How To Become A Veterinarian Essay

Luke Hendler

Yaros

English 7

March 9, 2017 Veterinary Medicine

Do you care for animals whenever possible? Do you like to be with all kinds of animals? A small animal veterinary job is perfect for you if you answered yes to these two questions. Veterinarians can care for many small animals, no matter what their problem. What does a small animal veterinarian do? A veterinarian can do many things. A small animal veterinarian prevents, diagnoses, and treats illnesses in small animals. Usually they treat birds, cats, dogs, fish, reptiles and other domesticated animals such as farm animals (“Small Animal Veterinarian: Salary, Duties and Requirements”).

There are many things one needs to do to become a veterinarian. There are five steps that basically

every person follows to become a practicing veterinarian.

First you need to complete the prerequisites for veterinary school. A bachelor’s degree is recommended to get into a good veterinary school. You need to get 45-90 credits in an undergraduate program at a college before you can go to an accredited veterinary school. Second, you need to apply to vet medicine program at an accredited school. Usually entrance to a school requires an admission test. The test can be the graduate record examination (G.R.E) (“Small Animal Veterinarian: Career Summary, Employment Outlook, and Education Requirements”). There are thirty veterinary medicine schools accredited in the U.S. (“Veterinary Medicine”). To apply it is easier to apply through the medical college application service because you can apply to many schools with just one application. The admission to these schools is very competitive and a strong educational background and previous animal experience gives you an advantage. Third, you need to get your Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree (D.V.M) (“Become a Small Animal Veterinarian in Five Steps”). The D.V.M usually takes four years. (“Small Animal Veterinarian: Career

Summary, Employment Outlook, and Education Requirements”). Once you are in your D.V.M. program, you will study anatomy, immunology, surgical procedures and diagnostic imaging. Fourth, once you earn your doctor of veterinarian medicine degree you need to become a licensed veterinarian. To become licensed, you need to have your D.V.M. and pass the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam. Fifth, and finally, you should work under an experienced veterinarian’s practice to get experience and, then, maybe someday you can open your own small animal veterinary practice. Two thirds of practicing veterinarians work at a clinic or privately owned practice (“Become Small Animal Veterinarian in Five Steps”).
There are also farm veterinarians. They take care of farm animals such as cows. They are mostly concerned with livestock and keeping the farm animals in good health. They also administer vaccines to prevent outbreaks of infections in animals or humans (“Veterinary Medicine”).
The average salary of a small animal veterinarian in Michigan is about 88,000 dollars a year. The estimated job growth between 2014 and 2024 is about 9%. Licensure is required in all states except for some government positions (“Small Animal Veterinarian: Salary, Duties and Requirements”). There are many other possible jobs that you can go into with your small animal veterinary medicine degree. You can work at a shelter, a zoo, an aquarium, a wild life refuge, and other programs sponsored by agencies like the U.S. Peace Corps or World Health Association (“Veterinary Medicine”). Veterinarians are very important. They help take care of our animals that we cannot take care of by ourselves. We cannot prevent, diagnose, or treat our animals because we are not trained to do so. We need veterinarians because, otherwise, we would not be able to have healthy pets. Veterinarians can do a lot of things for our pets. Without veterinarians, our pets might not even be here.