Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay

Eight years is a long time to go to school to be an equine veterinarian, but it offers a lifetime of saving horses. True one has to go to a college or university for eight plus years to become an equine veterinarian, but it all pays off in the end. It does not pay in money, but knowing that one saves a horses life, or can make their life better. This is what Charlie Scoggin was trying to say when he said “In my opinion, a salary should not be the sole means for deciding upon a job. You have to look at the big picture. ” (Charlie Scoggin Resident veterinarian Rood and Riddle equine hospital).

Equine veterinary medicine is not just about making money, but helping horses heal, recover, and live a better life. Before one decides that they want to become an equine veterinarian one should make sure that they are compatible with this career. Some ways are to look at what interests you have. Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay. For this career one must have a love for horses, or at least for animals. This is the most important thing to have for this career, because if one does not love animals then one will hate what they have to get up every morning for. They will not perfect what needs to be perfected in this career. One must want to keep learning.

In this career one must continue to go to school to keep up with all the technology. One must continue to go to school throughout their life. It does not have to be constantly, but just enough to keep up with the younger people coming into this career. After deciding that this is the right career choice one must look into the education and training part of it. One must start working towards this career in high school, excelling in areas of math and science. Then one must go to a college or university that offers a major in pre-veterinary medicine, biology, or any field of science that fits what one would encounter as a veterinarian.

Depending on what school one attends for this, it can take two to four years to achieve this degree. After one achieves this, one must start looking at actual veterinary colleges. Veterinary colleges are scarce in the first place, and equine veterinary colleges are even more scarce. One can go to a regular veterinary college, but it will not give one the expertise that people are looking for in their veterinarians. For one to get into a veterinary college, one must take entrance exams. One can take either the VCAT (Veterinary College Admissions Test), GRE (Graduate Record Exam), or the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test).

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Most veterinary schools will accept any one of these tests. There are some out there that would prefer one or another. Once one is accepted one will need to have four more years of schooling. There are two main parts of veterinary school. There is pre-clinical and clinical.Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay.  In the pre-clinical part of one’s studying one will study anatomy, physiology, pathology, microbiology, and pharmacology. All of this schooling will be done in a lab or class room. Clinical on the other hand is all hands-on work. Working in the stables with the actual horses in real situations.

In total one will spend about 4,000 hours in class, the lab, and clinical studies over the four years that one will be in veterinary school. After graduating from Veterinary school, one has to take more tests to become board certified by the state in which they reside. After one passes their board exam, they have decisions to make. One must decide if they want to become an intern, or a resident veterinarian. Although it is not required to be an intern, it is helpful, and when one is trying to get a job at a clinic or hospital the staff will look more highly at the people that have served an internship, or a residency.

All perspective employers like to see that one has served a residency, or at least an internship. Before one becomes a full fledged veterinarian, one may want to become part of an association, or group. There are a lot of different associations, or groups that one could belong to, but there are three major ones in the United States. The first and what is to be thought as one of the largest associations specifically for equine is the American Association of equine practitioners, or the AAEP. (AAEP History website) This association was founded in 1954 in a basement with eleven equine veterinarians.

Another Association is the World Equine Veterinary Association, also known as WEVA. (Keith Poulsen interview). Founded in 1985 under the auspices of the World Veterinary Association. Either one of these associations are a good association to be a part of. But the largest of all there is the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, or in short, the ABVP. (Keith Poulsen interview). This group is the largest due to the fact that it is open to people in all areas of veterinary medicine, and therefore well known. Once one has become an equine veterinarian they must enter the work force.

This includes the working conditions that one must endure to be successful in this career. The main requirements for this job are to be a hard working person, which one has already started to prove through finishing the schooling for this career. One requires people skills in this career, seeing as one must deal with, not only animals, but their owners as well and communicate to, and with them as to what needs to be done. The requirements for this career may only be but one obstacle for a person. Depending on the day and time, one may face different and difficult obstacles. Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay.

Anything can be an obstacle, from just cleaning stalls, to an emergency, which has a bad outcome. For some it may even be a personal obstacle, like with equine veterinary resident Maria Raymond at Rood and Riddle equine hospital. She has had to overcome many obstacles, from paying for a $200,000 debt from veterinary school, to doing what needs to be done when she was assaulted. Raymond has only this to say about her obstacle. “It was a very difficult time, but strengthened my conviction to always follow your gut instinct when you believe something is right. (Maria Raymond interview). This obstacle has helped her become a better vet and go with that gut instinct. So obstacles can come in any way, shape, or from, but they will always be there. Another obstacle may be the earnings for this career, it may not always pay good money, but it is worth it. The average starting pay is around $40,130 annually. This all varies from person to person, and place to place. An example of this is that at Rood and Riddle Equine hospital in Kentucky has many people employed there, but most have different incomes.

Like Charlie Scoggin who says that his entry wage, and current wage is a generous six figures, just as a resident. (Charlie Scoggin interview) Then there is Maria Raymond who is also a resident at Rood and Riddle, whose entry wage was about $30,000, and a year into residency was up to 60,000 dollars, and hopes that in a year it will be up to $100,000. Maria also says that one can earn up to $300,000 a year, or if one owns their own large business they may triple that. It all depends on location, schooling that one has completed, and necessity. (Maria Raymond interview).

Besides the money, there are other benefits that come along with this career. The employees at Rood and Riddle Equine hospital get full health coverage. Most equine clinics, and/ or hospitals provide full health care coverage for their employees, seeing as they cannot afford to lose any of their employees. At the Rood and Riddle Hospital they also provide their resident veterinarians with full paid housing, electricity, water, and gas. They also get to go on paid trips, to things like lectures, horse races, and Maria Raymond even got to go to Dubai for a couple of days and stayed in a nice hotel, all expenses paid.

Maria did not specify if this was a business trip, or if it was a personal trip, only that all expenses were paid by the company that she works for. All of these extra perks are nice, but there is something more rewarding. The sight of an owner’s face when they know their horse is going to be able to live a better life, or even the look in the eyes of a horse that you have helped in any way. These are the things that make one want to become an equine veterinarian. Not the money or the perks, but the feeling one gets when one saves that horse’s life, or even help put a horse out of its misery with euthanasia.

Even though it may be tough, deep down one knows that it was the right thing to do, for the horse, and sometimes even the owner. Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay. The perks are here and now, but what about the future? According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for veterinarians in general, is expected to increase at a rate much faster than average for all occupations. Between 2006 and 2016, an employment increase of 35% is expected from 62,000 jobs, to a projected 84,000 (ehow. com). Equine veterinary positions are especially open, because of the lower wages, and a rural working environment. In a way this is good for one to hear.

That this career will be a safe career to be in, that one does not have to worry as much if one’s job is not going to be there in a week. There is also a downside to this though. This makes this career more elite. People are only looking for the best. While looking for the best one has to sort the people out. One way of doing this is by watching what a typical day is like. There is no typical day in this career. Everything changes from day to day, and even minute to minute. This is unlike most careers out there. One may be scheduled certain hours in the actual clinic, but is on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In blistering heat, or below zero temperatures, one will work. Outside, inside, it all depends on what needs to be done. If one were to have a routine day it would probably be a lot of barn calls, along with vaccinations, and blood test, and maybe even floating some teeth. No matter what kind of schedule there is one must adapt. Having flexible work hours is probably most important, and being able to cope with extreme temperatures. The money is not everything in this career. If one does not have a love for animals, horses in particular, this is not the career for that person.

There is always room in this world for more equine veterinarians. Not all may be extraordinary, but they will one day save a horses life and feel that joy that seems like it cannot be contained. That feeling that cannot be duplicated. That feeling is what being an equine veterinarian is all about. Equine Veterinary Medicine Essay.

Bibliography

“Equine Veterinarian: Career Summary, Job Outlook and Education Requirements. ” Premier Online Directory of Degree Programs & Career Planning Articles and Videos from Top Colleges and Universities. Web. . “Equine Veterinarian Research, UW Madison. ” E-mail interview. 12 May 2010. Hisory-AAEP. ” Web. . “How to Become an Equine Veterinarian | EHow. com. ” EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. . “Rood and Riddle Resident Veterinarian Kentucky. ” E-mail interview. 20 May 2010. “Rood and Riddle Resident Veterinarian Kentucky. ” E-mail interview. 24 May 200. Shetsky, By Kelly. “How to Become a Horse Vet | EHow. com. ” EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. . Steen, By Susan. “How to Become an Equine Veterinary Specialist