Veterinarian

A veterinarian, or usually shortened to a vet, is specialised in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries in pets, livestock and other animals.

It should be made clear that vets do not just treat family cats or dogs. While it is common for vets to set up their own private practices, some are actually employed by farms or zoos, where they are tasked to take care of the livestock and animals’ well being. They work mostly outdoors, in charge of animals immunisation, establishment of balanced diet, and disease treatment. There are also some vets who work in pharmaceutical companies, where they focus on developing drugs and vaccines for animals. There are also opportunities in the academic field where vets carry out research studying the development of animal-related diseases and how it is usually transmitted to humans. A popular example would be the highly mortal H5N1 bird flu outbreak that happened early this year.

This is the perfect job for animal lovers. Even with that said, you must be kind and gentle around animals, as some can get aggressive when they feel ambushed or intruded, such as horses, especially when they are feeling unwell or in pain. If not handled with care, you may risked being bitten or kicked. You may need to work long hours with on-call commitment. You may be called in at nights or during the weekend to respond to emergencies.