Be the Pet Vet - Newspaper Article by Farzad Damania on Parsi Times

Hi Friends,

Check out my article on Parsi Times Newspaper dated 1st December 2012, on career as a Veterinarian.

Article Title: Be the Pet Vet
Article Date: 1st December, 2012
Article on: Parsi Times Newspaper
Article Author: Farzad Minoo Damania

For all your career queries, reach out to me on farzad.damania@gmail.com or 9833971773

You can read the entire transcript of my article below:

It takes more than just loving animals to dedicate your life to saving, nurturing and helping them. Here is how and why…

Do you love animals? Do you like to study biology? Would you want to treat illnesses and save lives? If your answer to the above questions is yes, then Veterinary Sciences can be a career option for you.

Veterinary Sciences is a branch of science that deals with diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases, illnesses, disorders and injuries in animals. Veterinarian (also know as ‘Vet’ or ‘Animal Doctor’) is a physician who practices veterinary medicine.

Roles and Responsibilities:

As a veterinarian, you will be the guardian of animal health and welfare. You will be treating injured and sick animals by prescribing medicines, and performing medical procedures such as surgery, bone setting, or dressing wounds. You will advice the animal owners regarding sanitation, nutrition, breeding, and general care of the animals. You will carry out tests for diseases, and provide appropriate vaccinations against them. You might also have to consider the action of euthanasia i.e. putting animal to sleep, if the condition of animal is likely to remain in bad state. Since the animal cannot explain the symptoms of its illness, you will have to look for medical history along with the clinical test reports for analysing the condition of the animal.

Personality Qualities:

The basic quality necessary to succeed as a veterinarian is to have genuine compassion and affection for animals and birds. You should possess good interpersonal and communication skills while dealing with animal owners and your working staff. Since animals cannot speak and describe their problems, you should be good at understanding animal’s behaviour and skilfully diagnose the ailment. You should have strong physical strength and stamina when dealing with large animals. You should possess a strong scientific acumen with good logical reasoning and problem solving ability. While dealing with animals, you have to be patient, kind and observant.

Educational Requirements:

To pursue a career as a veterinarian, you should pass 12^th examination in science stream with physics, biology and chemistry as subjects. This is the minimum eligibility criteria for admission to Bachelor’s in Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry (B.V.Sc. & AH). Also, admission to most veterinary colleges for B.V.Sc. & AH in India is based on an entrance examination conducted by the concerned universities. The Veterinary Council of India (VCI) conducts an “All India Common Entrance examination (AICEE)” for admission to 15% of total number of seats to the first year of B.V.Sc. & AH of all veterinary colleges.  The duration of B.V.Sc. & AH course is four and half years including an internship period. After graduation, students pursue postgraduate course in Veterinary Sciences (M.V.Sc.) which is a two year course. Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) conducts an entrance examination for entry to post graduation courses. You can specialise in areas like medicine, anatomy, biochemistry, cardiology, surgery, pathology, microbiology, gynaecology, toxicology, breeding, genetics, molecular biology and dermatology during your M.V.Sc. course. For jobs in research and teaching, M.V.Sc. is a minimum qualification criterion; however a Ph.D. in this field would be preferred. 

Universities:

Few of the well known veterinary colleges in India are: College Of Veterinary Sciences – Hisar, Bombay Veterinary College – Mumbai, Indian Veterinary Research Institute – Bareilly, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University – Chennai, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University – Ludhiana, Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University – Bidar, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University – Pookote, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University - Tirupati

Job Opportunities:

As a veterinarian, you will be working with small animals (such as dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles) or large animals (such as horses and cows). Veterinary Sciences offers several job prospects. You can work in private and government veterinary hospitals, animal husbandry departments, poultry farms, race clubs, wildlife sanctuaries, zoos, dairy farms, aviaries, and research laboratories. You can also work in technical sales, marketing, pet food manufacturing, agribusiness, animal feed and nutrition industries.

Future Scope:

Keeping pets is becoming a trend in our urban cities; hence demand of private veterinary clinics is gaining significance. Veterinarians are required for research in the fields of animal breeding, artificial insemination, controlling diseases through animals, and wildlife conservation. Also, there is tremendous growth potential in animal husbandry, poultry management, animal products, livestock insurance and rural development. Thus, the job outlook for veterinary science is very positive. In foreign countries, veterinarian is a highly paid profession; however, in India it is still gaining momentum.

Your feedback is highly appreciated.

Best Regards,
Farzad Minoo Damania
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