Just what to do you have to do to be a veterinary surgeon?
Just what does it require to be a vet, and is it the right career path for you?
It can take just as long to become a veterinary surgeon as it can to become a docotor, as after school you need to attend four years of college and then four years of veterinary school to begin with. Getting a placement at an animal hospital can help with credit, but it wont make your time any shorter actually in college. Competition is fierce for a place in a veterinary college, there are only 28 across america, as opposed to the hundreds of human medical schools. You will have to learn about the various animals you have to treat and the diseased that may affect them. People who want to become doctors have to familarise themselves with the human structures, but a vet will have quite afew speices to learn in order to become a vet. You have to also realise there are many speices of animals that some vets can treat exclusively. The final exam is similar to the bar exam that is taken by lawyers, which you need to pass in order to treat animals, this is then followed up by a state exam. Consider carefully which state you want to take the state exam in, as passing it in one state doesnt mean you can practice in all 50 states.
Becoming a vet will mean your constantly trying to stay ahead of the curve and learning alot of new methods and information in your own time. You also have to take a veterinary oath to, promising to use your knowledge to help animals, similar to the human doctors oath. The hours can be long, and the hardest thing to do when being a vet is putting an animal ‘to sleep’ when you cant help them, as sometimes the vets can get attached to the ‘patients’ -more so than a human doctor. Remeber that, because you may find it hard to cope with.
So if you have the dedication and motivation to become a vet and love working with animals, it may just be the ideal career move for you.
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