Alternative careers with a vet degree
Anonymous said to @ask-drferox: Hi Doc! Could you talk about non-traditional (or less common) career options for vets? I'm just starting uni and I want to study veterinary science post-grad, but I don't think I want to work forever as a mixed practice vet at a clinic. Thanks!!
There’s a lot you can still do with a vet degree, even though clinical work is going to be the most common pathway. A vet degree requires a high degree of intelligence, commitment, problem solving, rational thinking and memorizing, so those skills are transferable to other fields.
Industry vets, eg ruminant nutrition, on-farm fish vets, etc
Government vets, including ethics boards and animal welfare committees
Pharmaceutical research, production, marketing and customer support
Other medical equipment research and training (somebody has to anaesthetise the pigs human surgeons practice on)
Teaching, eg designing courses for vet nurses or vet students, though some go into high school teaching instead
Wildlife research, because gosh darn it, it’s nice to have someone anaesthetise the lion
And some vets I know are actually no longer working as vets in any capacity, but have moved on to IT, banking, aged care, plant nursery management (surgical skills transfer to bonsai well, apparently), fitness instructor, small business owner related to their hobby, and so on.
Some non-vet animal-related jobs here.
Personal thoughts on alternative careers.











