Becoming a Veterinarian

An interesting line of work is being a veterinarian, and though it can take a lot of schooling it can be very rewarding. Veterinarians care for the health of pets, livestock, and animals in zoos. Veterinarians are doctors who treat diseased and injured animals and give advice on how to care and breed healthy animals. The first veterinarian appeared around 2,500 B.C. in Babylon and China. There are two main types of vets. For example, there are large animal veterinarians that work with cows, horses, elephants, and numerous other large species. But there are also small animal veterinarians that work with smaller species, such as companion animals (pets). “The AMVA (American Medical Veterinary Association) says that seventy seven percent of veterinarians who work in private medical practices treat pets” (American Medical Veterinary Association). Some veterinarians help to protect humans from contracting diseases carried by animals by researching human and animal health problems. After years of college they study to make cures for animals. They perform surgery, set fractures, treat and dress wounds, deal hours with emergencies, and more.

They have different areas of expertise such as; field study to private practice. Statistically it’s harder to get into Veterinarian College than into human medical colleges (talktothevet.com). When trying to become a veterinarian, a person needs to take at least four years of college and four years of veterinary medicine school. Some veterinarian programs require, a bachelor’s degree, but most require that you have to forty five to ninety semester hours at the undergraduate program. It doesn’t mean you have to be a straight “A” student though. Pre veterinarian colleges normally require chemistry, Physics, biochemistry, general biology, animal biology, animal nutrition, genetics, vertebrate embryology, cellular biology, microbiology, zoology, and systemic physiology. Some colleges want you to take English or literature, other humanities, and social sciences. They may also require business management to help new graduates with running their own practice. A veterinarian’s job is considered a good one because they usually make a good deal of money, especially if they own their own business. The average income of veterinarians in private practice was $87,500 in 2005.

The starting salary of a veterinarian is somewhere around $46,000 per year nowadays. According to payscale.com the income for Veterinarians is $46,323 to $105,738. Although it is a wide range for a base salary, which is for basic entry level all the way up to an experienced vet with many years of dedication and hard work. But those who work for the federal government (meat inspectors) are considered to make less. There are many different places of employment for veterinarians. Some veterinarians work at zoos. These veterinarians take care of the sick or injured zoo animals. Their job is very hard because the medical problems can be multiplied greatly to the entire zoo’s species. There are also companion animal veterinarians.

They take care of the general public pets. Out of the 56,000 veterinarians in the United States, half are companion animal veterinarians. Food inspector veterinarians work at inspecting meat. They check meat for diseases, so that the people who consume the meat will not get sick. Food inspectors check about 100,000,000 animal carcasses a year, out of that about 1,000,000 pounds are condemned. There are also veterinarians that checkup on sporting animals, they help racing horses, greyhounds, ostriches, etc. Marine veterinarians are just about the same as zoo veterinarians, but they deal with water animals like whales and dolphins. Some veterinarians also work as professors, teaching college students about veterinary medicine. Other similar positions that I could consider that would give me the same satisfaction that I would have as a Veterinarian are; An animal Rescue Technician, an Animal Trainer, and possibly a Pharmacy Technician since many of the sciences that are required for study are the same.

Works Cited Page

American Medical Veterinary Association
www.talktothevet.com
www.payscale.com
Student Handbook 3 Pages 475 – 479
www.whodouwant2b.com
www.cyebeing.net/veterinarytechnician