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Are you one of those who grew up wanting to become a veterinarian? You’ll be surprised to know that many children have that exact dream because honestly, who doesn’t love animals? Even if becoming a vet wasn’t on your radar, if you have pets, you surely appreciate the job of vet professionals and understand how important they are.
Though you know the top responsibility of veterinarians is taking care of animals, it’s essential to define their role, functions, and other industry insights, especially for those thinking of making a career out of their love for animals.
By definition, Veterinarians are medical professionals who are qualified to prevent, cure, and alleviate animals from disease and injuries. They can specialize in a specific type of veterinary medicine, like surgery, or even in a particular group of animals, such as horses, dogs, or wildlife. As you can see, their line of work could go beyond taking extra care of sick pets; in fact, as a type of health specialist, they often work long shifts or during emergencies.
Depending on their specialization and work field, veterinarians diagnose illnesses, prescribe medications, perform surgery, give vaccinations, and provide health care advice for pets, livestock, and other animals. But that’s not all, they can also be more oriented toward scientific duties, such as species preservation or research of animal samples for biomedical purposes.
This is probably one of the biggest questions to answer if you’re considering becoming a vet. Veterinarians’ income may vary depending on their area of specialization and workplace; most of them work in private clinics and hospitals, while others work traveling to farms or in settings such as laboratories, classrooms, or zoos.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for veterinarians is $100,370. Another promising aspect for those expecting to become a veterinarian is the projected growth of this career: the BLS predicts a 17% increase from 2020 to 2030, a much faster expansion than the average growth rate for all occupations (7%).
If another of your concerns about becoming a veterinarian is how many available jobs are out there or which areas across the U.S. have better salaries, here are some other facts to orientate your decision. According to numbers recorded by the BLS in May 2021, California, Texas, and Florida are the top 3 states with the highest level of employment. While Washington D.C. ($137,170), Connecticut ($134,050), Rhode Island ($129,880) are the top paying states for veterinarians.
In the United States, veterinarians must complete an accredited Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree; in addition, they have to be licensed in order to practice. If you choose this path, you’ll take approximately 7 to 9 years of studies, 3 to 5 years of undergraduate Bachelor’s degree education, plus 4 years of veterinary school.
As with any other health professional, becoming a vet requires dedication and hard work. This is a career path for those who truly love animals and have a genuine drive to help them.
Every journey is different, but If you’re all-in on becoming a vet, you can take a few steps toward this goal by picking the perfect college, gaining experience, and putting into practice your knowledge. Here is a guide you can use to plan your career path.
To become a veterinarian, especially if you’re coming out of high school, you must first earn a bachelor’s degree. You’ll need it to get into vet school. Though it’s not mandatory, you could try with biology or animal science majors, especially because some of its courses are prerequisites to enter the program. But if these aren’t an option, you can enroll in science courses such as biology, chemistry, physics, and math.
Suppose you want to make a strategic choice or pull up a plan aimed at a specific vet school. In that case, you can ask a counselor for guidance or check the requirements listed by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).
Once you’ve picked the program that best fits your goals and completed all its prerequisites, you can apply to vet school. To complete your application, you’ll have to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and gather recommendation letters, your resume, and essays highlighting your capabilities and candidacy.
Keep in mind that before or during this step, you can start gaining experience as a vet professional. This will help you to strengthen your application and prepare for the work you’ll do during and after vet school.
As mentioned before, becoming a vet takes time, and to obtain your Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, you’ll have to complete a four-year program. The first half of vet school usually consists of coursework and labs; you’ll start with basic science classes and then focus more on biological systems.
In the third year, you’ll start gaining more practical experience since it’s more clinically focused, but you’ll still have significant classroom time. During the last year, you’ll mostly complete clinical rotations, the perfect way to get the hands-on experience you’ll need to be a successful veterinarian.
Remember that you must be licensed to start practicing even after accrediting the entire DVM program. You’ll have to pass the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination to get your license. Because of the length (360 questions divided into 6 sections) and complexity of this exam, keep in mind this may be the most challenging part of becoming a veterinarian.
But hey, you didn’t come this far only to come this far. As hard as it seems, passing this test isn’t impossible; you need to organize your time and create an effective strategy. You can use the four years at vet school to prepare for the test or combine your study routine with the programs designed for the NAVLE.
Congratulations! If you’ve made it to this point, you will have completed the path to becoming a certified veterinarian. By this time, the only decision you’d have to make is if you want to begin an internship to gain more experience or if you prefer the specialization route, you can pursue a residence in any area of your choice.
But if any of these sound like an option and you already feel confident in your skillset, you can find an entry-level job to start practicing. Actually, the faster you apply for a job, the better, regardless of whether it’s before you’ve graduated.
Contributed by Luis Arellano
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