For people who love animals and science, becoming a veterinarian may be a good choice. These health care providers have doctor's degrees in veterinary medicine, ranging from domestic pets and farm animals to aquatic animals and zoo animals. During their doctoral education, they learned how to take care of all kinds of non-human creatures.
"You can learn about animals of all sizes," said Dr. Jim Carlson, a veterinarian outside Chicago, who provides various traditional and alternative therapies for animals.
Carlson said: "One thing is unique in our profession, because we have a basic understanding of all animals, from ants to elephants."
Dr Tony Demarco is a veterinarian at Lee Summit in Missouri, a branch of GoodVets, a national network of animal hospitals. He wrote in an e-mail: "The first thing I may do when I wake up in the morning is to see a newborn puppy and then evaluate whether a sick cat needs surgery."
Demarco pointed out that in the veterinary field, communication may be a challenge.
"Veterinarians are often compared to pediatricians because our patients can't talk to us," he said. "We often have to cooperate with the owner to carry out some diagnostic work, and infer the health problems of the pet from the pet's medical history, behavior and symptoms."
Dr Becky Kurul, a veterinarian and owner of a veterinary clinic in Wisconsin, said that veterinarians need to be good at interacting with people and animals.
Crull wrote in an email: "I take it for granted to love animals, but what people often overlook is that you must be a sociable person." Each of my pet patients has a related person who is paying for animal health. You need to be able to communicate effectively and provide value for your service. "
How to enter veterinary school
Experts say that in order to be a competitive veterinary school applicant, you must complete all the required courses in the target school, and it is very important to know that different veterinary schools have different required courses.
Dr Robin Solomon is a licensed veterinarian in new york. He wrote a chapter about this profession for Medical Hero: A Guide to Medical Profession. He pointed out that in order to obtain the qualification of veterinary school, it is usually necessary to study basic sciences such as advanced mathematics, biology and chemistry, as well as undergraduate courses in animal science.
The American Veterinary Association pointed out in its guide 10 1 for people who want to become veterinarians that you don't need to study a specific university major to qualify for veterinary school. The association advises applicants from veterinary schools to emphasize their experience in dealing with animals and to cultivate and develop their own leadership and communication skills.
The association added that to be a competitive applicant, solid grades are essential, but it also warned that veterinary schools do not expect applicants to have a perfect GPA. The association said: "Although the GPA of 4.0 will certainly help your application, it is not absolutely necessary."
According to the association, participating in 4-H, the National FFA Organization (formerly known as Farmers for the Future of America) and other similar organizations is a "good experience" for applicants of veterinary schools. The association pointed out that volunteering in animal shelters or animal rescue agencies is also the same, adding that volunteering or working for veterinarians is "very important".
The association said on its website: "This will not only expose you to some potential careers in this field (that is, you know what you will do), but also provide you with good recommendations from veterinarians." The association explained that if you gain experience in research laboratories or work with veterinarians who treat different kinds of animals, "this is an added benefit, and you will become more attractive to the admissions committee of veterinary schools."
Dr Brian Collins is a veterinarian at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in new york. He said that when evaluating applicants, they will look for various qualities in them.
He wrote in an e-mail: "Half of our admission examination is to ensure that applicants have an academic background to successfully complete our courses. Scientific curiosity, compassion, empathy, adaptability, problem-solving ability and ability to get along with others are other qualities that we value and hope to find in applicants. "
Krull thinks that showing positive personality characteristics is a way to improve the admission rate of veterinary schools.
She said: "Some schools also arrange personal interviews, so you must have enough personality charm to convince the interviewer that you are the right person. Due to the sharp increase in job burnout, sympathy fatigue and suicide rate, schools may now pay more attention to students with adaptability, courage and self-care ability, which are necessary for school study and professional survival. "
Most veterinary schools require applicants to submit GRE general test scores, and some schools also require applicants to take the GRE test in biology. Sometimes you can submit the entrance exam results of MCAT medical college instead of GRE general exam, but it depends on the respective enrollment policies of veterinary schools.
The American Association of Veterinary Colleges provides a free online tool called "Introduction to Students", which future veterinary students can use to find out what qualifications students in various veterinary colleges usually need.
When you enter veterinary school, you can expect it.
Experts say that students in veterinary schools will study a series of courses related to animal health.
"In the course of veterinary school," Solomon wrote in an email, "it includes anatomy and physiology of many species (cats, dogs, horses, cattle and exotic species), nutrition, microbiology, infectious diseases, internal medicine and surgery. In addition, there are elective courses such as aquatic products and zoo animal medicine, endangered species protection, rehabilitation medicine and oriental medicine (such as acupuncture). "
Krull described the amount of materials that veterinary students need to absorb as "astronomical figures", because students must know all kinds of species, and most species are divided into male and female. "Being a veterinary student is a hard struggle, but it is also worthwhile," she said.
Experts say that veterinary schools include not only science courses, but also clinical skills training.
Collins said: "From beginning to end, students must learn to diagnose and treat various diseases, not only dogs, cats, cows and horses, but also exotic pets such as birds, reptiles and amphibians."
Collins described veterinary education as "a full-time job" and said that students can spend a lot of time in class, laboratory and study.
"Having said that, our students take part in many extracurricular activities, most of which are clubs related to the veterinary industry," he said.
Steps to becoming a veterinarian
Veterinary medical education experts emphasize that veterinary education is often very strict, but they say that the study workload of veterinary schools is controllable for diligent and intelligent students.
Dr Carmen Fuentelba, Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine of Long Island University in new york, said that students who have achieved excellent results in universities and high schools should not be afraid to go to veterinary schools because they have proved themselves academically.
She said, "When you go to veterinary school, you won't have any reason not to succeed."
The course of veterinary school usually lasts for four years, and the students majoring in veterinary medicine usually have a bachelor's degree, which means that the road to enter the veterinary industry is long. Determined to be a veterinarian, they will study in university for 4 years, study in veterinary school for 4 years, and get a doctor's degree in veterinary medicine (D.V.M), so they will spend about 8 years to receive higher education and get relevant degrees.
In addition, those who want to specialize in a specific field of veterinary medicine, such as surgery or pathology, usually seek additional training through veterinary practice and internship programs after graduation from veterinary school. For these people, it is normal to receive more than ten years of education after graduating from high school.
"Advanced training programs, such as internships and residency, are not mandatory," Collins explained. "The resident plan allows veterinarians to receive advanced training and certification in clinical disciplines."
Collins added that successful completion of internship is a prerequisite for most residency programs.
Although some people can become veterinarians without completing veterinary internship or hospitalization internship, they must have a veterinary license.
Collins said: "Certified graduates of the American Veterinary College must obtain a license in the state where they intend to practice. The specific application procedure is decided by the state. " He added: "The most important condition for obtaining a license is to successfully complete a veterinary degree and pass the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE)."
Is veterinary school worth attending?
The road to veterinary education is not only long and arduous, but also expensive.
According to the data of American Veterinary Association, the average educational debt of American veterinary school graduates who found full-time jobs before graduation 20 19 years ago is about15,000 dollars. In addition, their average starting salary is much lower, only less than $85 thousand.
Veterinary experts say that making money is usually not the main motivation to enter this field. Demarco said: "Money is a sensitive topic, especially in the nursing industry. We are usually more willing to solve medical problems than financial problems."
Demarco said: "To be honest, the ratio of wages to debts is very low, but veterinarians usually don't choose to enter the veterinary field because they think it is profitable."
Students in veterinary schools must understand that veterinarians usually earn much less than doctors. According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary of Americans is $6,700. From 2065438 to May 2008, the salary of American veterinarians was $93,830, and that of internal medicine and surgeons was more than $208,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2028, the number of veterinarians employed in the United States will be 18% higher than that in 20 18 years. This is much higher than the average expected growth rate of all industries in the United States, because the average expected growth rate of all industries is only 5%.
Katie, a general veterinarian in Colorado? Dr Woodley introduced holistic treatment into her practice. She said that one of the advantages of the veterinary profession is that there are many different types of jobs in the veterinary field. Therefore, veterinary practitioners can choose their own career path.
Solomon said that when people think of veterinarians, most people imagine that the career path is a general practitioner who takes care of personal pets, but veterinarians may treat small animals, food animals or exotic animals.
In addition, although most veterinarians work in private clinics, not all veterinarians do. "Veterinarians can also be found in research, public health, military and regulatory departments, such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," Solomon wrote in an email.
Demarco said that the employment prospects in the veterinary field are positive. "There are many potential career paths, from small animal doctors to national health inspectors, from researchers to ambulance veterinarians and so on."
In addition, according to the data of Veterinary Association, 22 kinds of professional veterinarians have received veterinary training outside veterinary schools, developed professional skills in a specific field of veterinary medicine, and passed the examination in this field.
For example, poultry veterinarians are experts in caring for turkeys, chickens and ducks, while thermal geneticists focus on animal reproduction.
Although the occupations in the veterinary field are diversified, including many types of work, almost every veterinary major has one thing in common, that is, it needs to complete a lot of intellectually demanding work. Krull pointed out that the veterinary field is a challenging field. "The longer you work, the more cases you contact and the more things you need to know."