Interview With a veterinarian

What it takes to be a vet

The vet info

Dr. Hilary Vet

My questions

1.describe your job 2. how does science affect your job? 3. what educational requirements are

needed for your job? 4. what type of communication skills do you

need? 5. do you work as a team or as an

individual? 6. When working as a team, do you have the

responsibility for making the final decision?

Vets response

1) describe your job.  My job is very interesting and intense on many levels.  There are appointments for simple vaccinations, and there are emergencies, and there are surgeries and hospitalized patients.  There is never a dull moment.  My job is completely about the healthcare and welfare of animals.  There is preventive care, which keeps pets healthy, and there is emergency care which saves the lives of many animals.  Although, sometimes, there are very sad moments, the rewarding moments of saving an animals life over-ride anything else.

2)how does science affect your job?  Science affects my job in very many ways.  We need science for fecal testing, blood testing, urinalysis, x-rays, ultra sounds, surgery, biopsies, ect.  Knowing which cells should be in a sample, and which cells should not, helps in almost all of diagnostic testing.  Without science, there would be no diagnosis for any animal, which would mean, no animals would be helped.  In this field, science is the key.

Vets response

4)what type of communication skills do you need?  You need excellent communication skills.  Every owner has the right to know what the treatment is for their pet, and what their prognosis is.  When dealing with delicate situations, you need to make sure that you have the compassion and understanding to help the owner make decisions that are necessary for the happiness and health of their pet.  

5)do you work as a team or as an individual?  In the veterinary field, everyone works as a team.  The receptionists are just as important as the technicians, the technicians just as important as the doctors and so on.  A veterinary office would never run smoothly without every single person that is working there.  

Vets response

6)when working as a team, do you have the responsibility for making the final decision?  Actually, the owner of the pet has the responsibility for making the final decision.  The owner is notified as to what their pet needs, but we have to have their "okay" to do what is necessary for the pet.  The veterinarian does make the final decision as of what diagnostic procedures need to be performed, what the diagnosis is, and what treatments need to be done.

Income of a vet

All private clinical practices $46,339 Large animals, exclusively 48,303 Small animals, exclusively 48,178 Small animals, predominantly 46,582 Large animals, predominantly 45,087 Mixed animals 43,948 Equine (horses) 34,273