Teaching and Research
Veterinarians involved with teaching and research hold some of the most necessary jobs for animals and humans. First, they are involved in teaching students, other medical professionals, and even scientists. Faculty members of veterinary colleges and schools conduct research, teach, provide care to animals admitted in vet training hospitals and also develop continuing education programs to help other practicing veterinarians who are to gain insight and new knowledge and skills.
Universities, colleges, governmental agencies and in industry agencies employ research veterinarians to diagnose, treat and prevent animal and human health disorders. At these places, research veterinarians have had a hand in several different human health solutions such as:
- Discovering solutions to help control malaria and yellow fever
- Solving the mystery behind botulism
- Identifying the cause of West Nile virus
- Developing techniques for artificial limbs and
- Treatment for broken bones and joint disease
- Test animals via drug therapies, antibiotics or new surgical techniques
Veterinarians in pharmaceutical and biomedical research firms develop, test, and supervise the production of drugs and biological products such as antibiotics and vaccines for animal and human use. Besides earning a veterinary degree, these veterinarians take extra steps and have specialized education in fields such as pharmacology, toxicology, virology, bacteriology, laboratory animal medicine, or pathology.
Veterinarians also work in management, regulatory affairs, technical sales and services, agribusinesses, pet food companies, and pharmaceutical companies. Research veterinarians are in high demand within the agricultural chemical industry, private testing laboratories, and the feed, livestock, and poultry industries.
In Canada, veterinarian teachers can only teach at one of four Canadian veterinarian colleges, training and mentoring future veterinarians, while other can teach in veterinary technician programs in colleges and universities across Canada.
In order to become a professor in veterinarian medicine, there are many steps which include a master’s degree, a board certification in a clinical specialty and usually a PhD is needed. Once those steps have been taken, a professor can then teach clinical veterinary medicine, basic science courses or a combination of both. Professors may also choose to mentor students, sit on committees and attend lectures, meetings and other professional development events. At veterinary colleges, professors conduct their own research projects, looking for preventions and cures of diseases (as all research veterinarians do) while developing new medicines and therapies.
Research and Teaching Veterinarian Salary
As it was last reported in November of 2009, the median salary for a typical research veterinarian working in higher education averaged $90,844 per year. Of course, each veterinarian’s salary will differ due to things such as the size and location of the facility in which they work. Still, there is a great need for research and teaching veterinarians worldwide, and salaries are expected to adjust within the next few years.
