Veterinary Medicine Schools
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Veterinarians play a major role in the healthcare of pets, livestock, and zoo, sporting, and laboratory animals. They have graduated from schools of veterinary medicine and veterinary colleges around the world. Some veterinarians use their skills to protect humans against diseases carried by animals and conduct clinical research on human and animal health problems. While attending veterinary medicine schools you can choose to specialize in certain areas, similar to human medicine. Others work in basic research, broadening the scope of fundamental theoretical knowledge and, in applied research, developing new ways to use knowledge. Veterinary schools or veterinarian schools can be found worldwide and you are limited only by your ability to choose one.
Veterinarians often work long hours. Those in group practices may take turns being on call for evening, night, or weekend work; and solo practitioners can work extended and weekend hours, responding to emergencies or squeezing in unexpected appointments. The work setting often can be noisy.
Veterinarians held about 58,000 jobs in 2002. About 28 percent were self-employed in solo or group practices. Most others were salaried employees of another veterinary practice. The Federal Government employed about 1,100 civilian veterinarians, chiefly in the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. Other employers of veterinarians are State and local governments, colleges of veterinary medicine, medical schools, research laboratories, animal food companies, and pharmaceutical companies. A few veterinarians work for zoos, but most veterinarians caring for zoo animals are private practitioners who contract with zoos to provide services, usually on a part-time basis.
Prospective veterinarians must graduate from a 4-year program at an accredited college of veterinary medicine with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M. or V.M.D.) degree and obtain a license to practice. There are 28 colleges in 26 States that meet accreditation standards set by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The prerequisites for admission vary by veterinary medical college. Many of these colleges do not require a bachelor’s degree for entrance, but all require a significant number of credit hours—ranging from 45 to 90 semester hours—at the undergraduate level. However, most of the students admitted have completed an undergraduate program. Applicants without a bachelor’s degree face a difficult task gaining admittance.
Median annual earnings of veterinarians were $63,090 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $49,050 and $85,770. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $38,000, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $123,370.
Taken in part from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos076.htm.
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