Faculty of Veterinary Science : Guide to courses

3. Careers for Veterinary Science graduates

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 3. Careers for Veterinary Science graduates

Most BVSc graduates make several job changes in their veterinary careers over 40 years and many become part of the global veterinary profession.

In Australia, private practice provides the largest demand for recent graduates, and most veterinarians own or work in a practice. This requires a variety of management and business skills. They must learn to be good communicators (while their patients are animals, their clients are humans) and work well with others, including veterinary nurses, receptionists and administrators.

Specialisation is becoming an increasing trend. Within a practice veterinarians may specialise in surgery, medicine, opthalmology, dentistry, radiology, acupuncture or chiropractic following postgraduate training and further examination. Some practices limit their work to (for instance) horses or small animals.

Commonwealth government veterinarians supervise quality assurance programs for both the handling of stock and the processing of meat for Australia's export meat markets. They also supervise live animal exports and imports (including imported animal products) to prevent the introduction of diseases from overseas. Some of these activities are also undertaken by accredited private veterinary practitioners.

State government veterinarians pursue animal disease control and eradication, principally in food producing species such as cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. They are also involved in food safety by monitoring residues, contaminants and food quality.

Veterinarians also work in tertiary education, supervising postgraduate research into normal animal function and studies of animal diseases and teaching undergraduate courses, veterinary nursing, laboratory animal management and the biological sciences.

Several CSIRO Divisions employ veterinarians, including the Divisions of Animal Health, Animal Production, Molecular Science, Marine Research, Human Nutrition, Tropical Agriculture, and Wildlife and Ecology. The work is largely research, covering areas such as animal diseases, food production, human nutrition and health, and environmental and wildlife studies.

Veterinarians with research training also work in biomedical science; the 1996 Nobel Prize in Medicine was shared by Professor Peter Doherty, a graduate in veterinary science from the University of Queensland.

Demand from the sheep, cattle, pig and poultry industries is increasing for veterinarians to provide whole-farm animal health and production management consultancy services. Increasingly, full-time positions are available with firms. Pet food companies provide job opportunities, as do pastoral companies, artificial breeding and reproductive technology services and others.

Pharmaceutical industry efforts to develop and test new drugs for both animals and humans call for veterinarians to conduct research and develop products. The work also includes the breeding, care and maintenance of the animals used in the testing of drugs.

Employment opportunities exist in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, caring for and treating rare and valuable animals and ensuring suitable habitats are maintained. The RSPCA employs veterinarians to care for abandoned and abused animals.

Opportunities arise for veterinarians to contribute to international programs of animal production, disease control and environmental management. Australian veterinary graduates frequently go overseas for postgraduate training to PhD level or to obtain membership in specialist disciplines such as surgery, small animal medicine, radiology and anaesthesia.

A veterinary science graduate from the University of Melbourne qualifies for registration as a veterinarian in Australia. Graduates may also register to practise as veterinarians in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. With respect to North America, the University of Melbourne School of Veterinary Science is an AVMA-listed college whose graduates are eligible for registration to undertake the National Examining Board Examination in Canada and to enrol in the Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates Certification Program in the United States. Further information on specific requirements for licensure should be obtained from the respective bodies in each country and state or province.

Status:                   Official 2000
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