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Small animal & mixed practice

Veterinarian

The debt-to-income ratio is the worst in medicine.

Typical pay

$100k-$160k

How you get in

DVM, 4 years after a bachelor's

Outlook

Strong demand; the economics are the problem

Veterinarians diagnose and treat animals, usually in small animal practice. It is deeply loved work with a genuinely difficult financial profile and a profession-wide mental health crisis that is openly discussed within the field.

A day in the life

  1. 7:30aTreatment rounds on hospitalized patients
  2. 8:30aSurgery block — spays, neuters, dentals
  3. 12:00pLunch, usually spent returning client calls
  4. 1:00pAfternoon appointments every 20 minutes
  5. 4:00pA euthanasia appointment, then straight into the next room
  6. 6:30pRecords, callbacks, lab result reviews

How to get in

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Duration

8 years total

Cost

$200,000-$400,000

Credential

DVM plus state license via the NAVLE

  1. Complete a bachelor's with heavy science prerequisites
  2. Accumulate veterinary and animal experience hours — required for admission
  3. Complete four years of veterinary school; there are few schools and admission is brutal
  4. Pass the NAVLE and get state licensed

Specialize with an internship and residency

Duration

11-14 years total

Cost

$200,000-$400,000, with low pay during training

Credential

DVM plus board certification

  1. Complete the DVM
  2. Do a rotating internship at low pay
  3. Match into a residency — surgery, internal medicine, emergency, oncology
  4. Board certification roughly doubles earning potential

Vet tech first

Duration

2 years

Cost

$8,000-$30,000

Credential

Credentialed vet tech, then optionally DVM

  1. Complete a vet tech program and work in practice
  2. See the financial and emotional reality of the profession from inside
  3. Decide whether the DVM debt makes sense for you
  4. Many stay as techs; those who go on enter school far better prepared

What people love

  • · Work you likely feel called to
  • · Varied medicine — surgery, internal, dermatology, all of it
  • · Practice ownership is achievable
  • · Deep client and patient relationships

What wears people down

  • · $200k-$400k of debt against a $100k-$130k salary
  • · Euthanasia is routine and cumulative
  • · Elevated suicide rates are a documented crisis in the profession
  • · Clients who cannot afford the care their animal needs

From people doing it

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