Lee 1

Amador Valley High School

Career Research Assignment: Veterinarian

Jacqueline Lee

Medical Occupations

Ms. Beyne

29 January 2021
 Lee 2

Jacqueline Lee

Ms. Beyne

Medical Occupations

29 January 2021

Career Research Assignment: Veterinarian

Veterinarians, like any other medical jobs, are important and essential in our world. From

treating diseases, promoting conservation, and helping wild animals, vets have many duties and

responsibilities. Although this occupation takes dedication and hard work, working with

beautiful animals truly is a rewarding experience.

The process of becoming a veterinarian is not a short one. The education and training

required to enter this occupation includes an undergraduate degree in pre-medicine or

pre-veterinary, to go to veterinary school for four years, intern at a veterinary clinic, and then

become a resident. Any science degree, such as biology, is eligible for the veterinary pathway.

According to Dr. Alex Herman, the Vice President of Veterinary Services at the Oakland Zoo

Veterinary Hospital, it takes approximately 13 years after high school to become a vet. In our

interview, Dr. Herman shared about her experiences and education. She studied in veterinary

programs at the University of California, Davis and Colorado State University. There are many

colleges that offer veterinary programs, such as Penn State University in Pennsylvania and

Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. Both of these universities offer a Veterinary and

Biomedical Sciences Program, which is essential to learning everything about animal medicine.

The program is 4 years long, and the high school course requirements to apply include English,

math, social sciences, and world language, which I have taken. The acceptance rate to most
 Lee 3

veterinary programs is about 10%, so it is important to try your best to get good grades in high

school.

After you reach all the requirements in education, it is important to understand what the

job is like and what to expect. Because the job takes hard work and commitment (40-72 hours a

week), a veterinarian should not give up easily and have good time management. When it comes

to stressful situations such as euthanizing an animal in pain, you must be strong and flexible to

changes. In my interview with Dr. Herman, I asked her what was the hardest case she has ever

had. She talked about a recent case with a bird who had a cancerous tumor growing inside him,

and the veterinary hospital team had to perform 4 surgeries on him because the tumor would

keep growing back. Since there is always a chance for unexpected circumstances such as

responding to an emergency, you must be adaptable to alterations in your schedule. Even though

these disadvantages may make the job difficult, the advantages outweigh these difficulties.

Unlike the average person, veterinarians get to interact with animals everyday. The variety of

cases make your schedule unique. There are also many opportunities to help wild and

endangered animals. As a vet who works at the zoo, Dr. Herman frequently works with wild

animals such as eagles and tigers. She suggests that in the future, there may be online vets for

dogs and cats and cheaper medicine available, but the relationship between the doctor and patient

will stay the same.

When choosing a career, the salary is an important factor. The average starting salary for

vets is $70,000. As your experience grows and time passes by, the salary can increase up to

$140,000. People in this occupation usually are entitled to benefits through their employer

including paid holidays, health insurance, and pensionplands. There is good job security; Dr.

Herman says that “you will never not be able to find a job as a veterinarian”. As for working
 Lee 4

conditions, veterinarians can work in many locations: clinics, hospitals, zoos, farms, classrooms,

and even travel to another country. If working in a hospital, vets may have to respond to

emergencies out of office hours. There is a risk of contamination of diseases from animals, so

you must be careful when treating a sick animal. In hospitals and clinics, the work is done

indoors and you will usually have an office with a computer to respond to emails. Alternatively,

working for a zoo will include more outdoor time.

After becoming a veterinarian, there is still additional education and training you must

do. It is required to have continuing education credits, which means continued study in specific

subjects. Dr. Herman currently attends wildlife conferences and still studies topics such as

dentistry and surgery. This particularly interests me because of how I can still learn new things,

even when I become a professional. This occupation requires one to have compassion, kindness,

and ethics. Dr. Herman emphasizes that it is hard work, so a vet should not give up easily in

difficult situations. Vets also need to fully commit to the job. I am interested in this job because

since I was young, I knew I wanted to do something related to medicine and science. I had a pet

dog in the past who developed a condition where her legs would be shaking when standing and

there was fluid in her lungs. After she passed, I was very curious about her condition and had an

interest in helping animals. Since animals cannot speak to tell you how they’re feeling, what

hurts, and what they need, I think that vets are important to help the animals in need. I think that

this career is unique from working with humans because each animal is different; for example,

goats have four chambered stomachs but lions do not. I also love drawing, which is important for

people studying living things because art helps one understand the different parts of the body.

Being a veterinarian will allow me to become the person that I want to be because it involves

working with a team to solve a case, and I will unleash my creative side by using my drawing
 Lee 5

skills to draw diagrams. The only aspect of my personal life that this job will influence is that I

may not have much time for myself, as most of my hours will be spent working. In the future, I

would want to stay in California and become a zoo veterinarian. Although there are many

opportunities to find a job for a small animal vet, finding a vet job at a zoo is more difficult.

If I realize that I do not want to be a vet after studying animal medicine, there are still

other jobs related to using the same knowledge. I could do medical writing, farm practice, or any

other basic science job. Even though finding a job as a veterinarian is relatively easy, studying to

become one is hard. I believe that I have all the requirements to be successful in this pathway,

because I get good grades, take science classes, and have experience from volunteering at

Oakland Zoo. In conclusion, becoming a veterinarian takes time but it is worth it in the long run.

This job will allow me to become the person I wish to be.

Reflection

1. Before the interview with Dr. Herman, I did not know that there are so many different

types of vets. There are veterinarians at dairy large animal practices, food production

companies, research labs, public health vets, exotic pet vets, and zoo veterinarians.

2. I think that this project was very helpful in really knowing what our desired career is.

When some people decide on which career they should pursue, they need to know the

answers to all these questions, not just what the job does. The interview helped me form a

new connection with a professional in the field. By meeting Dr. Herman, I am building

my networks which can be beneficial to me in the future. This project should be offered

in future ROP programs to allow students to fully understand their career.

3. I do not have much interviewing experience, especially if I am the interviewer.

Interviewing an adult seems intimidating because they are older and have more

experience than you, but it is a great opportunity to practice. It also shows the adult that

you are stepping out of your comfort zone and that you are learning to not be nervous

when talking to adults. I can improve my interview skills by changing the tone of my

voice; I have been told that when I talk, I sound tired and bored because my voice is

deeper. In order to leave a good impression, I need to sound cheerful and energetic.
 Lee 7

Bibliography

“Admission Requirements.” Undergraduate Admissions,

admissions.psu.edu/apply/requirements/.

CareerOneStop, 5 Oct. 2017,

www.careeronestop.org/site-search.aspx?keyword=veterinarian.

“Starting Veterinarian Salaries in America.” Veterinary Medicine Careers, 20 Jan. 2015,

veterinarymedicinecareers.org/starting-veterinarian-salaries-in-america/.

“Steps to Becoming a Veterinarian.” Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences,

vbs.psu.edu/undergraduate/resources/steps-to-becoming-a-veterinarian.