be gan tosee that all an i mals, from a gold fish to a Ger man Shep herd, haveper son al i ties that can be as en dear ing as any hu man. An i malsof fer so much en joy ment and com pan ion ship to peo ple and ask so lit tle in re turn.

I sup pose be com ing a vet was the nat u ral choice for me. Idid n’t have to give it much thought. My in ter est in sci ence andmed i cine com bined with my love for an i mals led me straight tovet er i nary school. I’ve now been in pri vate prac tice for over 20years.

In my prac tice, I only treat com pan ion an i mals. You’d beamazed at how many kinds of an i mals peo ple keep as pets. Ev eryday I see a pa rade of dogs, cats, ro dents, birds, rep tiles – youname it. It cer tainly keeps things in ter est ing.

The best part of my job is see ing the smile of re lief onsome one’s face when I tell them their pet is go ing to be all right.The worst part is hav ing to tell some one that there’s noth ing I cando ex cept end the pain and suf fer ing. It’s so easy to get at tachedto owner’s pets even though you don’t see them ev ery day. It canhit re ally hard when you lose a pa tient.”

I’m a Part ner in a Clinic Where WeTreat Large and Small An i mals “I did n’t start out to

be a vet er i nar ian. The fact that I had four dogs, five cats, and

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three horses should have given me a clue. When I went to col lege, I was n’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up. There were somany things that in ter ested me: his tory, travel, gar den ing, art,cul ture. When the time came to choose a ma jor, I waf fledbe tween ar chae ol ogy and med i cine. I de cided on psy chol ogy.

My first job af ter grad u at ing from col lege was as a labtech ni cian at a big city med i cal cen ter. One of the re search ersthere was a vet er i nar ian who was study ing immunodeficiencies. Ifound the work fas ci nat ing and found my self hang ing around thelab o ra tory an i mals more and more. I re al ized I had a nat u ral abil ity to com mu ni cate with an i mals. I’m able to keep them happy andcalm and that makes me feel good.

It was n’t long be fore I moved back to my home state anden rolled in a vet er i nary col lege of med i cine. My in ten tion was togo into an i mal re search. It only made sense with my ed u ca tionand ex pe ri ence. Not to men tion I loved solv ing puz zles and that’swhat re search is all about. But be ing back in a ru ral statere minded me that I re ally liked be ing around an i mals, and re search kind of takes you away from be ing ac tively in volved with them.Af ter grad u a tion, one of my fel low stu dents sug gested open ing aclinic and we be came part ners in a mixed an i mal prac tice.

We work with in di vid ual an i mals of all sizes, large and small.We don’t treat herds or live stock. Most of the an i mals we treat are pets or plea sure an i mals or maybe 4-H pro jects. These days we see a big va ri ety. It’s not just the usual goats, pigs, and dogs any more. We see emus, la mas, os triches, chin chil las, and min ia ture horses!

We op er ate a stand ing clinic and own ers bring their an i malsto us. In the case of emer gen cies, we are set up to make housecalls. My part ner and I take turns be ing on call ev ery other nightand we swap week ends, too.

When I gave up the idea of go ing into re search I wascon cerned that I might get bored, that maybe there would n’t beenough chal lenge in a reg u lar vet er i nary prac tice. I could n’t havebeen more wrong! Di ag nosing all these dif fer ent an i mals re allykeeps me on my toes. Each case is like a mys tery that has to besolved. It takes a com bi na tion of so phis ti cated tech nol ogy,in tu ition, ed u ca tion, and ex pe ri ence to fig ure out why some one’s

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os trich is los ing its feath ers or a show jumper is sulk ing in thecor ner of his stall.

I’m happy to say that I did n’t waste my time get ting a de greein psy chol ogy. My abil ity to calm and re as sure an i mals is purelyin stinct. But un der stand ing how their own ers feel and how to help them feel better – that takes train ing and prac tice.”

I’m an Emer gency Vet er i nar ian “I am one of 11vet er i nar i ans on staff in a vet er i nary hos pi tal. We are all trained as small an i mal vet er i nar i ans and that’s the fo cus of this hos pi tal.There are sev eral spe cial ists here in clud ing me. My spe cialty isemer gency med i cine.

I’ve al ways worked in an i mal hos pi tals, ever since grad u at ingfrom vet er i nary school. I like the reg u lar hours. I rarely work morethan 40 hours a week un less I choose to put in over time. We don’t sched ule reg u lar ap point ments on week ends, but we are open foremer gen cies. I put in 24 hours dur ing the week and the re main ing16 hours on week ends.

Dur ing the week, when I’m not busy with an emer gency, Itake reg u lar pa tients. On week ends though, all I see areemer gen cies. Things are dif fer ent on the week ends. There is n’t the same steady flow of an i mals to see and with only one otherper son work ing it’s pretty quiet. I can go for hours with out see ingany pa tients. Then all of a sud den some body will rush in with their cat that’s been hit by a car or a cou ple of dogs that have torn each other up in a fight.

Working in an emer gency sit u a tion is chal leng ing. I have tocalm down scared an i mals and scared peo ple at the same time.Some times it’s ob vi ous what has to be done such as sur gery orset ting bro ken bones. Other times, an i mals dis play mys te ri oussymp toms, and I have to fig ure out if they’ve con tracted a dis easeor been poi soned or maybe have in ter nal in ju ries that can’t beseen.”

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I Work at a Wild life Park “My mom thought it was cute when I was eight and an nounced that I was go ing to be anan i mal den tist. Last year when I had to ex tract a tooth from anold lion, I in vited her to watch me work. I thought she was go ingto pass out!

I’m not an ex actly an i mal den tist, but tak ing care of teeth isone of the jobs I do as an ex otic an i mal spe cial ist. I work in awild life sanc tu ary, where most of my pa tients are large an i mals.

This is a spe cial place where the pub lic can come and seeex otic an i mals up close. We breed a dozen dif fer ent spe ciesin clud ing lions and ti gers and bears. The pub lic gets to ac tu allytouch and hold the baby an i mals and walk around amonghun dreds of gen tle and tame an i mals like la mas and goats thatroam free.

It’s im por tant to keep the an i mals healthy not only for theirsake, but also so they don’t en dan ger the health of the vis i tors. It’s my job to make sure the en vi ron ment is healthy and ap pro pri atefor each in di vid ual spe cies. I make the rounds each day to makesure they’re each get ting the proper feed, vac ci na tions, andreg u lar check ups.

I’m the only full-time vet er i nar ian at the park so I have to domany dif fer ent jobs. In a sin gle day, I might need to be a sur geon,an an es the si ol o gist, re pro duc tive spe cial ist, nu tri tion ist, andan i mal be hav ior ist. Oh, and don’t for get den tist.”

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PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

BE ING AN AN I MAL LOVER IS A PRE REQ UI SITE FOR ANY ONE WHO IS THINK ING

about a ca reer in vet er i nary med i cine. Your per sonal ex pe ri ence fromown ing pets or farm an i mals will be help ful in un der stand ing howan i mals be have, par tic u larly when they are sick or in jured, and how tohan dle them. In some ways, the job of the vet er i nar ian is morechal leng ing than that of a hu man doc tor. You can’t ask your an i malpa tients to tell you where it hurts or how they’re feel ing. To di ag noseyour cases, you will need to be pa tient and very ob ser vant.

Just as you need to un der stand and get along with an i mals, youneed to be able to in ter act ef fec tively with peo ple, too. You will bemeet ing and deal ing with a wide va ri ety of peo ple, of ten un derstress ful con di tions. While it is im por tant that you gen u inely careabout the wel fare of your an i mal pa tients, it’s equally im por tant thatyou have com pas sion for the peo ple in volved. Good com mu ni ca tionand in ter per sonal skills are im por tant as sets. This is es pe cially truewhen an an i mal is be yond help. It’s your job to pro vide com fort toboth the pa tient and the owner. When an an i mal dies, you need toshow em pa thy for the owner’s grief and loss.

Ap ti tude and in ter est in sci ence and math are im por tant. Youshould have an in quir ing mind and en joy learn ing new things. Youred u ca tion won’t stop when you grad u ate from vet er i nar ian med i calschool. Suc cess ful vet er i nar i ans pos sess a life long in ter est in sci en tificlearn ing. An in quis i tive mind and a will ing ness to keep up withchanges and ad vance ments in tech nol ogy and tech niques will serveyou well.

The work of a vet er i nar ian can be phys i cally and emo tion allyde mand ing. It takes a lot of en ergy to spend long hours on your feettend ing to pa tients. You will need to be phys i cally and men tally strong and healthy with good man ual dex ter ity and the abil ity to quicklymake de ci sions in emer gen cies. It can be very dif fi cult to see thean i mals you care for in pain. Does the sight of blood bother you? Doyou think you could hu manely end the life of a suf fer ing an i mal?De spite your ed u ca tion and train ing, you won’t al ways be able to helpthe an i mals you’ve de voted your ca reer to. Emo tional sta bil ity and theabil ity to deal with stress are es sen tial for your own well be ing.

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An area of ten over looked by po ten tial vet er i nar i ans is the busi ness end. Most vet er i nar i ans work in pri vate prac tice where good busi nesssense is im por tant. No mat ter where you choose to work, you’ll needto be re li able, well-or ga nized, ex er cise good judg ment, be able tosolve prob lems un der dif fi cult cir cum stances, and have the abil ity tode velop man a ge rial and su per vi sory skills.

ATTRACTIVE FEATURES

THOSE WHO HAVE CHO SEN A CA REER IN VET ER I NARY MED I CINE RARELY RE GRET IT.

In fact, most pri vate clin i cal prac ti tio ners con tinue work ing wellbe yond nor mal re tire ment age.

The pri mary rea son cited for choos ing this ca reer path is a love ofan i mals. Vet er i nar ians, par tic u larly those in pri vate clin i cal prac tice,de rive tre men dous per sonal sat is fac tion from help ing own ers keeptheir an i mals well and happy. By treat ing sick and in jured an i mals, avet er i nar ian helps im prove qual ity of life not only for the an i mals, butthe peo ple who love them as well. Those who go into re search alsofind sat is fac tion in dis cov er ing cures and new treat ment meth ods foran i mals.

The work ing con di tions for most vet er i nar i ans are gen er ally quitegood. Ex actly how good de pends on the work set ting. Those deal ingpri mar ily with pets and small an i mals usu ally work in clean andpleas ant sur round ings. Larger em ploy ers such as gov ern mentagen cies, re search lab o ra to ries, and com mer cial firms pro vide mod ernfa cil i ties, usu ally out fit ted with the lat est equip ment and tech nol ogy. If you’re some one who does n’t like be ing cooped up in an of fice, youcan en joy plenty of fresh air and wide open spaces by choos ing towork with large an i mals in zoos or ag ri cul tural set tings.

There is va ri ety in this field to keep things in ter est ing. Even atyp i cal small prac tice vet er i nar ian sees and treats a wide va ri ety ofan i mals – ev ery thing from afghans to par rots. You’ll be amazed at therange of spe cies peo ple keep for pets. If it’s got feath ers, scales, paws, fins, claws, web feet, or fur, you’re prob a bly go ing to see it in yourof fice sooner or later. You’ll never be bored with the col or ful pa rade of an i mals com ing through your doors.

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Vet er i nar ians en joy sta ble em ploy ment. Peo ple con sider the careof their an i mals a pri or ity, whether they are com pan ions or work ingan i mals. It’s a ca reer un af fected by changes in the econ omy. Evendur ing re ces sions, vet er i nar i ans are al ways busy.

There are sev eral ar eas of spe cial iza tion that of fer op por tu ni tiesfor ca reer ad vance ment along with po ten tially higher in come. Thewide ar ray of spe cial ties, dif fer ent types of an i mals, and dif fer ent work set tings can keep things mov ing right along through out a long ca reer.

Most vet er i nar i ans work in pri vate clin i cal prac tice, alone or inpart ner ship with one or two oth ers. Al though there are cer tainly down sides to own ing a small busi ness like this, there are many ben e fits aswell. Those who own their own prac tices can de cide for them selveswhat kinds of an i mals they will treat and what ser vices they willpro vide. They also set their own hours and de ter mine their own fees.

Vet er i nar ians work ing in small an i mal prac tice, in dus try, orgov ern ment work reg u lar hours to tal ing 40 to 50 hours per week.Those just start ing out in pri vate prac tice tend to work days that are alit tle lon ger un til the prac tice is es tab lished. Pri vate prac ti tio ners of tenneed to be avail able dur ing eve nings and week ends to ac com mo datetheir busy cli ents. For tu nately, pet own ers in met ro pol i tan ar eas haveac cess to emer gency clin ics, which re duces the need for pri vateprac ti tio ners to be on call as much.

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UNATTRACTIVE FEATURES

WHILE THIS CAN BE A VERY SAT IS FY ING CA REER CHOICE, YOU DO NEED TO BE

aware of some po ten tial prob lems. For start ers, vet er i nary med i cinecol lege ad mis sions are very com pet i tive. In fact, it’s tougher to getinto vet er i nary school than hu man med i cal school. That’s be cause thesmall num ber of vet er i nar ian schools in the United States lim its thenum ber of ad mis sions – there are only 27 schools. Al though you don’t have to be a val e dic to rian, you do have to be well pre pared with good grades in the right courses in or der to com pete for en try.

In some cases, work ing con di tions for vet er i nar i ans are less thanideal. Large fa cil i ties, for in stance, can be noisy and cha otic. Butvet er i nar i ans who work with large an i mals ex pe ri ence the mostdif fi cul ties. These prac ti tio ners spend a lot of time out doors, ex posedto all kinds of weather. There is a lot of driv ing re quired, to reach thecli en tele on farms and ranches. The hours tend to be lon ger – of tenover 50 a week – and ir reg u lar. It’s not un usual to have to an sweremer gency calls at night or on week ends.

As you might ex pect, there is some risk for all vet er i nar i ans thatco mes from deal ing with an i mals. An i mals don’t al ways show a proper level of grat i tude for your care. There is al ways the dan ger of be ingkicked, bit ten or scratched. For tu nately, tran quil iz ers and tech nol ogyhave sig nif i cantly re duced dan ger. There are some in fec tious dis easesthat can be trans ferred be tween an i mals and hu mans, but it’s not acom mon prob lem.

Helping an i mals heal can be grat i fy ing, but some times pa tientsare be yond help. This can be hard emo tion ally. You will need to learnto deal with the stress of los ing pa tients and be able to dealsym pa thet i cally with the peo ple in volved. Pet own ers are of ten hit very hard by the loss of their be loved com pan ions. No mat ter how you’refeel ing, you’ll need to main tain your pro fes sional de meanor andpro vide un der stand ing and emo tional sup port to your cli ents.

Ad vancing your ca reer can be de mand ing. Working forgov ern ment or in dus try pro vides op por tu ni ties for pro mo tion, butthat usu ally means mov ing into var i ous lev els of man age ment. Witheach pro mo tion co mes more re spon si bil ity and more stress. Plus, thefar ther you move up the ca reer lad der, the more you will be work ingwith peo ple rather than an i mals.

Those in pri vate prac tice ex pe ri ence a dif fer ent kind of stress. Itco mes from the need to con tin u ally in vest in new fa cil i ties, equip ment

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and med i cines, while suc cess fully man ag ing a busi ness. Even thosein volved in re search can be trou bled by money is sues. Re search is afield that typ i cally re lies on grants. With out the next grant ap proval,re search co mes to a halt.

Vet er i nary med i cine is cer tainly a re spect able field, but if pres tigeis of pri mary im por tance to you, you may be dis ap pointed. Theed u ca tion and train ing can be ev ery bit as chal leng ing as that re quired for be com ing a med i cal doc tor. But many peo ple don’t re al ize that.Some peo ple mis tak enly be lieve that vet er i nar i ans get their de greesfrom tech ni cal schools. Some might even as sume that peo ple chooseto be come vet er i nar i ans be cause they’re not qual i fied to be “real”doc tor. Of course, you will know the full in vest ment, sac ri fice, andcom mit ment that went into ful fill ing your ca reer dream. But, if im ageand sta tus are very im por tant to you, you’ll need to ed u cate thosearound you in or der to gar ner the level of re spect you de sire – andde serve.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

TO BE COME A PRAC TIC ING VET ER I NAR IAN YOU WILL NEED TO EARN A DOC TOR OF

Vet er i nary Med i cine de gree (DVM or VMD) and ob tain a li cense toprac tice. It takes six to eight years fol low ing high school, to ful fill theed u ca tional re quire ments in clud ing four years at an ac cred ited col legeof vet er i nary med i cine.

Veterinary School Admissions There are only 27 ac cred itedvet er i nary med i cal col leges in the United States. Each of these schoolsmust main tain the high stan dards of ac cred i ta tion set by the Coun cilon Ed u ca tion of the Amer i can Vet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion. Be causethis is a de sir able ca reer, the num ber of ap pli cants con tin ues to risemak ing it tough to get in. Only one in three ap pli cants is ac cepted.You can in crease your odds of ac cep tance with care ful prep a ra tionstart ing early in high school.

Ad mis sion re quire ments vary among vet er i nary med i cal col leges.Not all re quire a bach e lor’s de gree, but all do re quire a sig nif i cantamount of un der grad u ate work – from 45 to 90 credit hours ofspec i fied preveterinary courses em pha siz ing the sci ences. A GPA of atleast 3.0 is re quired. Even at the schools that do not re quire a de gree,most of the stu dents ad mit ted do have a four-year un der grad u atede gree in bi o log i cal or phys i o log i cal sci ences. Those who plan to gointo pri vate prac tice find a mi nor in busi ness is use ful.

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Ap pli cants also need to score high on the Vet er i nary Ap ti tude Test(VCAT), Grad u ate Re cord Ex am i na tion (GRE), or Med i cal Col legeAd mis sion Test (MCAT).

Your strong de sire to work with an i mals is ex pected. Ac tualhands-on ex pe ri ence work ing with an i mals, es pe cially in a vet er i naryset ting, will give you a com pet i tive edge. The more for mal your workex pe ri ence, the better. For ex am ple, you’ll gain points for work ing with farm or ranch an i mals or vol un teer ing in an an i mal shel ter. But ac tu ally work ing with vet er i nar i ans or sci en tists in clin ics, ag ri busi ness, orre search would be ideal. Keep in mind, this does n’t have to be paidwork.

Most vet er i nary med i cal col leges are lo cated at state uni ver si ties.Be cause they are state-funded, strong pref er ence is given to in-stateres i dents. That can make things dif fi cult for ap pli cants liv ing in one ofthe 24 states where there are no vet er i nary schools. Some of thosestates do of fer sub si dies, but those con tracts are lim ited. And theap pli cants still have to com pete for very few open ings avail able toout-of-state stu dents.

What You Will Study Course work in vet er i nary col lege is di videdbe tween class room and lab o ra tory study. There is a strong em pha sison bi o log i cal sci ence. A typ i cal pro gram cov ers these sub jects:

Anatomy

Sys temic phys i ol ogy

Pa thol ogy

Phar ma col ogy

Mi cro bi ol ogy

Or ganic and in or ganic chem is try

Phys ics

Bio chem is try

Gen eral bi ol ogy

An i mal bi ol ogy

An i mal Nu tri tion

Ge net ics

Ver te brate em bry ol ogy

Cel lu lar bi ol ogy

Mi cro bi ol ogy

Zo ol ogy

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Lab work in cludes anat omy, bio chem is try, med i cine, and othersci en tific sub jects. Those plan ning to go into re search can earn both aDVM de gree and a Doc tor of Phi los o phy (PhD) de gree at the sametime.

Most pro grams also in clude core courses of Eng lish, the so cialsci ences, and the hu man i ties. Some col leges re quire math such ascal cu lus and sta tis tics; oth ers leave math out of the pro gram.

Af ter one or two years study ing the ba sic sci ences, a rig or ousclin i cal cur ric u lum is added to the course work. The clin i cal cur ric u lumin cludes:

Infectious and noninfectious diseases

Di ag nos tic and clin i cal pa thol ogy

Ob stet rics

Ra di ol ogy

Clin i cal med i cine

An es the si ol ogy

Sur gery

Pub lic health

Pre ven tive med i cine

Tox i col ogy

Clin i cal nu tri tion

Dur ing the last two years, stu dents ap ply their knowl edgehands-on un der the su per vi sion of a fac ulty su per vi sor. In an ac tualclin i cal set ting, you will di ag nose and treat sick an i mals, per formsur gery, do clin i cal rounds, and even deal with the an i mals’ own ers.The prac ti cal ex pe ri ence you’ll re ceive is ex ten sive and in valu able.

Upon grad u a tion, you will have spent about 4,000 hours inclass room, lab o ra tory, and clin i cal study. That does n’t in clude timespent on home work, li brary re search, and in de pend ent study. Hav ing a full so cial life or work ing even a part-time job is im prac ti cal, if notim pos si ble, if you ex pect to suc cess fully com plete your ed u ca tion.

Getting Licensed All states and the Dis trict of Co lum bia re quirevet er i nar i ans to be li censed be fore they can prac tice. There are someex cep tions for vet er i nar i ans work ing for fed eral and state gov ern mentagen cies. Ev ery one else needs to have a DVM de gree and pass ana tional board exam such as the North Amer i can Vet er i nary Li censing

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Exam (NAVLE) and the Clin i cal Com pe tency Test (CCT). The NAVLE isad min is tered by com puter and is de signed to test vet er i nary med i calknowl edge as well as di ag nos tic skills. About 85 per cent pass thisexam.

Most states also re quire ad di tional test ing on clin i cal com pe tencyand knowl edge of the is su ing state’s laws and reg u la tions. If you move your prac tice to an other state at any time, you will prob a bly have totake an other exam.

Specialties Vet er i nary grad u ates can choose to go into prac tice or to con tinue their ed u ca tion in a spe cial ized area of vet er i nary med i cine.Some of the pos si bil i ties in clude work ing with spe cific types of an i mals such as ex otic small an i mals, horses, or lab o ra tory an i mals. Clin i calspe cial ties in clude sur gery, pa thol ogy, ra di ol ogy, in ter nal med i cine,der ma tol ogy, an es the si ol ogy, neu rol ogy, car di ol ogy, andoph thal mol ogy.

Spe cialty train ing in cludes a one-year in tern ship. In terns re ceiveonly a small sti pend, but when the in tern ship is com pleted they canex pect their ex pe ri ence to trans late into higher start ing sal a ries.

Board cer tif i ca tion is avail able in 20 spe cialty fields. To be cer ti fied, a res i dency of two to five years is re quired. Only af ter this in ten sivetrain ing is com plete are vet er i nar i ans el i gi ble to sit for the spe cial istli cens ing exam.

Those go ing into re search or teach ing will need at least a mas ter’s de gree, and in most cases a PhD de gree is re quired.

Continuing Education About half of the states have con tin u inged u ca tion re quire ments for vet er i nar i ans to main tain their li censes.Some will man date that you at tend spe cific classes, oth ers will al lowyou to prove your knowl edge of med i cal and vet er i nary ad vance ments through test ing. But even if your state does n’t re quire con tin u inged u ca tion, it’s im por tant to keep up with sci en tific news. There arerapid ad vance ments be ing de vel oped in tech niques, pro ce dures,equip ment, and treat ments. All vet er i nar i ans should stay cur rent byread ing sci en tific jour nals and at tend ing pro fes sional meet ings andsem i nars.

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EARNINGS

VET ER I NAR IANS EN JOY STA BLE EM PLOY MENT AND EARN A GOOD LIV ING. BUT THIS

pro fes sion will be the most sat is fy ing if your choice is based onfol low ing your heart’s de sire rather than mak ing money.

How much you can ex pect to earn de pends on a va ri ety of fac torsin clud ing where you work, for whom you work, whether you areself-em ployed (in pri vate prac tice), and how many years of ex pe ri enceyou have. Over all, the me dian an nual in come for all vet er i nar i ans isabout $75,000 with the high est 10 per cent earn ing more than$150,000.

Starting out, new vet er i nar ian med i cal school grads earn anav er age sal ary of $50,000. The av er age start ing sal ary for those go inginto pri vate prac tice is $45,000. For those en ter ing mil i tary ser vice, the av er age start ing sal ary is about $50,000. Going into teach ing at auni ver sity has the low est en try level sal ary at only $22,500 while thehigh est sal a ries are en joyed by those who take po si tions in thein dus trial sec tor. Those newly li censed vet er i nar i ans start out earn ing$75,000 on av er age.

In ter est ingly, the size of the an i mals be ing treated seems to havean im pact on the size of the pay check. Ac cord ing to the Amer i canVet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion, the av er age start ing sal ary for thosework ing pre dom i nantly with small an i mals is $45,000 while work ingwith large an i mals low ers that to $40,000. The low est start ing sal ary is re ceived for work ing with horses. That av er age sal ary starts at only$30,000, but it also has the most po ten tial for growth. Ex pe ri encedequine vet er i nar i ans av er age $85,000.

With a few years of ex pe ri ence, earn ings for most vet er i nar i ansin crease con sid er ably. These are the av er age earn ings af ter 6-10 invet er i nary prac tice:

Pri vate prac tice $75,000

Com mer cial and In dus trial $110,000

Lo cal, state, and fed eral gov ern ment agen cies $65,000

Mil i tary ser vice $60,000

Ag ri cul tural $60,000

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OPPORTUNITIES

JOBS FOR VET ER I NAR I ANS WILL CON TINUE TO GROW FOR THE FORE SEE ABLE

fu ture. Most open ings oc cur when vet er i nar i ans reach re tire ment ageand leave the work force. The pet pop u la tion is n’t grow ing, but lookhow many an i mals there are to care for:

53 million dogs

59 mil lion cats

13 mil lion birds

55.6 mil lion fish

5.7 mil lion rab bits and fer rets

4.8 mil lion ro dents

3.5 mil lion rep tiles

4 mil lion plea sure horses

From ger bils to Appaloosas, there are nearly two bil lion an i malsbe ing kept as com pan ions. Those are just the pets. Then there arelive stock and other food an i mals, work ing an i mals, ex otic an i mals inzoos and wild life parks, and lab o ra tory an i mals.

Now con sider this: There are still only 27 vet er i nary schools.Com pe ti tion to get into one of these schools is tough, but once yougrad u ate the job out look is very good.

De mand for vet er i nary ser vices is on the up swing. Most peo plenow make sure their pets have reg u lar healthcare. Many are morein clined to spend money on ad vanced and in ten sive care than petown ers in the past. New tech nol ogy and more ag gres sive mar ket ingprac tices have con trib uted to the de mand for spe cialty ser vices.Twenty years ago, ser vices like pre ven tive den tal care for dogs wasun heard of. Now pet own ers are will ing to pay for all kinds of ser vicesfrom mas sage to cat a ract sur gery.

Most vet er i nar i ans prac tice in small clin ics or an i mal hos pi tals andcare pri mar ily for small pets. About 30 per cent are self-em ployedei ther in solo or group prac tice. The rest are em ployed by othervet er i nary prac tices.

There will al ways be a de mand for vet er i nar i ans in the ag ri cul turalin dus try. Ad vance ments in sci ence and tech nol ogy are keep ing foodan i mals healthy and in less need for treat ment, but they still needreg u lar vac ci na tions and health main te nance. How ever, the job

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pros pects for vet er i nar i ans who spe cial ize in farm an i mals are grow ing be cause most vet er i nary med i cal col lege grad u ates pre fer to work incit ies rather than ru ral or iso lated ar eas. There is grow ing de mand forvet er i nar i ans who keep up with the lat est sci en tific meth ods ofbreed ing and rais ing live stock, poul try, and fish.

There is strong sup port for pub lic health and food safety. Stateand fed eral gov ern ments, med i cal schools, and re search lab o ra to riesneed vet er i nar i ans to make sure the food we eat is safe, to con trol thespread of an i mal-borne dis eases, and con duct bio med i cal re search onhu man health prob lems. Vet er i nar ians with post grad u ate train ing inpub lic health and ep i de mi ol ogy have the best chance of work ing forthe fed eral gov ern ment.

Other job op por tu ni ties ex ist at vet er i nary col leges, an i mal foodcom pa nies, and phar ma ceu ti cal com pa nies. There are a fewop por tu ni ties to work for zoos, but not di rectly. Zoo vet er i nar i ans areusu ally self-em ployed pri vate prac ti tio ners who con tract their ser viceson a yearly ba sis.

Em ploy ment pros pects are the best for vet er i nar i ans with one ofthe board-cer ti fied spe cial ties. The stron gest growth ar eas for jobs inthis pro fes sion in clude mo lec u lar bi ol ogy, lab o ra tory an i mal med i cine,tox i col ogy, im mu nol ogy, di ag nos tic pa thol ogy, en vi ron men talmed i cine, aquaculture, and com par a tive med i cal re search.

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GETTING STARTED

YOU SPENT FOUR YEARS IN COL LEGE. THEN YOU BEAT THE COM PE TI TION AND got into vet er i nary school. Four years later, you’ve grad u ated, passedthe ex ams, and have a li cense to prac tice. It’s time to put all this goodtrain ing to good use.

The first place to look for a job is at your vet er i nary school.Po ten tial em ploy ers rou tinely let schools know when they need to fillpo si tions. Your school’s job place ment of fice will have a cur rent list ofjob open ings. It’s com mon for grad u ates to join prac tices where theyhave worked as as sis tants dur ing vet er i nary col lege. In your third orfourth year, start check ing with your guid ance coun selor for theseop por tu ni ties.

Net working is an ex cel lent way to find your first job. Through outvet er i nary col lege, you’ll be work ing with ex pe ri enced vet er i nar i answho can help you when you grad u ate. You can also make valu ablecon tacts while do ing vol un teer work.

Pro fes sional or ga ni za tions and jour nals are also good sources forjob leads. The Amer i can Vet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion (AVMA) hasthe best place ment ser vice – and it’s on line. There are also quite a fewAVMA-al lied vet er i nary as so ci a tions with job boards as well.

Em ployers gen er ally do not re quire a vet er i nar ian to com plete anin tern ship. How ever, it is a good way to get started while gain ingvalu able ex pe ri ence. New grad u ates will find in tern ships andres i den cies at vet er i nary col leges, large pri vate prac tices, and pub licvet er i nary fa cil i ties.

The fed eral gov ern ment is prob a bly the sin gle big gest em ployer of vet er i nar i ans. New grad u ates don’t need ex pe ri ence or spe cial train ing to land jobs as meat and poul try in spec tors or dis ease con trol work ersfor the US Pub lic Health Ser vice or the mil i tary. Look on line or in theyel low pages for the near est Of fice of Per son nel Man age ment.

Many col leges and uni ver si ties em ploy grad u ates as stu dentin struc tors. They also hire vet er i nary spe cial ists for both teach ing andre search. Your col lege place ment of fice will have de tails on thesepo si tions.

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ASSOCIATIONS

� Amer i can Vet er i nary Med i cal As so ci a tion

http://www.avma.org/

� As so ci a tion of Vet er i nary Med i cal Col leges

http://aavmc.org

� As so ci a tion for Women Vet er i nar ians

www.awv-women-vet er i nar i ans.org/

� Vet er i nary Emer gency and Crit i cal Care So ci ety

http://www.veccs.org

� Amer i can As so ci a tion of Zoo Vet er i nar ians

http://www.aazv.org/

� Na tional As so ci a tion of Fed eral Vet er i nar ians

http://us ers.erols.com/nafv/

� Jour nal of Equine Vet er i nary Sci ence

http://www.j-evs.com/

PERIODICALS

� Amer i can Jour nal of Vet er i nary Re search

http://www.avma.org/pub li ca tions/de fault.asp

� The Fed eral Vet er i nar ian

http://us ers.erols.com/nafv/fedvet.htm

WEB SITES

� Amer i can Board of Vet er i nary Prac ti tio ners

http://www.abvp.com

� Amer i can Board of Vet er i nary Tox i col ogy

http://www.abvt.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Lab o ra tory An i mal Med i cine

http://www.aclam.org

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� Amer i can Col lege of Poul try Vet er i nar ians

http://www.acpv.info

� Amer i can Col lege of Theriogenologists

http://www.theriogenology.org/

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary An es the si ol o gists

http://www.acva.org/

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Der ma tol ogy

http://www.acvd.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Emer gency and Crit i cal

Care

www.acvecc.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary In ter nal Med i cine

http://www.acvim.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Mi cro bi ol o gists

http://www.vetmed.au burn.edu/acvm

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Nu tri tion

www.acvn.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Oph thal mol o gists

http://www.acvo.com

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Pa thol o gists

http://www.acvp.org/

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Pre ven tive Med i cine

http://www.acvpm.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Ra di ol ogy

http://www.acvr.ucdavis.edu/

� Amer i can Col lege of Vet er i nary Sur geons

http://www.acvs.org

� Amer i can Col lege of Zoo log i cal Med i cine

http://www.aczm.net

COPYRIGHT 2009 In sti tute For Ca reer Re search CHICAGOCAREERS INTERNET DATABASE www.ca reers-internet.org

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