Exploring the Benefits of Being a Veterinarian

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There’s no roundabout to this, as all animal lovers might now, veterinarians are heroes. 

For anyone who considers their pets as part of the family, them having good medical attention is crucial, even if they try to hide from the vet. That’s why it is one of the most popular careers for those who love animals and want the best for our furry (or scaly) friends. 

But that’s not all. You see, the perks of being a veterinarian go beyond playing with puppies and kittens all day. So, what are the benefits of being a veterinarian?

Without further ado, here are the pros of being a veterinarian:

• Helping all types of animals
• The variety of careers as a veterinarian 
• Enjoying a high veterinarian salary and job security
• Opening a private practice 

An animal lover’s dream job

Everyone has a favorite animal, and if you’re thinking of joining the veterinary profession, you might get to work closely with yours. Vets are often required in various settings and locations, whether running their own private practice or tending to a zoo’s exotic species. They get to care for several types of animals. 

No matter where they choose to work, similar to medical professions, vets get to enjoy a particular pro: they get to impact their community directly. Vets get to know people in their community by virtue of being there in the good and bad moments. Whenever someone gets a puppy, they visit the vet for a check up; when someone has to suffer a pet’s loss, families turn to vets for comfort. Indubitably, it is a tough job at times, but there’s a balance between the sad stuff and the wagging tails.

The different careers as a veterinarian

Veterinarians don’t only work as medical care physicians for household pets. And there are more careers beyond simply working at a clinic. Similar to other healthcare jobs, they can take many different paths in their professional endeavors, from examining and treating to becoming an animal surgeon and even designing public health programs involving animals.

A short list of veterinarian jobs:

• Companion animal veterinarians: Doctors of Veterinary Medicine (DVMs) who provide treatment for pets.
• Food animal veterinarians: Vets who test and treat farm animals raised as food sources against diseases.
• Food safety and inspection veterinarians: Those who design public health programs and test livestock for major animal diseases to avoid the spread to humans.
• Vet assistants: They are not vets, though they are essential to hospital teams, assisting in surgeries and handling animals. 
• Vet technicians:  Even though they’re also not DVMs, they are authorized to provide some services, like emergency aid.

The positive outlook of a veterinarian salary

Veterinarian services is a booming and high-paying industry.

According to the Labor Bureau of Statistics, the expected growth for this decade is 17%, much faster than the average for all occupations. Not only that, their annual income is about $100,370, or $48.26 per hour.

But there’s a catch. Like many other healthcare professions, they need to complete their education to practice. To become a vet, you must study for a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM or VMD) degree at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. Still, admissions are competitive since there are only 33 accredited colleges around the country, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Besides that, many of these colleges require a bachelor’s, and after they finish their DVM program, they need their state’s licensing.

The low number of graduates has made some alarms ring, with some publications discussing a vet shortage. The AVMA published their findings, where they found that during 2020 there wasn’t a pet boom like the media reported, but there was an uptick in consultations. 

Working conditions: private practice vs. hospital

As with any job, there’s more to it than the funny, romanticized parts. That is to say that vets don’t spend their whole day playing with puppies and kitties. Being a vet can be a little closer to being an entrepreneur and performing an extreme job.

Vets must choose which career path to go down; maybe they would like to work with horses and farm animals, meaning that even if they work in a clinic or hospital, sometimes they would have to do house visits to these big animals. No matter if the vet is going out to the farms, helping some wildlife reserve, or just taking care of a sick cat, there is a level of physical activity and hazards when treating animals. 

There is another trend that might interest new graduates who are entering the workforce or those who are thinking of studying to be vets: should you start at a private or corporate practice? In 2018, Cornell University published an article weighing the pros and cons of these two options. 

In summary, as with any business, there are conflicting views on working at or even owning a private practice versus enjoying the advantages of a bigger corporation having your back. There are some interesting points to both, such as the work-life balance that a corporation might offer or even the tight-knit sense of community and the fulfillment of being your boss that venturing out on your own might bring you.

All in all, being a veterinarian is a rewarding career with a promising future full of happy purrs and wags of tails.

Contributed by Ana Martinez