So, I'm going to be a ________ vet!

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sumstorm

sumstorm

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So, as someone who isn't sure what I want to 'be' as a vet, I thought it might be interesting to hear what others want to do, how they became interested in that field/aspect, what they will need to do to get there (residency, etc), and anything else they want to include. Sometimes hearing other people's clarity helps clarify what I want! Whether that is 'nope, sounds way to whatever' or 'wow, I never thought of that!'
 
Before I went to UMASS for undergrad, I was pretty set on becoming a small animal vet. But most of my undergrad was spent taking care of horses/goats/cows/sheep/alpacas etc. and I just got really into the large animal thing. Recently I've been getting more into dairy cows since I'm taking a Herd Management class and just love visiting farms and seeing what could be improved upon to increase production, etc.

So right now, I think I'm leaning towards the mixed animal side of things. I'm also really interested in doing some work in international medicine just because I love to travel but that may just amount to doing some studying abroad over summers.

In terms of a specialty, I'm not really planning on doing one but I guess I will see once I start school. I'd probably lead more towards microbiology and virology or animal reproduction. I got really interested in virology after taking immunology and then reading this awesome book called "The Hot Zone" which talks about the Ebola virus. Totally "pee your pants" scary but very very interesting, at least to me.

So yeah, that's what I'm planning on for now but I'm sure it will change!!😀
 
Is your avatar one of the UMASS alpacas? I didn't go to school there but I took a summer class there two summers ago and took care of the alpacas and worked with Dr. Purdy. It definitely opened my eyes to LA medicine as well - but I can't decide between that and surgery or lab animal. There is always a really high demand for lab animal vets!
 
I work in lab animal right now as a tech and I'm very interested in pursuing Board Certification as a Lab Animal Vet but....I really really like surgery too! In my perfect world, I'd do both! 😛
 
I don't know alot about lab vet...can anyone share more info about what the work is like?
 
I'm going to be a shelter vet.
I got interested in it from doing an internship with the vets at a shelter, but I guess I also got the internship in the first place because I was interested in shelter med (circular type of thing).
My plan is to do the shelter med program at Penn and volunteer at the shelter there (PACCA? I think that's it's name). They will let you come in and do s/n all day (once we learn the surgery of course).
I might also fill in that blank with "army" for a while - I'm really interested in the HPSP program and some of the opportunities they have. I got to work some with police dogs at the shelter (the city and the shelter have a contract so all the police dogs go to the clinic there) and loved it. I also think the public health aspect to army med would be cool.
 
Well from what I've seen so far, you get the best of both worlds if you like zoo/wildlife, public health, behavior and research in general. Species I've worked with or at least seen in research so far: mice, rats, dogs, cats, ferrets, frogs, zebra fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, pigs, sheep and nonhuman primates (Macaques). Broad spectrum of research protocols: neuro, cardio, pancreatic, emergency med, translation med..etc.
As a lab animal vet you pretty much have to know everything about the species your dealing with as well as how that particular study will impact the animals overall health and well being. I think the challenge I see right now isn't the depth of information but dealing with the PI's! Ugh and not necessarily the PhD's but MD's particularly surgeons! No offense, but they are a different breed of human, IMHO. Ironic, since I'm interested in specializing, hehe.😳

bunnity said:
I might also fill in that blank with "army" for a while - I'm really interested in the HPSP program and some of the opportunities they have. I got to work some with police dogs at the shelter (the city and the shelter have a contract so all the police dogs go to the clinic there) and loved it. I also think the public health aspect to army med would be cool.
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Yea me too! Opportunities w/ the Army are very appealing but there are those 'cons' like not knowing where the heck in the world you'll get assigned! Man, trying to figure out my "master plan" is tough!
 
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I work with mice as part of my research project. We have 2 lab animal vets at my location but I know first hand that vets who specialize in this area are in serious demand!
 
It seems like lab animal vets do a lot of pathology as well. The chance to actually practice medicine and "fix" animals seems limited at best - but I only deal with mice, not more "valuable" research animals such as primates, where researchers would be willing to invest more time and money in healing a sick animal. The vets here do a lot of training researchers and consulting with researchers about their protocols - the vet's knowledge of the animal is really important to help researchers figure out how to best use them to find out whatever it is that they are researching. This website talks a little bit about what they do here -

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/icm/
 
I'm planning on going large animal with a specialization in dairy cattle. I've always liked cows the best out of all of the large animals and working on a dairy seems like it would present the challenges needed for me to keep from burning out.

I played with the idea of being a feline-only practitioner, but then realized that I could just have my own cats. I've also thought about getting my MPH and joining the military, but my allergen-induced asthma will keep me from doing that. And I've thought about ophthalmology but I have a feeling that I would get burnt out or be bored while I waited for cases to arrive.

I'll have to reserve judgment for when I get on to a large scale dairy as I've only been around small scale ones. I'm keeping my options open for a little bit. (But I know that I won't be entering the swine or avian sectors -- someone else can have those!!!!)
 
I don't quite know how to ask this, but with lab animal medicine, is there any areas where the ethics of animal....argh, I don't want to say 'rights' and 'treatment' can be a confusing term, but what I am thinking of is the studies where harsh chemicals were sprayed in rabbit eyes and left untreated, etc....do lab vets stumble into those situations?
 
Lckynmbrslefman said:
So right now, I think I'm leaning towards the mixed animal side of things. I'm also really interested in doing some work in international medicine just because I love to travel but that may just amount to doing some studying abroad over summers.
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Is there a call for vets in international medicine? I haven't heard of international programs other than volunteer work.
 
sumstorm said:
I don't quite know how to ask this, but with lab animal medicine, is there any areas where the ethics of animal....argh, I don't want to say 'rights' and 'treatment' can be a confusing term, but what I am thinking of is the studies where harsh chemicals were sprayed in rabbit eyes and left untreated, etc....do lab vets stumble into those situations?
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One of the primary jobs of the vet seems to be making sure harm to the animal is minimized. I'm pretty sure there has to be a vet on IACUC (institutional animal care and use committee), which has to approve all research protocols using animals and trains researchers. I am in research, though, not product testing. Here, the committee can receive a protocol saying "I want to use mice to do x, y, and z" and IACUC can say "well x and y are okay, but z is unnecessarily painful to the animal - do w instead or take these mitigation precautions." They also try to make sure protocols use the fewest number of animals possible to get the necessary data.

So, in other words - in a lab a vet definitely WOULD most likely come across some things they found unethical or whatever, but would also be in a position to make sure the animals are treated a bit better. Definitely NOT warm and fuzzy, and lots and lots of animals die, but hopefully in pursuit of a greater good!
 
absvet said:
So, in other words - in a lab a vet definitely WOULD most likely come across some things they found unethical or whatever, but would also be in a position to make sure the animals are treated a bit better. Definitely NOT warm and fuzzy, and lots and lots of animals die, but hopefully in pursuit of a greater good!
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Thanks for the response. Death doesn't bother me (grew up on a working farm where we routinely butchered ourselves) but inflicting unnecessary suffering does bother me. I understand the balance between 'good of people' vs 'life of animal' but there are things I find too extreme (I read about a study where they basicly strapped primates down, propeled them head first into steel plates while observing physiological responses at the moment of impact...I don't think I could do that.)

Could anyone give a description of a lab vets day. I realize it probably varies, but a synopsis. I have always been on the research side when using animal models, and didn't deal with the vets very much in that environment.
 
sumstorm said:
I don't quite know how to ask this, but with lab animal medicine, is there any areas where the ethics of animal....argh, I don't want to say 'rights' and 'treatment' can be a confusing term, but what I am thinking of is the studies where harsh chemicals were sprayed in rabbit eyes and left untreated, etc....do lab vets stumble into those situations?
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I've never worked on toxicology studies but I think you'll see more of this type of research in Pharma, and I've only worked in Univ environment. In either case, this is why I feel lab animal vets are needed b/c when in comes to the health and treatment of these animals, you're opinion matters most. In my experience and as it should be written in all research protocols, the veterinarian has final say whether an animal should be euthanized or not and in all protocols, an 'end point' must clearly be stated, i.e if there's pain and distress what signs do we look for, and clinically, what should be done. And if these measures fail to alleviate stress/pain then we opt to euthanize.
Where I work, we (vets/vet techs) pull protocols and re-review all the time to make sure PI's are following it word for word...and if additions and/or corrections are needed, protocol modifications are made. As for clinical work, I guess depends where you're at. For example, at institutions that see alot of surgical research, then I'd say you'd def see post-op complications and you'll have to treat accordingly.
 
I'm torn between two. I'd either like to be an anatomic pathologist or a poultry vet.

I've been working at a pathology lab for almost four years, and through that time I have worked on necropsies of three elephants, a hippo, a camel, several mountain lions and bobcats, and a bear. As well as the regular animals that we get such as horses, alpacas and llamas, cows, sheep, goats, and avians. It is incredibly interesting because there are no two days that are the same, and the diseases that we see are incredibly interesting. We even play a part when there is a break out such as exotic newcastle disease back in 2003 and we have been working with a TB outbreak in cattle recently.

I also have been shadowing a poultry vet. I seem to also like population medicine. I'm not exactly sure what it is about working with poultry that I like so much, but I can totally see me doing that as well. We collect blood, do field necropsies, look at trends in growth, production, and mortality rates, and consultation. Plus the poultry ranchers are some of the nicest people I've met.

hope this helps
 
sumstorm said:
I don't quite know how to ask this, but with lab animal medicine, is there any areas where the ethics of animal....argh, I don't want to say 'rights' and 'treatment' can be a confusing term, but what I am thinking of is the studies where harsh chemicals were sprayed in rabbit eyes and left untreated, etc....do lab vets stumble into those situations?
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I can't speak for your specific situation, but there definitely some reasons why I know that lab animal medicine wouldn't be right for me. I mean, I see the need for it, but I just wouldn't want to be the one to do it. Sure the pay is great, the hours reasonable, and the demand high, but Robeezy is right, you'll have to deal with ornery PI's who want to approve protocols that you may not be crazy about. And most lab animal vets deal mostly with mice. Just due to sheer numbers. Plus they're cheaper and it's a lot harder to get a protocol with dogs or primates approved than one with mice. I work at a lab at a big research university, and I worked in their University Lab Animal Resources for a few months before, and it definitely got to me a little. I know that if I had a baby with a disease, I would want them to do everything to cure it, but it's another thing to see primates in small cages with little enrichment, beagles in small enclosure that make you think, I wish I could take that one home! But no, they're destined to be sacrificed. And they have never seen the light of day. And mice in tiny cages with no wheels that cannabalize their own pups. The rats can't even fully extend vertically in their cages. And a pair of mice on each rack "sentinels" that will be "sacrificed" to test for internal parasites, etc. Plus, a lot of the animal care technicians aren't paid very well, and I've seen rats with teeth grown into their mouths that weren't reported and dead mice that accidentally went through the cage wash.

Call me soft, but after a while, the mice we intentionally bred to have seizures and die young just made me sad. To me, it's sort of like the meat industry. Yes I eat meat, but no I really wouldn't want to be the one to kill thousands of cattle daily, every day, so I could eat.

As a lab animal vet, you will have to deal with a lot of population health, which some people really enjoy. You will decide to quarantine rooms with MHV or EDIM outbreaks to the displeasure of PI's and to sacrifice mice that test positively and to put infected rooms on lockdown.

The lab animal vets I knew seemed to like their jobs though. The one mentioned that the mice at universities, etc are much healthier than the ones you can buy at petshops. Especially at a big university, you can feel involved with furthering research and get to see different species and go home at a reasonable time with a nice paycheck. You generally don't have to deal with crying owners when euthanizing, although some of the animal care technicians get attached to the larger animals. It's true though that if a mouse is sick, most PI's just have a tech like me sack it. I have a lot of respect for lab animal vets, but I just personally don't see it as my calling. Maybe this will change? I hope this is somewhat helpful and not offensive. My university follows all of the housing standards and everything, I just still have a soft spot for the research animals, bad for a future vet I know

That being said, who knows what kind of vet I'll be 🙂
 
sumstorm said:
Could anyone give a description of a lab vets day. I realize it probably varies, but a synopsis. I have always been on the research side when using animal models, and didn't deal with the vets very much in that environment.
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Not sure this is what you were looking for, but just from observation:

protocol reviews
attend IACUC meetings
laboratory inspections
dept. meetings - case review
study for boards/board review meetings!
training - although alot of the vet tech staff will do this
Director of Lab Animal Facility - alot of political b.s. and less clinical stuff

At institutions w/ alot of lab vets/residents they might rotate between buildings and/or species so say two weeks rodents then two week large animals/nonhuman primates.

Was this what you needed?

True as eatpinkpenguins has said, not as much enrichment/stimulation as you'd like or are use to seeing w/ these animals. However, facilities should have enrichment programs for USDA species. But remember, the majority were bred/raised for this purpose so I'd like to think they're accustomed to that environment. Sometimes I'll give my postop rats soft bacon flavored diet as food supplements...and they just end up burying it! As for rodents, I love them, cutest things ever. I try and treat them as my own. I place nestletts (cotton material they can tear and make nests out of) and give supplemental food as needed. 🙂
 
Wow! I really appreciate all the info! I hope more people respond and share the stuff they have experience with and/or are interested in!
 
sumstorm said:
Is there a call for vets in international medicine? I haven't heard of international programs other than volunteer work.
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My understanding is yes - but more on the policy side of things...not treating many animals so much as working with government (import/export, etc.)
 
chris03333 is actually a resident in lab animal medicine--she would be another great resource to tell you what lab animal med is all about.

As for me, I definitely want to specialize, though I probably won't decide between my top two choices until my internship (knock on wood that I get one!). So, I have two areas to talk about:
My first love is emergency/critical care medicine. To be a board-certified criticalist, your knowledge base has to be SO deep about SO many things...it's just incredibly challening and invigorating. I mean, what other job can you be called on to be treating both the DKA cat and the thoracic trauma patients at the highest level possible? You have to be good at everything, from trauma to toxicites to metabolic crises to surgery; be quick to analyze a situation and quick to implement a plan; be an excellent communicator to deal with clients who are a wreck emotionally and stressing over finances; manage a skilled team of nurses, etc etc. It just seems like the highest level of the highest number of areas of medicine possible. I love it. That said, from an emotional point of view, it's very tiring and I definitely have the potential to suffer from "compassion fatigue"--so to that end, it would be very draining and tough. On the flip side of THAT is that you have the chance to help animals and owners in perhaps their greatest time of need.

I never would have thought it in a million years, but I'm seriously considering puruing neurology. I lucked into a job as a head tech for a medical neurologist and wound up LOVING the specialty. Everything about the nervous sytem is so logical and yet multifacted. The complexity really appeals to me, and there are just some darn cool things that happen to the central nervous sytem. I'm completely fascinated. Since neurological malfunction is often very profound and easily observeable by the owner, seeing improvement is very gratifying for the veterinarian and fulfilling for the owner. A dog who was having seizures once a week to now being seizure-free for a year? A cat who was a pretzel before her brain tumor was removed and now is eating, drinking, being a cat again? Way cool. I also like diagnostic imaging and so would really get a kick out of reading a ton of MRIs and CTs all day. However, I'm not sure I could do neurosurgery--just not that dextrous--and not sure of the future market for medical neurologists. Plus, we honestly are fairly limited in the ways we can look at the nervous system, and these ways of looking are often expensive. A good portion of the time we don't get an answer--and if we do, quite often it's a sad answer (I used to joke that the only specialty that's more depressing than neuro is oncology!). However, the triumphs are incredibly gratifying and very fun, as is the problem-solving nature. As a side note, I'm not sure my back would be able to hold out through decades of supporting those 100+# big paralyzed dogs for their neuro exams... 😉

Toss-up at the moment--we'll see. Used to want to do anesthesiology because I'm a huge fan of pharmacology and physiology, but have decided it's not enough client/patient contact for me.
 
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eatpinkpenguins said:
Call me soft, but after a while, the mice we intentionally bred to have seizures and die young just made me sad.
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I agree with this statement! I was at an abusive head trauma conference last week and was sad when the medical examiner presented on some studies that included inducing head trauma to baby pigs similar to the injuries seen in shaken baby/shaken impact situations. That just made me sad. I realize that we can't go around shaking kids for research, but I'm not sure we should be shaking pigs either, especially considering the brains of children and pigs are definitely not the same.
 
Well, I am interested in pursuing a mixed practice. The vet I currently work with wants me to come back and work with her after I graduate. Her practice is booming. I would like to work with Exotics, since their isn't an Exotics vet anywhere near my hometown. The vet told me she would get me any equipment I would need for such a practice.

On my off days, I would like to dabble with large animal medicine, especially small ruminants (goats and sheep) and a little bit of bovine. Who knows? I may change my mind during clinicals.
 
absvet said:
Is your avatar one of the UMASS alpacas? I didn't go to school there but I took a summer class there two summers ago and took care of the alpacas and worked with Dr. Purdy. It definitely opened my eyes to LA medicine as well - but I can't decide between that and surgery or lab animal. There is always a really high demand for lab animal vets!
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Actually the avatar is just an alpaca I saw at a show I attended...I couldn't find any funny pics from the UMASS alpacas. They're usually always making angry faces at me because they know that when I come around they're going to get taken out and worked on. That's really cool though that you met Dr. Purdy! He's a great teacher.
 
In terms of a specialty, I'm not really planning on doing one but I guess I will see once I start school. I'd probably lead more towards microbiology and virology or animal reproduction. I got really interested in virology after taking immunology and then reading this awesome book called "The Hot Zone" which talks about the Ebola virus. Totally "pee your pants" scary but very very interesting, at least to me.
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I really liked that book too!

I originally started with a plan to do small animal or mixed practice, but the more I learn about public health, the more interested I am. I have dreams of a future Health Dept or CDC job.
 
I want to be a large animal vet. I would say equine, but I haven't really worked with other large animals -- who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with cows! I don't know what it is, I like cats and dogs, but small animal just doesn't do it for me. In a medical setting, I prefer to work with horses and horse people (as nutso as some of them are).

These days, I think I would like to work in an academic situation, for several reasons. I think I would like teaching; I've taught some riding and horse care lessons, which I found rewarding (maybe like teaching 4th year students in a small group setting?) and I also like to get up and talk about things that I know a lot about/enjoy. I love the complicated and critical cases -- they're endlessly fascinating to me, so I'd like to be somewhere that gets referred the bizarre cases. Finally, I'd like to get involved with clinical or translational research. When I find something that no one knows yet, I figure, why doesn't someone try to figure that out? Why not me? I know that the realities of school, residency, getting funding, etc., tend to beat one's enthusiasm down, but I hope to maintain at least some of this ambition and curiosity. 😉

What I'll have to do: (of course) vet school, an internship, then a residency in something or other. I'm not sure yet about medicine, surgery, or emergency/critical care. I'm considering possibly trying to do a DVM/PhD, but I honestly haven't figured that out yet. (Anyone a psychic and want to tell me?) I might end up doing vet school and getting either a master's or a PhD afterwards.
 
robeezy08 said:
I think the challenge I see right now isn't the depth of information but dealing with the PI's!
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Man, I have to agree with this comment. Some PIs are just...not fun to deal with.

Also, if your caretakers are routinely sending mice through cagewash or are not reporting rats with overgrown teeth, you have a major issue. Yes it happens occasionally, but it shouldn't be happening all the time. That's just not cool and I didn't see it happening where I worked. I didn't work for any universities, though, just government contracting so maybe the regulations were a bit more stiff.

abzvet mentioned being more likely to treat a primate, dog, or pig than a mouse. In many studies, sick mice are euthanized instead of being put on any kind of major treatment, though this certainly isn't always the case. Lab animal is a pretty diverse field - there are just SO many species you work with. It's hard to generalize a lot, though I'm sure you could say that about any aspect of vet med!
 
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I would like to become an board certified equine surgeon. In 10 years I want to be working at Rood and Riddle in Kentucky🙂
 
My plan is large animal, particularly dairy. I work on a dairy now, and it's definitely the environment I love. There's so much that goes into the health of dairy cattle to make the operation run smoothly. It's an interesting field that would make me excited to go to work everyday. And those dairy farmers always have some interesting stories they love to share:laugh: I definitely want some sheep clients too (I am a sheep and cow girl at heart)
 
I'm not sure what I want to do, either, but I'm not very worried about it at this point.

I worked in a shelter for a few years and really enjoyed it. The work was rewarding in a lot of ways. I felt like I was making a real difference in my community and I often felt a personal connection to the animals we helped - especially those who spent a lot of time in the clinic. On the other hand, there was always SO MUCH work and it could be really draining. Burnout was a big issue and so were personal politics, though I think that applies to any job.

I liked working with lab animals, too, but like some other posters said, there are ethical concerns there as well. I thought that, in some ways, it was really similar to shelter work only the staff were better trained and the facilities were held to some actual standard by an outside organization. On the other hand, in some labs the techs seemed to do most of the hands-on medical stuff and the vets just sort of checked in or supervised. Also, some PIs are tough to deal with.
 
Pandacinny said:
Man, I have to agree with this comment. Some PIs are just...not fun to deal with.
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Speaking from the other side, some lab animal vets are also...not fun to deal with. 😉

I plan on going into research, if someone slips up and lets me in. Ideally, I would like to do companion animal genetics research, teach and do genetic counseling for breeders. I love genetics and the research process and can't imagine not doing work in this field, and that's pretty much that.
 
Right now, my plan is to be a mixed animal or large animal vet. I have only really shadowed a small animal vet though because there aren't really a lot of the large animal vets around where I live and I'm still waiting to see if I can go with one this summer, and I have to wait until college starts to take horse handling/riding lessons, so I don't know if that will change. However, when I was younger I loved going to see my uncle's cows up in the field behind my house (I used to have names for them all and read them books) and I love, love, love goats (pokes avatar). So, I kind of can't see not working with them.
 
I know that i do not want to do shelter or lab medicine - just don't think i could handle it. I am also not interested in wildlife, exotics or zoo medicine.

I grew up a horse person and was always inclined to be an equine surgeon. That was growing up and since i'm more 'mature' now, i'm not so sure how long my body would be able to handle that lifestyle. But, i love farms, horses, cows, goats, sheep...you name it. 😀

I am inclined to work for myself and do surgery, so SA medicine appeals to me as well. I can see myself owning my own SA clinic, or being a specialist in an Emergency clinic. I definitely am interested in doing an internship and residency regardless of the route i take.

Of course, all of this could change, but knowing my personality, prior and present work experiences, I am fairly certain i need to either own my own practice or be an independent contractor. I also would not rule out academia.
 
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I would like to be an equine vet. I've always been dead set on equine sports medicine, and I still think that's awesome, but I've been working on sick foals so much this breeding season that I'm kind of thinking maybe I should do internal medicine??

I'm really interested in sports medicine because I've ridden and shown horses for years, and having a really skilled, knowledgeable vet with a good eye is so key to training and showing sport horses. (I'm more interested in sport horses than racehorses personally). I think that I would be good at that. For this I would probably do an internship at a private practice with a heavy case load, probably in West Palm Beach or Kentucky or something where I'd see lots of lamenesses.

I really like working with sick neonatal foals as well because those cases are always very intense and detail-oriented, which totally appeals to me. IMO I am very good at picking up on the slightest change in a patient, even when other people think it maybe insignificant. It really sucks with the foals don't make it but on the other hand (as with any type of medicine, of course) it's SO rewarding when they survive, especially since you've typically put in hours and hours and hours of work on the foal.

ETA: obviously there is a lot more to internal medicine. If I were to do that, I'm not sure if I'd want to actually become board certified or not. I'd have to think about that one.
 
I love, love, love emergency/critical care. I have a very ADD-like personality (oo! shiny object...!) and need the constantly changing environment. My only question is whether I want to get board-certified. Being 38 now and 42 when I graduate, I am not sure about another year in an internship then three more as a resident (45! ack!) But I figure I don't have to decide that right now.
 
I don't think I can say there is such thing as a "typical day" for a lab animal vet. That is one of the reasons that I like it. I could be asked to float a guinea pigs teeth, do physical exams on monkeys, address an outbreak in a mouse colony, review protocols, write guidelines for anesthesia/analgesia in multiple different species, see sick patients of multiple species (and when you do finding treatment is more of a challenge because you not only have to get the animal healthy, you have to do it without causing variables in the research, a challenge I find very intriguing). Heck I am off for the weekend, but am currently on lambing duty for a sheep farm. The one thing I LOVE about lab animal medicine is that NOT treating is not a legal option (yes euthanasia is also considered treatment). As the lab animal veterinarian, you wear 2 hats: First advocate for animal welfare, and second preservation of research.

This website has some good discriptions of the duties under the heading "The Laboratory Animal Veterinarian's Role:
http://www.aslap.org/career.php
 
nyanko said:
Speaking from the other side, some lab animal vets are also...not fun to deal with. 😉
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😱What we're not all easy to get along with???🤣

Seriously though there is "those people" in all fields of vet med.
 
I want to be a zoo vet! I would love to work specifically with exotic cats that are rescued from the pet trade or on a wildlife reserve.
 
I don't think I can say there is such thing as a "typical day" for a lab animal vet. That is one of the reasons that I like it. I could be asked to float a guinea pigs teeth, do physical exams on monkeys, address an outbreak in a mouse colony, review protocols, write guidelines for anesthesia/analgesia in multiple different species, see sick patients of multiple species (and when you do finding treatment is more of a challenge because you not only have to get the animal healthy, you have to do it without causing variables in the research, a challenge I find very intriguing). Heck I am off for the weekend, but am currently on lambing duty for a sheep farm. The one thing I LOVE about lab animal medicine is that NOT treating is not a legal option (yes euthanasia is also considered treatment). As the lab animal veterinarian, you wear 2 hats: First advocate for animal welfare, and second preservation of research.
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This is awesome. I wish some of those crazy animal rights people could read this.
 
Well I will let everyone guess at what I want to do IF I ever grow up. 😀 Seriously though, I have pretty much always know what kind of medicine I wanted to do, and there has not really ever been a variance in my mind as to what I wanted to do once I decided on vet med. The bigger battle for me has been people saying I could never do what I wanted full time, and that I would for the most part have to settle for being a GP guy. That would be my personal definition of hell -- to spend my life doing spays, well pet exams and shots. It is why it has taken me so long to get to where I am now.
However, I do not know if I will get boarded in therio, or just be someone with a "special interest" in dog repro. The thing with becoming boarded in my field is that there is no SA vs LA track, you have to do both, and most boarded specialists are LA primarily. A lot of the people in my field are simply DVMs who focus on repro, without the fancy extra titles on their names, and that is actually the path I have been told to follow. I do as of two weeks from now have a MS in reproductive endocrinology, so I may not need too much more training than that honestly. I do not know what I will do that way, and it is my biggest question as to my future plans. I will probably just play it by ear for now and see what the future holds. Then again, 4 years is a long time, and who knows what I will end up becoming by the time I am done. I plan to keep my doors open, and just see what comes for me.
 
Wow, I am definitely more interested in lab vet work now. The lab vet I worked for only dealt with cats. I LOVE cats, but I'd prefer to work with multiple species. I couldn't give you his typical day. Seemed like he mostly went to meetings and wrote. He himself only worked with the cats maybe once a week, and that we probably at the upper limit of things. I never had any concerns about ethics, maybe because part of my job was to ensure happiness of the kitties. How awesome is it to come to the lab and hear, "Not much going on today, wanna go play with the kitties? I know you had a few tests, so you can cuddle up with 'em and sleep if you want" ?!

That said, I dunno what I wanna do. I took that job mentioned above because I thought I wanted to research FIV, but I've since decided that I don't like immunology work too much. So if someone could reconcile my interests in neuro, behavior, toxicology, and venoms, while letting conduct research and work with zoo species (particularly endangered species), that would be great.
 
I want to be a public health vet. I first got interested in zoonotic diseases after reading The Hot Zone and by attending a lecture given by a professor at a Vet School about public health. After volunteering for my State Public Health Veterinarian, I fell in love with the field. I like how I wouldn't be doing the same thing every day, and how I get to make a difference in animal and human health by controlling and investigating disease outbreaks. I think I'm leaning towards disease surveillance and more of the CDC-side of things, rather than working with the USDA although I am an open person. 😀
 
Honestly, on some level I really kind of want to be a GP. Own my own practice and be the go to person for all my clients. Sure you would do lots of vaccines and spays/neuters, but at the same time you have the long standing relationship with your clients.

When a client can't afford the referral hospitals estimate to fix their cats broken leg I want to be able to do it for less. Offer them a payment plan or whatever is needed to get it done. From a business standpoint its pretty hard to make money off a patient that is no longer alive, so there is some incentive to taking that extra risk. And its doing the little things that will make clients love you. (I'm a total idealist I know, and realize this may never be financially feasible for me to do but a guy can dream.)
 
I feel like there are so many facets to the profession that I haven't been exposed to yet that I couldn't possibly make up my mind at this point! It's a little like being a kid in the toy store when your mom says you can pick out whatever you like.

I always thought I wanted to go into exotics, and I still do, but now I'm thinking emergency medicine would give me the hectic pace I need to keep from getting bored. And being a specialist in something like orthopedics would be neat too, since you'd get all the crazy cases the regular clinics couldn't handle. I'm going to have a hard time deciding, but it's so incredibly awesome to be in a position that allows me to!
 
Definitely want to do lab animal vet, but def. don't want to do a residency.

Would like to straddle the two fields, and perhaps put my PhD to some use.

But a 3 year residency, nahh - If I NEED to decide between a Recidency and Lab Animal - then I'll do small anima - I really think after vet school I am done.

That said, I would really really really like to continue on and do some research as a vet, long as it is not my research!!
 
david594 said:
Honestly, on some level I really kind of want to be a GP. Own my own practice and be the go to person for all my clients. Sure you would do lots of vaccines and spays/neuters, but at the same time you have the long standing relationship with your clients.

When a client can't afford the referral hospitals estimate to fix their cats broken leg I want to be able to do it for less. And its doing the little things that will make clients love you. (I'm a total idealist I know, and realize this may never be financially feasible for me to do but a guy can dream.)
Click to expand...

Hey I totally get that too. 👍 I did not mean to offend anyone by my comment, I just know that my personality is not cut out for GP work. It is a very noble cause, and a great way to spend your life in the trenches doing the most good for the greatest number of animals. That is very cool.
 
Caninerepro said:
Hey I totally get that too. 👍 I did not mean to offend anyone by my comment, I just know that my personality is not cut out for GP work. It is a very noble cause, and a great way to spend your life in the trenches doing the most good for the greatest number of animals. That is very cool.
Click to expand...

No offense taken.

I really think you should meet my boss. Board certified in therio, and spends probably about 1/3 of his time doing repro cases. Does surgery a couple mornings a week, half routine stuff, half a little more interesting, ortho cases, pinning legs, knees, FHO, exploratories, etc. Will see pretty much any exotic pet a client will walk through the door with. And just recently became the attending vet for small local zoo.
 
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