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Job Report Urban and Veterinarians
Nature of the Work
Veterinarians care for pets and livestock, treat sporting animals, and protect the
public from exposure to animal diseases. Many enter the field because they like working
with animals. Typically, veterinarians diagnose medical problems in their animal patients,
perform surgery, and prescribe and administer medicines and drugs.
Most veterinarians engage in private practice and treat small companion animals
such as dogs, cats, and birds. Many veterinarians concentrate on larger food animals or
have a mixed practice of both large and small animals.
Companion animal medicine encompasses the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
of pet diseases--typically found in dogs and cats. Veterinarians in this field provide these
services in animal hospitals or clinics.
Food animal veterinarians specialize in the health care needs of cattle, poultry,
swine, fish, and sheep. They provide preventive care by advising ranchers and farmers on
the proper care and management of livestock.
The type of practice varies by geographic region. Veterinarians in rural areas are
more likely to work with livestock and horses than those in metropolitan centers. Since
pets are found everywhere, however, very few veterinarians work exclusively with large
animals.
A number of veterinarians engage in research, food safety inspection, or education.
It is not generally understood that veterinarians contribute to human as well as animal
health care. Veterinarians may join physicians and scientists in carrying out research at an
academic medical center, for example, and explore such topics as techniques of organ
transplantation or the efficacy of a new drug.
Some veterinarians are in regulatory medicine or public health. They inspect food,
investigate outbreaks of disease,and work in scientific laboratories. Veterinarians help
prevent the outbreak and spread of animal diseases, some of which--like rabies--can be
transmitted to human beings.
Protection of the population from environmental hazards is a major concern of the
small but significant number of veterinarians who specialize in toxicology or animal
pathology. Although there have been impressive successes in controlling diseases
transmitted through food animals, changing technology and more complex methods of food
production present new threats to food safety. Residues from herbicides, pesticides, and
antibiotics used in food production pose a particular problem. Scientific advances in
livestock production have, paradoxically, created a need for veterinarians capable of
dealing with contamination of the food chain by toxic chemicals.
Some veterinarians teach in veterinary colleges, work in zoos or animal laboratories,
or engage in a combination of clinical and research activities.
Working Conditions
Veterinarians usually treat pet animals in hospitals and clinics. Those in large animal
practice usually work out of well-equipped mobile clinics and drive considerable distances
between farms and ranches to care for their animal patients. Through their interaction with
diseased animals, veterinarians can be exposed to injury, disease, and infection if
precautions are not exercised.
Those in private practice often work long hours, and food animal veterinarians may
work outdoors in all kinds of weather. Self-employed veterinarians set their own schedules
and may work nights and weekends.
Employment
Veterinarians held about 48,000 jobs in 1990. Most were in private practice. The
Federal Government employed about 2,000 veterinarians in civilian jobs, chiefly in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Public Health Service. Other important employers
of veterinarians are State and local governments, international health agencies, colleges
of veterinary medicine, medical schools, research laboratories, livestock farms, animal food
companies and pharmaceutical companies.
Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement
All States and the District of Columbia require that veterinarians be licensed. To
obtain a license, applicants must have a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M. or V.M.D.)
degree from an accredited college of veterinary medicine and pass written and, in most
States, oral State board proficiency examinations. Some States issue licenses without
further examination to veterinarians already licensed by another State.
For veterinarians seeking positions in research and teaching, an additional master's
or Ph.D. degree usually is required. (About one-fifth of all students enrolled in veterinary
programs are pursuing advanced degrees.) Increasingly, academic positions require
specialty board certification as well. Veterinarians who seek specialty board certification
in a field such as pathology, preventive medicine, toxicology, or laboratory animal medicine
must complete an approved residency program, pass the board's examination, and meet
any other board requirements.
The D.M.V. or V.M.D. degree requires a minimum of 6 years of college consisting
of at least 2 years of preveterinary study that emphasizes the physical and biological
sciences and a 4-year professional degree program. Most successful applicants have
completed 4 years of college. In addition to rigorous academic instruction, professional
training includes considerable practical experience in diagnosing and treating animal
diseases, performing surgery, and performing laboratory work in anatomy, biochemistry,
and other scientific and medical subjects.
In 1990, all 27 colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States were accredited
by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
Admission to these schools is highly competitive. Although the number of applicants had
decreased in recent year, there are more qualified applicants than the schools can accept.
Serious applicants usually need grades of "B" or better, especially in science courses; and
some programs require applicants to take either the Veterinary Aptitude Test, or the
Graduate Record Examination. Experience in part-time or summer jobs working with
animals is advantageous. Colleges usually give preference to residents of the State in
which the college is located, because these schools are largely State supported. In the
South and West, regional educational plans permit cooperating States without veterinary
schools to send students to designated regional schools. In other areas, colleges that
accept out-of-State students give priority to applicants from nearby States that do not have
veterinary schools.
Veterinary medical education is expensive. However, students in veterinary
programs are often able to obtain guaranteed student loans from the Federal Government
to help meet educational expenses. The average 1990 graduate had a debt of over
$25,000.
A small number of veterinarians receive their training in another country. To meet
State licensure requirements, foreign-trained veterinarians must fulfill the English language
and clinical evaluation requirements of the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary
Graduates. About one-third of all applicants pass this examination.
Most veterinarians begin as employees or partners in established practices. Those
who can afford the substantial investment needed for drugs, instruments, and other startup
costs may set up their own practices. An even greater investment is needed to open an
animal hospital or purchase an established practice.
Newly trained veterinarians may qualify for civilian jobs with the U.S. Government
as meat and poultry inspectors, disease-control workers, epidemiologists, research
assistants, or commissioned officers in the U.S. Public Health Service. A license usually
is not required for Federal employment.
Job Outlook
Employment of veterinarians is expected to grow much faster than the average for
all occupations through the year 2000, primarily because of demand for veterinary services.
Modest growth in the companion and food animal populations, emphasis on scientific
methods of raising and breeding livestock and poultry, and continued support for public
health and disease control programs will contribute to employment demand. Many
veterinarians will find jobs arising from the need to replace those who stop working.
Veterinary school enrollments have grown extremely fast over the last 20 years.
Although enrollment levels are expected to decline slightly through the year 2000, the
number of active veterinarians could exceed demand, resulting in increased competition for
jobs, lower than anticipated earnings, or difficulty securing a salaried position.
New veterinary school graduates are expected to encounter keen competition as
they set out to establish a clinical practice. Establishing a large animal practice will be very
difficult in some places because future growth in the food animal population will be unevenly
distributed. Demand for food animal veterinarians is expected to decline in some regions.
The outlook is extremely good for veterinarians with specialty training, which
generally involves at least 2 years of formal education beyond the basic veterinary medicine
degree. Demand for specialists in toxicology, laboratory animal medicine, and pathology
is expected to remain strong, as is the demand for faculty at colleges of veterinary
medicine.
Earnings
Newly graduated veterinarians working in private practices of established
veterinarians typically earned $24,400 in 1990, according to the American Veterinary
Medical Association. After several years, salaries generally range between $42,400 and
$63,600.
Related Occupations
Veterinarians use their professional training to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease,
disorders, and injuries. Workers in other occupations who require similar skills are
audiologists, chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, physicians, podiatrists, and speech
pathologists. Other occupations that involve working with animals include zoologists,
marine biologists, and naturalists.
Sources of Additional Information
A pamphlet entitled Today's Veterinarian discusses career opportunities in veterinary
medicine and lists accredited colleges of veterinary medicine. A free copy may be obtained
by submitting a request, together with a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope,
to:
American Veterinary Medical Association, 930 N. Meacham Rd.,
Schaumburg, IL 60196.
For information on scholarships, grants, and loans, contact the financial aid officer
at the veterinary schools to which you wish to apply.
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