OK – I decided
I like this videoconferencing thing. Today I went with students at my school to
a video conference with Dr. Donna Angarano who
is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Auburn University’s College of
Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Angarano is a veterinary dermatologist.
Imagine that! I didn’t even know there was such a career option. How cool is
that? I am, after all, a dog, so it is time I found out how my doctor got
trained.
With me
during the conference were freshmen, sophomores and juniors from my school as
well as a couple of classroom teachers. Here is what we found out about
becoming a vet.
What
exactly is a vet? A vet, according to Dr. A, is a biomedical scientist with a
plethora of career options. In fact, there are about 75,000 practicing vets in
the U.S. and they all work in areas that relate to both animal and human
health.
She noted that we could think of a vet as a doctor
whose practice is not limited to one species. She also noted how
important people skills were to vets. After all, most animals don’t show up at
a vet’s office on their own! Clients – those human types – bring animals to the
vets. Vets also frequently have to work as team members–while training, in
running an office or practice, and/or in conducting research, etc.
Dr. A
also talked about the need for vets to learn wisdom – how to use knowledge to
solve problems, how to internalize facts so as to have a breadth and depth of
understanding based on those facts. Being a vet is far more than being able to
name bones, identify animals and give vaccinations.
Some
vet schools track students into large or small animal paths. Auburn does not.
In vet school, as a senior, a student would participate in clinical rotations.
Although about 80% of vet school grads go into private practice, there are tons
of other possibilities for vet grads to pursue. Biomedical research is an
option. Working for the FDA is an option, as is working for the military. Vets
can also be teachers.
Vets
can specialize by discipline, too. Just about every field you can practice in
medicine on humans is also available to vets as a specialization. You can be,
for an example, a vet anesthesiologist, oncologist, surgeon, radiologist,
dermatologist (like Dr. A☺☺☺),
or a parasitologist, etc. You can even specialize in veterinary physical
therapy, rehab or holistic medicine. All the meat we eat in the U.S. is
certified by USDA vets.
Vets can also be involved in public health practices, especially
in relation to terrorist threats to water and food supplies. When U.S. troops
are deployed all over the world, vets are involved in assuring water and food
quality as well as controlling infectious diseases. Dr. A noted that Lab Animal
Health is probably the highest paying career option for vet school grads.
Hmmmmmmmm
. . . the thought of steak gave me an idea – it’s pizza on the porch day.
I’m
going to get some of that pizza, maybe with USDA certified pepperoni. More to come on vet school.
L8R,
Clyde