VeterinarianDr. Oona Gayle

Background Information

• Went to North Carolina A&T for her biology degree

• Went to North Carolina State University for her DVM

• Worked at an Emergency Animal Hospital for her internship and externship

• Currently works at the Animal Care Hospital in Matthews, NC

Skills

• Great with animals.• High tolerance level.• Ability to think on your feet.• Comfortable and confident.• Sensitive to animal behaviors.• Friendly personable and approachable.

Dress code

• Full length pants• Polo or oxford cloth shirts• Jewel neck or V-neck shirts for women• A belt• Jacket, sweater, or plain sweatshirt• Conservative jewelry• All of this is underneath your scrubs or lab

coat.

Office Envrionment

• Can vary• Depends on what animals you are working

with.• People treat each other as if they are family in

small clinics and professionals in large animal hospitals.

• There is a lot of dirty work and heavy lifting.

Typical day

• Enter office at around 7am and leave at around 8pm for small clinics

• Emergency vets have around the clock shifts.• Can vary from slow and minor checkups

throughout the day to long extensive surgeries.

• Usually there is at least one euthanization per day.

Salary in 2007

• Federal government 84,335• Large animals, exclusively 61,029• Small animals, predominantly 57,117 • Small animals, exclusively 56,241 • Private clinical practice 55,031 • Large animals, predominantly 53,397• Mixed animals 52,254 • Equine (horses) 40,130

Advice

• You must love animals• Get some valuable experience in a vet clinic • Volunteer or work with a close vet• Be a biology, zoology or biochemistry major• Be ready for a long extensive education• Don’t do it for the money• Realize that you might not see your family a

lot through the week

Employment Outlook• Increase 35% from 2006 to 2016• About only 2700 people graduate

with a DVM• The second highest job availability in

the U.S

A day in the life of Oona Gayle

• Client brought in her dog that 1) she watched vomit repeatedly for 48 hours, then 2) lost it for 24 hours, cause it ran away (probably to find someone to bring it to the vet). guess it didn't find help, cause he came back today. now he's recument, has cardiac/pulmonary issues; and hypothermic, w/ an... amylase of >10,000 (YES u read correct) and a lipase of >5700. now she is rushing me to treat the dog. really?! I pray he makes it.

Working in a Vet Clinic

• Animals are my life• I don’t get queezy at the sight of an infection,

tumor, poop… I just don’t get queezy.• I can handle euthanizations easy.

Review

• Becoming a vet is a competitive journey• Maximum of about $80,000• Must wear scrubs or lab coat• You need to enjoy your job.• It will all be worth it in the end.