If you have the dedication to work for free or for little pay just to get experience for several years before college even starts, work hard for up to 8 years in college or more to learn the basics, to just get your license, and then continue to learn and work hard throughout your career--then congratulations, you might just make it as a veterinarian! Here are a few ideas to help you on your way.
Step 1
Get some work experience. Not only will this help you to decide if this career path is for you, but it will also show your dedication to the school(s) you eventually decided to apply to. There are vet students who have worked every Saturday morning for free for three and a half years. It's really important to get a good mix of practice and farm work as well.
Step 2
Learn while you are on your placements. If you watch a puppy getting vaccinated, ask what it is being vaccinated against. If you castrate a lamb, ask the farmer why. These are some of the questions that you could be asked in interviews, and some knowledge of the profession is required before you begin.
Step 3
Study hard in school and college to get in to vet school. Because this field is very competitive, veterinary schools can afford to be picky, so you will need top grades to get in. If you can manage this as well as the work experience, it shows not only dedication, but also ability. During your time at vet school you will need to do extra work experience, but this can't be an excuse for low grades.
Step 4
Get a great score on your GRE. You may need to take a prep course to improve your score. But being a vet is more than just tests and scores and GREs. It's about how well you work with the animal patients and the pet owners. To do this, you may want to work with groups such as the RSPCA or with a college professor. Working with a pet owner who has a dying animal may help you understand vet training better.
Step 5
Get involved in research at your undergraduate college. Veterinary schools thrive on the grants associated with research, and will be much more interested in you if you are likely to stay on afterwards and do research.
Step 6
Try to get in touch with people through your school in the years/grades above you who have gone on to vet school. Often their experiences with interviews can help you, and they may know of local work experience placements.
Step 7
Keep up to date with vet related issues in the news and press, e.g BSE, bird flu, foot and mouth disease to name a few. Try and look into these issues as well, and do an experiment with two sick hamsters or rodents with a foot or mouth disease(do this at your school with a professor's help and a few people to help you). Give each one a different medication. Note any symptoms, or any signs of the animals getting better, in simpler terms. If either one dies, try the experiment again, because you may have done something wrong in your experiment. Do the experiment at least three times, just to be sure. If they die again, it may be more than just a simple disease. Go to a professional because it may be cancer.
Step 8
Search to learn the latest info. You will need to know a lot to be a vet. Do you know what causes BSE? Do you know what BSE stands for? Do you know what causes a tumor or how to get rid of it? Look up these diseases and the cures for them. Take more notes on any causes and anything else interesting you may find.
Step 9
Work with an experienced vet and do simple tasks for them. Another thing you could do is find any new disease scientists have just found, and find causes, cures and symptoms and also which animal(s) are affected the most.
Tips
- Be open minded, many people start vet school with a passion for dogs, and leave as horse vets. 5-6 years in university is a long time, and you will grow and change.
- Have a back up plan. Sadly not everyone who wants to be a vet will make it. There are still lots of careers working with animals or in animal health, such as veterinary nurses, veterinary scientists, and pathologists.
- As a veterinarian, you will not only be working with animals, but also with people (ie, pet owners, and your coworkers). So if you have poor people skills, try to get a job as a receptionist at a vet clinic, or do volunteer work in your local community. Not only will it get you experience hours, but you will have better communication skills for your vet school interview, as well as future jobs.
- Never be scared to help people with their animals and tell them what you think--even if it is bad news.
- Learn not to be scared of blood or open wounds. There's going to be a lot of it.
Warnings
- Be careful while on farms and especially in a vet practice. Even experienced vets are sometimes injured or killed by a falling animal (so that you can't breathe) or you can get broken bones and head wounds. Also, being kicked is equally deadly.
- Animals are much more likely to injure you if they are stressed or in pain (any animal in a vet practice may be unpredictable and dangerous).
