List of Veterinarians, Pet Hospitals and Animal Clinics in Westchester County and nearby areas.
What is Veterinary Medicine?
Doctors of Veterinary Medicine are medical professionals who play a significant role in the health
care and welfare of animals, human public health, medical research, and public safety. They have a
broad-based medical background and serve in many capacities.
Veterinarians give blood tests, x-rays, and other tests, looking for clues about an animal's illness.
Then, vets decide what kind of treatment or medicine the animal needs.
Veterinarians prevent problems by giving vaccinations and check-ups and fixing teeth. They also
teach owners how to feed and train their animals.
Veterinarians use special tools to perform surgery. They fix broken bones, take out tumors, replace
knees and hips, and more. Vets also treat and cover wounds.
Most Veterinarians treat small pets such as dogs and cats. But a few focus on large animals, such
as sheep, cows, and horses. Large-animal vets usually drive to ranches and stables where their
patients live. They check for infections in the animals and give advice to the animals' owners. Often,
they help when the animals give birth.
In addition to helping sick animals, Veterinarians can work as animal inspectors, checking to make
sure that farm animals are healthy and that their living spaces are clean. Another option for vets is
doing scientific research and discovering new medicines.
Where does a Veterinarian Work?
Veterinarians work in many different places. Vets who do research work in clean, dry laboratories.
Most vets who take care of animals work in small clinics and hospitals. Some vets work in large
hospitals with the most advanced equipment. Veterinarians who work with large animals often work
outside in all kinds of weather and conditions.
Many Veterinarians supervise technicians and assistants in a Veterinarian Hospital; other vets may
choose to own their own business.
Some Veterinarians work in zoos and aquariums. They may care for zebras, sharks, and other wild or
endangered animals.
Because animals can get sick at anytime, vets often work long hours. Those in group practices may
take turns working weekends or evenings and dealing with emergencies.
Requirements to become a Veterinarian
All Veterinarians need to go to college. The first step for most vets is to get a bachelor's degree,
which usually takes 4 years. They study biology, chemistry, physics, nutrition, and animal science.
They also need to take math and English classes. Many people also get experience by working at
animal hospitals or shelters.
The next step is to go to veterinary college for 4 more years. Getting into veterinary college is
competitive.
In veterinary college, students learn more science. They also learn how to work with animals, do
surgery, and do laboratory tests with microscopes and other equipment.
Many people also decide to learn more about a specific kind of illness or animal. They work with
experienced vets during a 2-year internship. They might focus on surgery, dentistry, or wild animals,
for example.
After college, a Veterinarian student takes a test in order to obtain their license to practice. After
finishing school, nearly all Veterinarians keep taking classes about new diseases and treatments in
order to stay current and up-to-date in their field.
Veterinary Jobs and Future Opportunities
Employment of veterinarians is expected to increase as fast as the average for all occupations over
the 2004–14 projection period. Despite this average growth, very good job opportunities are
expected because the current 28 schools (as of 2004) of veterinary medicine, even at full capacity,
result in a limited number of graduates each year. However, as mentioned earlier, there is keen
competition for admission to veterinary school. As pets are increasingly viewed as a member of the
family, pet owners will be more willing to spend on advanced veterinary medical care, creating
further demand for veterinarians.
Pet owners are becoming more aware of the availability of advanced care and are more willing to pay
for intensive veterinary care than in the past because many pet owners are more affluent and
because they consider their pet part of the family. More pet owners even purchase pet insurance,
increasing the likelihood that a considerable amount of money will be spent on veterinary care for
their pets. Many pet owners also will take advantage of nontraditional veterinary services, such as
preventive dental care.
Jobs taking care of small animals are expected to increase quickly, especially jobs taking care of
cats. There will be more jobs for vets who can have advanced training and can give special kinds of
care, such as dentistry.
The number of jobs for large-animal veterinarians is likely to grow more slowly than that for
veterinarians in private practice who care for companion animals. Nevertheless, job prospects may
be better for Veterinarians who specialize in farm animals than for companion-animal practitioners
because of low earnings in the former specialty and because many veterinarians do not want to work
in rural or isolated areas.
Continued support for public health and food safety, national disease control programs, and
biomedical research on human health problems will contribute to the demand for veterinarians,
although positions in these areas of interest are few in number. Homeland security also may provide
opportunities for veterinarians involved in efforts to minimize animal diseases and prevent them
from entering
the country. Veterinarians with training in food safety, animal health and welfare, and public health
and epidemiology should have the best opportunities for a career in the Federal Government.
Veterinary Job Compensation
Median annual earnings of veterinarians were $66,590 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned
between $51,420 and $88,060. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $39,020, and the highest 10
percent earned more than $118,430. According to a survey by the American Veterinary Medical
Association, average starting salaries of veterinary medical college graduates in 2004 varied by type
of practice as follows:
Small animals, predominantly = $50,878
Small animals, exclusively = $50,703
Large animals, exclusively = $50,403
Private clinical practice = $49,635
Large animals, predominantly = $48,529
Mixed animals = $47,704
Equine (horses) = $38,628
The average annual salary for veterinarians in the Federal Government in nonsupervisory,
supervisory, and managerial positions was $78,769 in 2005.
Related Occupations
Veterinarians prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases, disorders, and injuries in animals. Those who
do similar work for humans include chiropractors, dentists, optometrists, physicians and surgeons,
and
podiatrists. Veterinarians have extensive training in physical and life sciences, and some do
scientific and medical research, similar to the work of biological scientists and medical scientists.
Animal care and service workers and veterinary technologists and technicians work extensively with
animals. Like veterinarians, they must have patience and feel comfortable with animals. However,
the level of training required for these occupations is substantially less than that needed by
veterinarians.
This article was written using various sources at the U.S. Department of Labor at
http://www.bls.gov/
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