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It's a wild, wild lifeSo you really love animals and think you'd like to be a vet? Love of animals is a good start, but there are a lot of other things you'll need before you can call yourself a doctor of veterinary medicine. APRILLE JANES |
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 [ 2002-09-25 ] |
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Besides caring about animals, a strong background in the sciences and math will help achieve your goal. In addition, curiosity, good powers of observation and strong communication skills are valuable traits to possess. You'll also need compassion, both for the animals and the people who care about them.
A veterinary medical degree requires a minimum six years of higher education. You'll start with at least two years of a pre-veterinary university education followed by four years with an accredited program. You'll spend time in the classroom, lab and in clinical study where you'll be introduced to such things as veterinary biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, surgery and nutrition, to name only a few.
Here in Ontario, we can proudly point to the University of Guelph as a world-renowned leader in training new vets at its Ontario Veterinary College. It's also the oldest veterinary college in North America, educating vets since 1862. You can contact the university by calling 519-824-4120 or visit their Web site at www.ovcnet.uoguleph.ca for more information about their programs.
As in any medical profession, when you complete your degree you must acquire a license to practice. Once you've passed the national board examinations and an exam administered by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO), you've earned the right to call yourself a doctor of veterinary medicine.
Once you're ready to go out into the working world, your choices are many and surprising. Roland Powers, MCVS, has been practicing veterinarian medicine since 1974.
"I'm a general practitioner. We all graduate as general practitioners. Everyone gets taught the same way. Everyone learns about horses and cattle, cats and dogs, all the anatomy, the physiology and the histology," Powers says.
"Then, when we graduate, we choose our direction, whether we want to go into practice or academia or industry or whatever. Some of my classmates never left academia. Some work with the federal government. Some are high up with drug companies. Others are eye specialists and surgery specialists. And the research opportunities are tremendous."
Powers has also seen a lot of changes in the field. One of the most significant shifts has been from treating crises to preventive medicine. "It's a change in our approach to veterinary medicine. It's more economical for the owners to prevent illness than to treat a sick animal and try to get it back to health. We're always preaching food, vaccines, proper housing, proper ventilation, proper everything."
This shift to preventive medicine has meant a more balanced lifestyle for veterinarians. "You used to be on call one weekend and on standby the next which was the same as being on call because you'd always be called in. Then on the third weekend you'd sleep."
"It's changed dramatically in the last 20 years. We've gotten away from a tremendous amount of calls on nights, weekends and holidays because now we prevent most of those crises."
There are almost 8,000 veterinarians practicing today in Canada. For more information on how you could join them, visit the Web site of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association at www.ovma.org or give them a call at 905-875-0756.
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