Salary

[nsdhfk]

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[OSJ]

The small and large animal sound about right... I think the board certified might be a little high though, but I'm not really sure.

 

[Kymmy16w]

I can't seem to find the page, but I remember seeing something on the UCDavis page stating that the average annual income of a DVM their first year out of school was $70k.

 

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[Kymmy16w]

Found this:
"Benefits of completing an internship and/or residency are training and more confidence in practicing veterinary medicine, and of course, more money. Most (not all) hiring veterinarians are willing to pay someone who has completed a quality internship on average 10-25% more than a fresh graduate. Salaries for board certified veterinarians vary depending on the specialty, but on average range from $100,000 to $150,000. The downside is that the average internship only pays $20,000 - $22,000, and the average residency only pays $26,000 - $28,000. But, it pays off in the long run."

http://www.vet.ksu.edu/studentorgs/scavma/faq4.htm

 

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[Cheska]

If you have access to a university library, you can usually get JAVMA articles for free online- just treat it as if you are looking for sources for a research paper.


One thing you have to think about is veterinary salaries can change regionally- in Northern Colorado/Denver which is saturated with vets, I know a vet 5 years out of school who got offers of 48K base salary... but here in AZ, which needs vets, I know a vet 1 year out of school making nearly 100K!!!

You can search archives, this topic has come up before.

 

[ri23]

The average SA starting salary is around 55k with LA being smaller.

As for specialists, it really depends on what specialty. On average they make 150,000 as opposed to about 100,000 for regular DVMs. There starting salary is obviously not that high though.

 

[fargeese]

Actually in last month's issue of Veterinary Economics they had a breakdown for a 1st year practitioner:

Large animal exclusive: 61,028
Large animal predominant: 53,397
Mixed animal: 52,254
Small animal predominant: 56,241
Small animal exclusive: 57,117
Equine: 40,130
All private practice: 55,031

This makes me very happy actually, as I would like to do large animal, and had pretty much resigned myself to being poor. It was a great issue otherwise as well actually, we actually raised some prices at the clinic in response to what it had listed for average prices for procedures.

 

[vet413]

To change the topic on this slightly, what is an average veterinary assistant salary? I have 2 years experience in primate research, and a few months experience as a veterinary assistant. What kind of hourly wage should I be asking for? Thanks!

 

[rexosaurus]

As a veterinary assistant I started at $8/hour, worked for several years in the field and ended up at $#12/hour in emergency/critical care. I think it may depend on the clinic you are at, if it is a specialty clinic (i.e. neurology center, surgery center, etc.), location, etc. But don't expect anything great in the beginning! Good luck

 

[theunraveler]

which country in the world pays the most for starting vet?

and why does equine pay so little? one would think that those multimillion turf clubs in melbourne or HK will pay **** loads for equine vets to look after their horses

 

[fargeese]

Because horse people don't pay their bills, heh.

 

[Electrophile]

Did anyone find that JAVMA article on specialist salaries? I'd like to be a veterinary behaviorist, so I'm curious how much that pays. I'm thinking a board certified diplomate of the ACVB is going to be in big demand in the future.

 

[ri23]

Did anyone find that JAVMA article on specialist salaries? I'd like to be a veterinary behaviorist, so I'm curious how much that pays. I'm thinking a board certified diplomate of the ACVB is going to be in big demand in the future.

Not in JAVMA, but another free journal that they give us it says that pretty much all specialists are paid more than the average DVM (100,000). They gave an estimate for an average specialist to be around 144,000 I believe. The only two specialists it said that made less than a regular DVM are behavioralists and zoo vets at around 90,000 and 92,000.

 

[JerseyisCutest]

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[Cheska]

I was originally going to be just a behaviorist, but decided to go ahead and do it all

You future behaviorists might want to check out this link, it is for an animal behavior research intern at the Smithsonian:

www.aza.org/JobListings/index.cfm?page=detail&id=9988

I was looking for jobs and came across it, sounds really cool if you have the resources to spend time in DC, it would be a fantastic experience, and they have several different sessions too.

 

[Bill59]

The only two specialists it said that made less than a regular DVM are behavioralists and zoo vets at around 90,000 and 92,000.

That's not surprising. The problem with behavior is it's so time intensive. You can spend 2 hours just talking with the client, getting the history making and making recommendations for behavior modification. A surgeon can generate $1000 an hour or more in the OR, but not many clients will pay $2000 for that 2-hour behavior consultations.

The problem with zoo/wildlife medicine is simple supply and demand. A lot of people want to go into zoo/wildlife but there aren't many jobs. In fact they say to get a zoo job, someone has to die.

 

[Electrophile]

I charge $60 a session (usually around 1.5 hours each) for behavior consultations right now as it is and honestly, that's pretty low. I'd probably charge quite a bit more after I'm all done with everything. I heard somewhere that Cesar Millan charges something like $800+ an hour!! I gotta move to LA, I guess!

The nice thing about being a behaviorist would be that surgery can bring in a lot of money, but all the equipment, surgical tools, supplies, staff, etc are very expensive. About the most expensive piece of equipment I have right now is a $30 muzzle and a nice $25 prong collar and I could work more or less by myself with relatively minimal staff. I gotta have an office manager though. I suck at book keeping.

 

[JerseyisCutest]

cheska........thanks for posting that! It would be super cool to do.....if it was paid! I can't believe they don't pay. Maybe if I lived closer and could do it for school credits, but I don't know I owuld move to DC for 4 months to do that for free (or that I could even afford to). I wish I could find something like that around WV or Pittsburgh to do over summer

 

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[Cheska]

cheska........thanks for posting that! It would be super cool to do.....if it was paid! I can't believe they don't pay. Maybe if I lived closer and could do it for school credits, but I don't know I owuld move to DC for 4 months to do that for free (or that I could even afford to). I wish I could find something like that around WV or Pittsburgh to do over summer

No problem- I thought of it after I read your post, I was hoping one of you guys either lived close to DC or had family there since it looks like such a great opportunity! But anyway AZA.org is a great source for internships, so check it out every once in a while- you never know when something will open up near you! My Denver Zoo internships were the best experiences I have ever and probably will ever do! Sorry to hijack the thread!

 

[Electrophile]

My apologies, it wasn't JAVMA, and I looked at Vet Econ, wasn't there either, turns out the info I was referencing was in DVM Newsmagazine (that's what happens reading different journals...you just forget what you got from where).

FYI: http://www.dvmnews.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=437505&pageID=1&sk=&date=

Thanks! Interesting read...