What Do Veterinarians Do?

This article about being a veterinarian can help you answer the question  – what do veterinarians do? We will also address the question: “how many hours do vets work”?

What Do Vets Do On A Daily Basis?

If you are interested in learning about veterinarians you have come to the right place! What do veterinarians do on a daily basis? The majority of veterinarians work in a private or corporate clinical practice. They treat animals that are sick and provide wellness care.

Wellness care can include updates on vaccines, routine bloodwork, and health checks. Veterinarians have gone through years and years of college just to get to where they are. 

They also need 4 or more years of professional training at an accredited veterinary university. The competition to get in is high! The reason the competition is much higher than medical school is that there are only 30 vet schools in the USA. So with that being said give your local veterinarian some respect and appreciation!

What do veterinarians do?

Veterinarians who work in animal hospitals or local clinics do a lot of animal neutering, teeth cleaning, and updating vaccines.

If you want to be a veterinarian but don’t see yourself working in private practice, there are options!  While in veterinary college you will be exposed to all kinds of student clubs. These clubs can give you hands-on experience in the many different disciplines of veterinary medicine.  

Perhaps you are interested in veterinary radiology, then you’ll be interpreting MRIs, X-rays, and other images. A veterinary radiologist may spend the entire day diagnosing animals based on radiographic images.

What do vets do?

You might also already have specific interests, if you love parasitology perhaps you can become a Professor of parasitology at a veterinary university. Some vets go on to become zoological veterinarians, whereas others are happy in private practice. The choices are endless in a veterinary career.

“Only you can control your future.” Dr. Seuss

If you want to be a veterinarian but don’t want to work in a clinic, look at what some of these veterinarians chose for a unique career path! What a veterinarian does on a daily basis depends on where they work. Articles about being a veterinarian are hard to find, this list will show you many veterinary specialties.

Learning About Veterinarians – What Does a Vet Do?

Where can veterinarians work?

Specialize in Internal Medicine.

Dr. Slade specializes in internal medicine at the Animal Medical Center in NYC. He is board-certified (DACVIM), through the  American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. This requires a residency in Small Animal Internal Medicine. What does a veterinarian who specializes in internal medicine do? This will all depend on the interests of the veterinarian.

Dr. Slade’s interests lie in gastroenterology, hepatology, endocrinology, and immunology. He has provided my own dog Sherlock who has had a disorder in his urinary system, with a better quality of life. Sherlock has not been able to empty his bladder on his own and needed physical help with 2-3 daily catheter insertions.

The catheter insertions required 2 people to do. With Dr. Slade’s suggestion, Sherlock has been placed with a  percutaneous cystotomy tube. This permanent tube will allow us to drain his bladder more often. Without Dr. Slade’s board-certified expertise, I might not have had a solution for Sherlock’s unfortunate situation.

Dr. Slade is able to use an investigative mind and help solve unique cases that have to do with the internal anatomy and physiology of animals.     

Keep in mind that a veterinarian who specializes in internal medicine works long hours. If you are wondering how many hours an internal medicine vet works it can be well over 40 hours per week.

In answering the question “what does a vet do on a daily basis?”, Dr Slade spends much of his day seeing clients, emailing clients, talking to clients, and coming up with a diagnosis.

What do veterinarians do? Poster at AMC

Open Your Own Hospice Practice

Dr. Dani McVety and Dr. Gardner became entrepreneur business partners and opened up Lap of Love, which is now a national pet hospice practice. When Dr. McVety was an undergrad she volunteered at a human hospice. This gave her so much experience and expertise in the area of hospice care. 

A TED talk might even be in your future as a veterinary professional! The TED talk titled “Why Veterinarians Will Change the Face of Human Death”, was given by Dr. McVety a few years ago.

Now, do you think while Dr. McVety was volunteering at that hospice an undergrad she would never have imagined that years later she would be giving a TED talk?! Take risks and do what you love! Their goal is to empower every owner to care for their geriatric pets.

Both Doctors graduated from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. You can read Dr. McVety’s interview here and Dr. Gardners interview here.

Veterinary Forensics is a Unique and Interesting Career

Become a DVM that specializes in Veterinary Forensics like Dr. Eller. A veterinarian that specializes in veterinary forensics works closely with law enforcement and court cases. This type of career usually requires quite a bit of traveling.

You will need an advanced Master’s Degree in Veterinary Forensics after you complete your DVM. Oftentimes forensic veterinary pathologists are called onto a case to determine the cause of death or cause of injuries.

Many different disciplines aside from veterinary medicine can be involved in forensic work, including entomology, botany, and ballistics. This is a relatively new field.

Author, Podcaster, or Influencer

Use your expertise to become an author, podcaster, and blogger like Dr. K. She uses her DVM degree to help vet students navigate vet school smarter and more efficiently.

Dr. Kung says on her website “If you want to be successful – and by that I mean happy, fulfilled and totally in charge of your own destiny – there are skills you need to develop and important things you need to know long before you become a DVM.” She has written a series of books which you can find on Amazon. So check out her affordable books here!

Check out her interview here:  “The DVM degree has the potential to empower you to do so many amazing things and to have such an amazing life.” Dr. April Kung   

As an author, your working hours may differ from those of a veterinarian working in an animal hospital. Conversely, most veterinarians who write books also practice at clinics, so their hours are likely to be longer. While they’re at home, they’ll have to write books in their spare time.

What do veterinarians do? Unique career ideas for life after vet school
Sherlock received acupuncture treatment from a certified specialist.

Veterinary Oncologist

What do veterinarians do? They can become a veterinary oncologist like Dr. Farrelly who works in NYC at Blue Pearl. A veterinary oncologist has to go through extensive training after graduating with a DVM title. They are certified in Medical Oncology by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM).

If you want to make a difference in the lives of pets who are diagnosed with cancer, then oncology might just be your calling! You can also get involved in cutting edge advances in veterinary medicine like CyberKnife and pinpoint radiation therapy.

How many hours does a vet work in a day? Most vets, especially ones that specialize will work long hours. How many hours per week a vet works, will depend on many factors. Due to the high student loan debt and low pay, many veterinarians are now looking for veterinary side hustles on top of their regular job.

What Does A Vet Do?

Brand Creator / Influencer

Create a brand! Dr. Lisa Lippman with her business partner Loni Edwards has created a pet product brand (WYLDE), is a media personality, social media influencer, and go-to source for expertise in pet health/safety in NYC.

Dr. Lippman didn’t get into vet school on her first try but she is now a successful house-call veterinarian, podcaster, and entrepreneur. If you haven’t heard her podcast Pets and Punchlines, you need to download it now from any podcast app on your phone! You will learn, be entertained, and laugh!

It’s how I get through my daily commutes in NYC! Read her interview on how she got into veterinary school

Lab Animal Vet

Specialize in the field of laboratory animal medicine, like Amanda. Amanda is a non-traditional student at NCSU whom we interviewed in 2017. Amanda went to graduate school and was also enrolled in a Ph.D. program when she received the acceptance letter to NCSU veterinary school.

Become an Exotic Animal Vet

Do you want to work with birds, reptiles, or other non-pet species? Learn all about how to become an exotic animal vet.  Exotic animal vets learn how to provide medical care to a very wide range of species. If you are up for a challenge then this might be the veterinary field for you! Learning about veterinarians and what they do is important to figure out before you start applying to vet school.

This article: What Do Veterinarians Do? Should give you some great ideas!

The 8 unique ideas for life after vet school should help you learn about veterinarians. It will also get you thinking about some excellent opportunities that you’ll have with a DVM degree. Keep in mind that there are certain things a veterinarian will wear on the job, one of them being a veterinary wristwatch

How many hours do vets work a day?

Some veterinarians work 8 hours per day, while others find themselves working 10-14 hours per day. There is no easy answer to this question. It all depends on the specialty and the hospital where the vet works. Maintaining a positive work/life balance is important so you don’t risk burnout.

How many hours a week does a vet work?

Some veterinarians will work a 40 hour work week and be happy with that. However, there are other vets that work their veterinary day job and also have a veterinary side hustle. Veterinarians often do a side hustle because they have a financial goal like: paying down student loans that they want to achieve.

So if you are still wondering “how many hours does a vet work?”, the answer is it depends on their goals and motivation.

Final Thoughts On What Does A Vet Do On A Daily Basis

Becoming a veterinarian means that there are endless career choices and paths that you can take. Hearing about some unique places where veterinarians work will give you some ideas for the future ahead. You just need to open your mind to some non-traditional and perhaps harder than usual career paths! Be receptive, try new things, and you just might end up in a career that you never imagined being possible when you first began your vet school journey!