Is Veterinary Medicine Worth It?
Veterinary Medicine seems like an appealing career to so many animal lovers until they go to the Vet's office and start to think about how the Veterinarian can make any money.
Veterinarians tend to work in smaller offices and give off less of a "high brow" feel than they M.D. contemporaries, but these are not "lesser" jobs as much as they are "different" jobs. A Veterinarian works on a completely level than your traditional Doctor and makes money in different ways than a traditional Doctor.
Yes, Veterinarians are paid "per service" and that means that they get paid according to how many people (or pets) they see in a day and how many services they perform, but that's not the only way it works.
Pet Insurance is becoming prevalent in America and many Veterinarians can now get a slightly stronger "guarantee" on payment because some pet insurance companies work just like "human insurance". That is, your patients pay premiums and the insurance company pays out most claims and then your patients are responsible for the difference. This really helps everyone and keeps your client base coming in to see you instead of worrying about how they'll pay for it.
Furthermore, it is accepted that Veterinarians can charge for services rendered before you get out the door and expect full payment at that time. This is something that you can just "do" because it's standard industry practice. Plus, this kind of "up front" care helps you build relationships with your clients. When someone comes into your office they get to know everybody on your staff and that can really create a "family: feeling in your office.
If you feel like working in the office won't be enough you also have to consider that Veterinarians board animals for clients who are out of town or for "obedience training". This is a great way to bring in funds without having to keep the whole office open at all hours. A Veterinarian Technician or Laboratory Animal Caretaker can handle the pets in your kennel after hours for boarding clients and you can still charge a boarding fee and only have to pay one employee to work every night.
Some Veterinarians also help at Emergency Veterinary Hospitals that specialize in helping animals who MUST have emergency care. Yes, you do it for the sake of the animals, but it is a nice way to add to your paycheck as well (and a facility like this is a GREAT service to the community).
As you can see there's a lot to go around in the Veterinary world and we didn't even cover "large animal" veterinarians who go to farms to care for animals like horses and cattle. The options are endless if you look around, but don't believe the stigma that Veterinary Medicine is "low brow". Veterinary medicine is NOT "for the birds". (If you get my drift...)
