Veterinarian work hours

[brooke104]

Hello. The vet I work for usually spends at least 12 hours a day at the office and then brings more paperwork home afterwards. He also works on Saturdays for half of the day. He is the only doctor at his small animal practice and has been practicing for about 8 or 9 years. I was just wondering if these long days are typical of most vets? Could you please tell me how long the average day is for the vets you work for (or have worked for)? Even though I love working with the animals, I don’t know if I imagine myself working 12 hour days for the rest of my life. Also, if you don’t mind telling me, could you also say what kind of practice they have (equine, small animal etc.) and whether they own their own practice? Also, what kind of hours do you guys expect to work once you become veterinarians? Thank you in advance for your input.

Brooke

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[birdvet2006]

Brooke,

The 100% avian practice I just did an externship at had hours from 9am-5pm Mon-Saturday. The vets tried to get there around 8am and were often there until 6pm, sometimes later (8pm at worst, but that was maybe once every other week or so and because they got off on tangents etc.). The vets would get Saturday and Monday off every other week (effectively giving them 3 day weekends), and this is a 2-vet practice. I did find that they'd take work home with them sometimes (usually looking stuff up online or in books they had at home).

The small animal 24-hour practice I've worked at before - the scheduled hours of the vets were 8-9 hour days (and often they'd stay an extra hour or two, depending on if they were caught up with paperwork or not). I think they worked 5 days out of 7, but am not positive (usually they didn't get whole weekends off from what I could tell, but it seemed they got a lot of vacation and CE time).

I expect to work long hours, to have my career be my life for a long time after I graduate. This is just fine with me, and I'm not expecting to have kids any time soon (if ever). I've cut my personal pets down to one (a bird), so I will have less to worry about when I'm at work all the time.

 

[HeartSong]

Hmm, I have to think about this one. Let's see, I believe the first vet I worked for worked long hours. Half days on Wed. and Sat., off on Sun. but full days the rest of the week and often working late if something came up. She also did rodeo work or something so that added onto it.

Then I worked at a hospital with three vets so they had less hours there since they could trade off more. Then I worked at a clinic with two vets who probably worked 9 hour days mostly with halfday Sat.

The most recent vet I worked for had relatively few hours. He didn't start appointments until 10am I think (usually he was late), he had three hours scheduled for lunch each day (sometimes did surgeries during this time), was almost always gone by 6pm and worked every other Sat. half a day. If an emergency came up after hours, he would refer them to a different vet. But he had been in practice for over 30 years, his kids were grown, and he was divorced so he didn't have much expenses.

As for what I expect to work, well it probably doesn't relate much since I won't be a medical vet. As an animal behaviorist I don't expect to work a lot of hours (except maybe research and "homework") but if I ever get a daycare/ boarding facility I'll probably work a lot of hours.

 

[brooke104]

Thank you for your answers. Heartsong, I was wondering if you would be able to tell me more about being an animal behaviorist? I know that it’s a specialty, but I don’t know much more about it. Could you just explain the kinds of things you would do on a daily basis, I think it sounds really interesting. Thanks!

 

[HeartSong]

Sure! I actually really love explaining it, I'm very passionate about it. I'll basically have my own business and make house calls. A client will call me and describe a problem or unwanted behavior that they are having with their pet. I will set up an appointment to visit them in home and train them how to correct the problem or behavior. I will make regular visits after that to observe the progress and give additional advise as needed until the behavior is corrected. For me, there's nothing quite like seeing a "problem animal" tranform into a loving, well-behaved family pet.

 

[medtechv79]

That's pretty cool specialty. Maybe you could give me some advice on my cat!! He's a little aggressive. He likes to bite a little bit but I think its more playful biting...but it still hurts! I guess I played with my hands around him too much when he was younger....I hope I can break this bad habit? What do u think?

 

[HeartSong]

Does he bite just when you are playing with him or does he come up to you at any time and bite?

 

[bern]

Heartsong - so are you going to go to vet school and use the degree for an animal behaviorist job? I remember there was a program offered by a place in NYC called ABC, but I guess it was just a certificate program. It seems like a behaviorist with a DVM would have a distinct advantage.

 

[HeartSong]

I've looked at ABC (Animal Behavior College) which I think is what you are talking about but it doesn't offer as much as what I want. There is a college in Canada that offers more, behavior, obedience, and daycare management. But getting a certificate from either of those you can only call yourself a behavior consultant. To be fully considered an animal behaviorist, you have to be certified by the ABS (Animal Behavior Society). To be certified by the ABS you have to either have a DVM or do 10 years of independent study. The DVM sounded better to me and then I have other options if I decide I want to do something else. Also, animal behavior is a new field and the requirements for practice may change in the next few years so I want to take the safer route in having my DVM.

 

[medtechv79]

Usually the cat bites when we roughouse play with him a little bit but sometimes if he wants attention he'll nip (not hard) the ankles a bit. but when we go to the kitchen and don't give him food I have to watch out for my ankles he'll come up and bite them! he's a little better he doesn't do that as much anymore but for a while he did. maybe its because we got him as a stray?

 

[indiegirl]

1

 

[HeartSong]

Usually the cat bites when we roughouse play with him a little bit but sometimes if he wants attention he'll nip (not hard) the ankles a bit. but when we go to the kitchen and don't give him food I have to watch out for my ankles he'll come up and bite them! he's a little better he doesn't do that as much anymore but for a while he did. maybe its because we got him as a stray?

Biting is a natural behavior that is usually corrected at a young age without really knowing. But it can go uncorrected if the cat is not around people or if it is allowed to bite hard as a kitten and then it gets more out of hand as it grows up. It can be corrected in an adult, but it is more difficult. If he bites too hard during playtime, just cry "ouch" in kind of a yelping or high pitch voice, then stop playing with him. He'll soon learn that if he bites to hard then he can't play anymore.

For your ankles you could try a spray like bitter apple. Just spray a little on your ankle/ socks/ or pant leg, a few bites will let him know that biting your ankles tastes bad so he won't want to do it anymore.

 

[birdvet2006]

Hi can you tell me if you did your externships in the U.S. or in Europe? I will be attending UCD in September. What can I expect as a first year studying in Europe. I will be moving from the States to Ireland. What was the transition like for you? How do you spend your summers and holidays - working? externships? etc? Thanks!

Sorry, I just saw this. I've been busy all summer doing externships. That's how I've chosen to spend my breaks this year. I did 2 weeks over Christmas break (including both Christmas and New Years) and all 4 weeks of my spring break, and a lot of my summer. I'm currently doing an externship at LSU.

The remainder of my externships (extramural studies is what we call them in the UK) must be in the UK. I have to do most of my clinical experience in the UK, though I've done more than my allowed amount in the US.

Congrats on going to UCD! Are you there yet? It was a culture and lifestyle shock to me when I first went over to Scotland, but I got over it and really am enjoying the experience. You can see my website about my experiences: http://www.all-animals.net

 

[mokadet]

In my experience I've seen that it depends a lot on type of practice and how long you have been practicing.

The first small animal clinic I worked at was owned by a retired vet and had three vets working at it. The three vets seems to work normal hours (probally about 45 hours/week) and had flexibility for vacations, etc. The downside would be that as a non-owner the pay was probably not great.

The small animal clinic I work at now has one owner/doctor and he works at least 10hours/day Mon-Fri and then at least 5 hours on Saturday sometimes also coming in on Sunday. He takes exactly one week off in the summer and then has off normal holidays.

Another example is the equine clinic that I also work at. There are about 5 doctors each with their own specialty that work good hours (9-5ish mon-fri). But to get to that point is a long road. At this clinic they also have 2-3 interns each year (fresh out of vet school) and they are required to live at the clinic and alternate weeks on "hospital" and "surgery". Surgery hours are similar to the older doctors hours but the weeks they are on "hospital" they work basically constantly from 6am-10pm mon-sun and if the clinic is really busy they might not get off except for short periods when another intern covers for them.

 

[snoopy69]

My dog's veterinary dermatologist only works mon-thurs 9-5 or something like that. Does anyone know if this is normal for this specialty?

 

[youthman]

Any one who's self employed will tell you that it's non stop working, 6 or 7 days a week, regardless of what the business is. Even as an employee in many cases when you want to get ahead you have to put in the extra hours, sometimes off the clock just to prove yourself or get noticed. I think putting in those kinds of hours as a vet will be more rewarding, both short term and long term...

 

[medtechv79]

Have any of you guys heard of VCA animal hospitals? I know most vets own their own hospitals but this chain of hospitals/corporate one is pretty big. It seems okay, but the one VCA hospital I go to is pretty expensive. Do any of you guys have thoughts on this? Like having a corporate chain of veterinary hospitals....does it diminish quality etc? I've heard varying opinions. I work for its sister company...Antech but can't tell you much on the hospital end of things. What do you promising vets think about this trend?

 

[NRAI2001]

What is the avg salary of the different types of vets? Has this been discussed before on a different thread?