What are the working conditions of a veterinarian?

Answer 1

There are many different types of veterinarians, each with their own unique working conditions. However, in general, small animal veterinarians in private practice (the vet who looks at cats and dogs) work primarily inside a clinic. They usually work a regular day shift but may have to work overnight and emergency hours as well. Large animal veterinarians in private practice (vets who look at horses, cows, pigs, other farm animals) typically work at the farms or stables where the animals live. They are often exposed to the weather (hot, cold, rainy, windy, etc.) and generally cover day hours and overnight and weekend emergency hours. Research veterinarians work in labs taking care of the lab animals; they generally work normal day hours but are on call overnight and weekends in case of emergency. Public health veterinarians (also called federal veterinarians) work for the federal government in one of about 15 different agencies covering everything from food safety (USDA FSIS) to animal drug reactions (FDA CVM) to monitoring the importation of live animals or animal products (USDA APHIS). They work a regularly scheduled shift, sometimes with overtime, but rarely have overnight or emergency hours and are usually working in a building somewhere. Military veterinarians work the same shifts under the same conditions as active duty military - usually a regularly scheduled day shift with some emergency duties and active duty deployments overseas.