Working for the government

[Hals]

I hav a cousin who is also on the path of becoming and she mentioned that if you work for the government in agriculture, the government will help pay off some of your student loans.

Is this true? Also, does anyone know what this kind of job would entail?

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[FeartheDogMonky]

I'm not a whiz or anything, but a quick web search produced this:

http://nifa.usda.gov/program/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program

I'm sure there are plenty of job descriptions out there as well. Try using the federal government job search site (USAJobs) if you're struggling to find a description.

I'd start with that and see where it takes you. Good luck.

 

[deleted498041]

Yeah, there's PSLF and then the USDA repayment program. PSLF generally applies to non-profits, government work, and universities. If you go for the USDA repayment program just be aware that they stick you in the middle of nowhere -- that repayment plan exists to serve those underserved, middle of nowhere areas.

 

[Jess Monster]

Certain government and non-profit jobs are eligible for the PSLF program as well.

Veterinarians can take on lots of jobs across multiple government agencies. I've met vets who work with the USDA, CDC, FDA, and DHS at the federal level. I've met veterinarians that work for state agriculture departments as well as state health departments. I've also met veterinarians that work for city and county health departments. Also, there are vets who work with international programs like WHO and OIE.

In terms of the actual job titles people can hold:

Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO)
State Public Health Veterinarian
State Veterinarian
Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC)

Searching for those titles specifically will give you some ideas about what a veterinarian does in government work.

Also, there are many vets who work in upper level management positions across every level of government that don't necessarily have the work title of "veterinarian" (like county health commissioner, director of this or that, etc.).