"There are few jobs more challenging, more rewarding or more important than ensuring and promoting the health and welfare of the animals on which society depends."
Veterinarian
Day-to-day activities include:
- Guardians of animal welfare
- Working with companion and performance animal owners to solve animal health problems
- Working with farmers to solve animal health problems and to improve production
- Developing preventative animal health programmes (eg. vaccinations, worming, trace mineral supplementation)
- Caring for wildlife
- Anaesthetizing animals
- Performing diagnostic procedures (such as X-rays, ultrasound, endoscopy)
- Performing soft tissue and orthopaedic surgical procedures
- Providing intensive care of hospitalized patients
- Reproductive procedures including calf delivery, cesarean sections, pregnancy diagnosis and embryo transfer
- Performing postmortem examinations
- Assuring food humans consume is safe
- Managing large and small businesses
Careers for veterinarians include:
- companion animal practitioner
- dair
y cattle practitioner - equine practitioner
- sheep & beef & deer practitioner
- mixed-practitioner
- avian/poultry practitioner
- pig practitioner
- wildlife veterinarian including marine mammals
- zoo veterinarian
- food safety and public health
- veterinary specialist (surgery, medicine, radiology, cardiology, oncology, neurology, reproduction)
- overseas development
- animal welfare
- biosecurity - protecting our borders
- research for the benefit of animals and humans
- animal health companies
- nutrition companies
- animal welfare organizations eg. RSPCA
- animal rehabilitation centres
- company management
Training to be a veterinarian
- The only training programme in New Zealand is the Massey University Bachelor of Veterinary Science degree.
- Graduates from the degree experience virtually 100% employment after graduation.
