Essay Sample: What It Is Really Like to Become a Veterinarian?

Do you have a pet? Did you know that all around the world, the dog, the most popular pet, is also the most examined pet in a veterinary clinic? In the United States alone, 84.9 million (67%) of  households have at least one pet. Going to a veterinarian can be an interesting experience, depending on the concern of the pet.  Choosing to become a Veterinarian as a future career could be interesting.  Learning more about the education needed, the different types of veterinarians out there, and the challenges and rewards of being a vet, will be key to making this informed career decision.

So what is a veterinarian and what is the education needed to become a veterinarian? A veterinarian is a doctor for animals. They are like a “normal” doctor you would see, but they specialize in care for your pets. They check your pet’s heart, listen to their lungs, check their temperature, etc. Xello states that “They vaccinate and provide check-ups to make sure animals stay healthy.” What is the education needed? Research indicates that the number of total years of schooling is between four (4) and ten (10) years. There is a broad range of years indicated due to the fact that different fields or specialties you can go into as a vet have extra years of necessary education. The first four years of schooling is for the standard four year college degree. Also according to Xello, becoming a veterinarian  “ takes 4 years to complete vet school. At the end, you earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. After getting a DVM degree, you can specialize in an area of veterinary medicine. Options include surgery, radiology, or laboratory animal medicine.” While completing your initial four year degree, you may major in the area of zoology or animal biology, or some other biology related animal study. During this time, you may start looking at different schools of interest to get your DVM degree, or Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, which takes another two to three years to complete, depending on which state you live in. Some of the areas you can specialize in once you obtain your DVM degree include: surgery, radiology, or laboratory animal medicine. These specific areas required another one to two year internship. If you want to become a certified specialist, you must also complete a three or four year residency program. The final step is passing a national board exam in order to become a licensed veterinarian.

So what exactly are some specialities you can go into as a veterinarian? Specialities for veterinarians can be something as little as specializing in dental care, to something as major as anesthesiology. There are even “veterinary specialists who work exclusively in both emergency rooms and intensive care units to care for animals that are often the "sickest of the sick".” Individuals have fairly easy access to education for the many different specialties that any veterinarian can choose from. For example, Harris Pet Hospital, has a couple vets that specialize in surgery and others specialize in pet dermatology. This is helpful for pet owners, as each pet is different. They can have the experience of different vets that are highly trained and have specific knowledge in their specialty. They will get details and not generic overviews of their pet’s needs. There are many kinds of veterinarians that work in many different facilities. For example, there is a type of veterinarian that works in a zoo, and they are called a zoological veterinarian. In 2017, The American Veterinary Medical Association stated “Although the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians dates to 1946, and the American College of Zoological Medicine to 1983, having multiple veterinarians on staff was not common at major U.S. zoos until recently.” The only differences between a normal veterinarian and a zoological veterinarian is: (1) They work in a zoo, and (2) They really only work with exotic animals at the zoo, like the lions and elephants.

What are the challenges and the rewards of being a veterinarian? According to some vets, “You never know what you're going to get”. Vets across the country and world can agree that one rewarding aspect is that “challenge case.” This could mean a hard concern that they may not be able to figure out medically, or even the patient not cooperating very well. It can be rewarding when the patient can finally cooperate or when the vet can figure out what is medically wrong and to get the patient better. “This is one of the most rewarding parts of the job: helping a creature that came to your clinic in a bad condition and using your abilities to improve its health and help it get better.” One challenging thing about being a veterinarian is getting overwhelmed very easily. This job, like many other jobs, can be very stressful and overwhelming when it can get busy. In any job, employees will often agree that when work gets really busy, it can be frustrating and overwhelming. Another challenge that is a no brainer, especially with the career I chose to write about, is euthanasia. “There might even be instances when you’ll need to perform euthanasia to free patients from unnecessary suffering. These events can leave you emotionally broken; over time, you might experience “compassion fatigue”, a term that’s used to define a set of emotions that can range from being highly sensitive to the slightest events to feeling numb about what’s going on around you.” This can be difficult for everyone involved, even if it is someone’s pet that you are not super close to. It is always hard to lose a pet, whether it is your own pet, or a client’s pet. Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that we have to deal with.

As you can see, if you love animals, being a veterinarian can be a fun and sometimes stressful job, but worth doing, and you can focus on a specific area or speciality if you choose. Like any job, there can be hardships, as well as a “fun side” of being a veterinarian. Even though it may take someone a long road to get there, in the end, it could be a rewarding career.