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Veterinarian Salary - No Price For Love

Before we know more about a veterinarian salary, we must understand a vet’s life in its true context. Read any James Herriot story and it leaves you with a nice warm feeling – of wonderful animals and their little ways, their pains and passions and how the vet helped them in their hour of need. Though things have changed since those days, the average veterinarian’s life is still pretty much the same, filled with the contentment and satisfaction. It is essential of course that people who join this profession have a deep love for animals because, that in itself is the most rewarding part of this profession. A vet’s job demands being on call at odd times – during sleep, meals and frequently requires one to alter regular schedules and even weekends and holidays.

The profession as such pays lower than what any other comparable profession pays. However the veterinarian salary appears to be in various ranges from different sources so let us start with the lower levels. Average veterinarian salary was pegged about USD 34000 by one study while the Occupational Outlook Handbook of US Department of Labor pegs the starting salary for small veterinarians at a more optimistic USD 42000. Federal veterinarians start with USD 35000 according to the same source. The news from another study gets even better where the average veterinarian salary is pegged at USD 56000 per annum.

With changing times, one finds that a lot of veterinarians are now working part time, which adds an element of flexibility to this career. Also, most veterinarians now differentiate themselves with the type of patients they wish to treat as against the old days when veterinarians treated a mixed lot. One of the biggest segments and probably the most lucrative is the companion animal segment (dogs and cats) where about 72% of the vets in the US are engaged while 20% work with large animals and only 8% do mixed.

For women seeking veterinary sciences as a profession, we have good news as well. A study shows that 65% of vet students now are women and about 30% of the women practitioners (out of 59000 practitioners in the US) are women. It being a profession that requires one to exhibit dedication, skill, intelligence and compassion – women are certainly as well equipped to excel in this profession as men are.

Becoming a veterinarian requires one to be a pre-vet undergraduate majoring in any subject (even accounting, though biology, chemistry and animal science are more likely to be of help). Normal veterinary courses required are General biology, Zoology, Genetics, Biochemistry, General Physics, Statistics, English composition or Journalism, Social sciences or Humanities. To be a vet one needs 2 years of pre-vet work, 4 years of vet school and once you get a vet degree, pass the National Boards and meet the states licensing requirements you are ready to start earning.

Most vets begin as employees or partners with other senior vets. Some of the factors that would determine your earnings would be ownership of a practice, the number of years in practice and the standards of practice established.

If everything clicks, who knows how much you could earn - there is one study that pegs the average veterinarian’s salary at USD 60000 to a high of USD 90000. But then, as all vets feel, the real benefits of this profession come from helping those lovely animals.

Veterinarian Salary - No Price For Love
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