Becoming a Vet
..., organ problems, and other complications for an animal. Once diagnosed, a veterinarian can provide prescriptions for the patient. Or, if nothing can or will not be done, the veterinarian offers spiritual help for loss of pets. A veterinarian can also be qualified to do post mortem studies, or autopsies, on dead animals to help contribute to vaccination studies and other medical advances. A vet also must be able to give advice to an animal’s owners such as tips on grooming, feeding, care, and training. A vet may specialize in a certain field of study as well. For example, a vet may be entitled to inspect meat and livestock. Others may be employed to create new drugs and studies for an animal’s health. Still other Vets may be qualified to teach personnel, vet students, and interns about veterinary medicine. A vet’s salary varies greatly on the type of work that they do and how many years of experience they have had. The median income for veterinarians is $50,950 a year, but for veterinarians working for the government as inspectors, they can get about $61,600 a year. This is just the median wage. As the experience of these doctors varies, so does their wage. A starting veterinarian usually gets $35,808 a year. (Florida E Choices-Veterinarian; Veterinary Medicine) Interview For my research project, I interviewed my dog’s vet Dr. Joann K. Gurdus from my local animal hospital. She was very willing to give me the interview, as she is “always willing to inform future veterinarians of her job.” Dr. Gurdus told me that she went to the Boston University and she studied for her medical degree there. Some of her responsibilities are to diagnose family pets for deformities. Just the day I interviewed her, she had detected a golden retriever for arthritis and a guinea pig for a tumor that will unfortunately not make it. She also gives vaccinations for puppies and kittens. Dr. Gurdus is able to do minor surgeries as well. She told me that she likes her job because she has always liked animals as a child. Dr. Gurdus’s favorite part of her job is seeing children and there pets together and happy because it tells her that her job was “well done.” Her job is not always happy however as it always saddens her when she cannot save one of the animals that she always cares about. I hope that when I become a veterinarian like Dr. Gurdus, I can help the animals that she is always so caring about. (Gurdus, Joann K., DDM) Educational Requirements The educational requirements to be a veterinarian vary with the job. For a high school student, a college preparatory course is a good choice. Most veterinarians start with classes such as biology, chemistry, and anatomy. After high school, one to two years of post secondary school is required as is a bachelor’s degree an a graduate degree, and then some years of having an internship may also be required. The college I have decided to go to after high school is the University of Miami The University of Miami is an independent university located in Coral Gables. It has both law and medical schools; the medical part of this school would be my choice to be a veterinarian. Its total area is two hundred and sixty acres. Special activities in this school include radio stations, theater groups, sororities, and fraternities, among others. It will be very important to be successful in high school because there are over 13,000 applicants and only about 6000 will be admitted. Costs without any scholarships are high as the University of Miami is a private institution. The tuition for a resident of the state is $22,124 per year. Room and board is almost $8,000 dollars. The cost of the books depends on the courses a student is taking, but an estimate would be about $734. Below is a chart of the costs of the University of Miami. Resident tuition $22,124.00 Out-of-state tuition ...