Dr. Brian Ashmore: Overview
Dr. Brian Ashmore: What do you do?
Dr. Brian Ashmore: Typical Day
Dr. Brian Ashmore: Education and Training
Veterinarian
Veterinarians, or many times simply called vets, are medical professionals who have trained and have been educated to provide care for animals. Many of us would recognize our neighborhood veterinarian that provides care for our pets, however, there are also many more veterinarians serving our communities in different ways, such as:
- Small Animal – Dogs, Cats, Hamsters, Gerbils
- Large Animal – Livestock, Farm Animals, Equine (horses), Large Reptiles
- Equine – Horses
- Exotic – Reptiles, Birds, Ferrets, Rabbits, Chinchillas
- Food Animal – Cattle, Sheep, Swine, Poultry
- Food Safety – Preventing foodborne illness
- Wildlife and Conservation – Wildlife – Also including Marine animals, Zoo animals
- Aquatic Medicine – Fish and Aquatic mammals
Just as with many career paths there are areas to specialize in. There are 27 veterinarian specialties, some are anesthesiology, cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, and surgery.
Veterinary practices often serve their clients and their animals with preventative health education, nutrition advice, and by diagnosing and treating disease and medical conditions.
As many practicing veterinarians will tell you a love of animals is crucial, however, enjoying working with pet owners is every bit as important.
Advice and Soundbites
It's very important to spend time. I mean when I went into veterinarian school I think I had 5,000 hours that I had logged in a veterinary hospital and I felt it was such a benefit. Such a great addition--blessing to have that. Brian Ashmore, DVM
Education is a big thing. Debt is really huge. It's really crippling a lot of veterinarians. There are vets that come out with $200,000 - 300,000 in student debt, which is huge. Brian Ashmore, DVM
It started out with the love of animals, but then it gained a lot of momentum with the passion of being able to use my mind, being able to use my skills, and putting them together and figuring out puzzles. I can make people happy by fixing their pets. Brian Ashmore, DVM
Just because you what to do something doesn't mean it's the right thing for you to do. Brian Ashmore, DVM
Definitions
D.V.M. - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
