1. Veterinary Medicine
CHAPTER 24

2. Veterinarians
Veterinarians care for and treat all animals, but they also continuously work to keep people safe, too.
Veterinarians maintain the health of food animals to keep our food supply safe.
They can prevent the transmission of zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can be passed from animals to people (like rabies, for example).
They also test medications and develop procedures and techniques to assist in the advancement of science and technology.

3. Areas of Veterinary Medicine
Private Practice
Teaching & Research
Regulatory Medicine
Public Health
Uniformed Services
Industry

4. Private Practice
Veterinarians in private practice are usually what most people think of when you hear about this career. The majority of veterinarians work in this area.
Examine animal patients
Vaccinate against infectious diseases
Diagnose diseases affecting animals
Perform medical & surgical treatments
Prevent transmission of disease
Advise owners how to keep their pets healthy
Vets in private practice often work with many different types of species.

5. Companion & Exotic Animal Practice
Amphibians
Ferrets
Rabbits
Birds
Rodents
Fish
Horses
Reptiles
Cats
Dogs

6. Exotic Pets How exotic pets are usually identified:
The animal exists in, or is close to its current state in the wild
Prone to 'wild' or unpredictable behaviors
Is uncommon or 'alternative'
Is considered potentially dangerous

7. Food Animal Practice

8. Food Animal Practice
Veterinarians ensure a safe food supply by maintaining the health of food animals like goats, sheep, cows, pigs, and chicken.
This includes veterinarians that care for the fish that we eat.
They spend much of their time at farms and ranches treating illnesses and injuries and testing for and vaccinating against disease. They may advise farm owners or managers about feeding, housing, and general health practices

9. Mixed Animal Practice

10. Mixed Animal Practice
Some veterinarians choose to work in mixed animal practice and care for several different species of small and large animals.
Many of these vets work in rural areas, where there is a mixture of animals to treat.

11. Veterinary Specialists
Dentistry
Surgery

12. Veterinary Specialist
A veterinarian can choose to get advanced training and become board certified in a specialty area, much like physicians do.
Board certification involves several years of advanced training after veterinary school, as well as additional exams.
There are more than 20 specialties for veterinarians, including:

13. Specialties
Anesthesia: focus on making sure animals feel less/no pain with vet procedures
Animal Welfare: specialized training in animal welfare
Behavior: additional training in animal behavior
Dentistry: perform procedures on animals’ teeth
Dermatology: study diseases and conditions of the skin
Emergency and Critical Care: the “ER docs” and intensive care specialists
Zoo Medicine: veterinarians who work with zoo animal species
Internal Medicine: which includes specialties in: Cardiology, Neurology, and Oncology

14. Specialties
Laboratory Animal Medicine: vets making sure that laboratory animal species (rabbits, rats, mice, etc.) receive proper care.
Microbiology: study viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.
Nutrition: make sure that animals’ diets meet their body’s needs for nutrients
Ophthalmology: study diseases and conditions of the eye
Pathology: disease in animals
Pharmacology: how medications/drugs affect animals
Poultry Veterinarians: veterinarians who work with chickens, turkeys and/or ducks, usually in food production settings

15. Specialties
Preventive Medicine: study how diseases are spread and how they can be prevented
Radiology: study of imaging procedures that allow us to see “inside” an animal’s body
Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation: focus on returning animals to normal function after injury, lameness, illness or surgery
Surgery: veterinarians who specialize in performing surgery, which can also be split into 2 subcategories:
Toxicology: study the effects of poisons and other toxic products on the body

16. Species-Specific Animal Practice

17. Special-Specific Animal Practice
Avian Practice(birds)
Equine Practice(horses)
Beef Cattle Practice(cattle raised for meat)
Feline Practice(cats)
Canine/Feline Practice(dogs and cats)
Exotic Companion Mammal Practice(ferrets, rabbits, mice, rats and other small mammals often kept as pets)
Food Animal Practice(cattle and pigs)
Dairy Practice(cows that produce milk)
Reptile and Amphibian Practice(snakes, lizards, salamanders, turtles, etc.)
Swine Health Management(pigs)

18. Pets in the United States
59 million
55.6 million
3.5 million
4.8 million
4 million
13 million
5.7 million
53 million

19. Teaching & Research

20. Teaching & Research
Prevent & solve health problems in animals and people
Develop ways to reduce or eliminate the threat of disease

21. Teaching & Research
Research vets find ways to prevent and solve health problems for animals and people, such as developing ways to reduce or eliminate the threat of animal disease.
Vets may work for state or local governments, private research labs, pharmaceutical companies, or universities and veterinary schools.
Some important findings from veterinary research include:
isolating viruses and other pathogens
Discovering Salmonella (bacteria that people can get from eating or touching raw meat and animal products without washing their hands)
Learning how to control diseases like yellow fever and malaria (disease transmitted by mosquitoes)

22. Regulatory Medicine
Quarantine & inspect animals brought into the United States from other countries.
Test for presence of disease, supervise animal shipments, & manage efforts to prevent and eliminate diseases.
Enforce animal welfare laws

23. Public Health
Help to prevent and control animal and human diseases and promote good health.
Environmental health vets study effects of pesticides & other pollutants on people and animals.
Make sure medicines & food additives are safe and effective
Investigate animal and human disease outbreaks
Evaluate safety of food processing and water supply

24. Regulatory Med or Public Health veterinarians work
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)

25. Uniformed Services Manage infectious diseases control programs
Monitor & control insect-borne diseases
Manage human disease vaccination programs

26. Uniformed Services
Veterinarians also work in uniformed services for the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, U.S. Bioscience Medical Corps and the U.S. Public Health Service.
In general, military veterinarians all do similar public health work, regardless of branch.
However, the Army Veterinary Corps also provides care for the military dogs, horses, and other animals in military service, as well as provides patient care to military- and civilian-owned animals.

27. Industry
Develop, test & supervise production of drugs, chemicals and vaccines

28. Industry
This area includes veterinarians who work in pharmaceutical and biomedical research to develop, test and supervise the production of drugs, chemicals and biological products like antibiotics and vaccines for both animal and human use
Industry veterinarians also work for agricultural chemical manufacturers and private testing laboratories.

29. The Possibilities are Endless!
Where do veterinarians work?
Aquariums
Classrooms
Farms
Hospitals and clinics
Laboratories
Zoos
…almost anywhere!

30. High School Preparation
Good grades in math & science
Experience working with animals
Communication skills
Leadership skills

31. How do you get experience?
Volunteer
Shadow a veterinarian
Join a club like 4-H or FFA

32. College Preparation Study math & science
Veterinary and animal-related experience
Join a pre-veterinary club
Complete pre-veterinary coursework

33. Admission to Veterinary School
Good Grades in math & science courses
Veterinary and animal–related experience

34. Becoming a Vet
Vet school is one of the hardest professional schools to get accepted into just based on the number of vet schools in the country (30), compared to medical schools (141), dental schools (65) or law schools (205).
The average acceptance rate into vet school is 43%.
Prerequisite courses such as biology, chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, and neurobiology.
You must take a professional entrance exam such as the GRE or MCAT.
In vet school, the first 3 years are “preclinical learning” such as classroom lectures, wet labs and exam after exam.
The last year is your “clinical year,” which involves working in a hospital 7 days a week. You rotate every 2-3 weeks to a different field of study

35. Becoming a Vet
Veterinary school includes approximately 4,000 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinic study over a 4 year period.
Once you successfully complete the veterinary school program, you are awarded a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) or Veterinary Medical Doctor (VMD) degree.
In order to practice veterinary medicine, you are required to pass state and national exams.
Veterinarians who choose to become specialists go on to do internships and residencies after they graduate from veterinary school.

36. U.S. Veterinary Medical Colleges

37. Veterinary Technicians
Work closely with the veterinarian (can work in all areas of vet medicine)
Restrain animals
Perform certain procedures and tests
Administer treatments and monitor patients
…and much more!

38. Many Opportunities

39. National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA)
Additional Resources
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC)
National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA)
© copyright 2010 AVMA
All rights reserved

40. CH 24 questions
Define zoonosis, diagnostic radiographs, and urinalysis.
Compare and contrast the responsibilities of a vet tech and a vet.
How much schooling is required to become a vet tech?
24.2: # 1, 3 (page 607)