Diverse opportunities exist for vets

i am a science student from the medical stream. i did not clear the neet this year and i do not want to try again next year. i love animals but my family says there is no scope in this line. What are the options for me?

As you have taken up the medical stream subjects – physics, chemistry and biology in Class XII – and also love animals, a career as a veterinary doctor is an excellent option. No longer is the vet merely the billi doctor but with the growing respect for the value of animal life, veterinarians today are highly respected professionals. Careers for vets are also now more diverse.

A veterinarian can choose to focus on a specific species or group of animals, large animal like horses, cows, and sheep, or small animal like cats and dogs. Some veterinarians work for the government to educate and encourage livestock farmers to build up the quality of their animal stock, administer vaccination and medicines or artificial insemination and handle the control and eradication of any notifiable disease.

Wildlife conservation, poultry management and health care, livestock insurance and rural development are also other areas of specialization for veterinary doctors. They also work for pharmaceutical companies to develop new medical treatments for animals, and in the holistic field, offering alternative and complementary medicine for animals.

The Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSC) & Animal Husbandry (AH) programme varies from 4 ½ to 5 years, which also includes six months of internship. Admission is on the basis of an ‘All India Common Entrance examination’ (AICEE) conducted by the Veterinary Council of India.

Alternative fields of study include environment science, biotechnology, forestry and wildlife science, forensic science, micro-biology, marine sciences, oceanography and so on. If you are interested in working with animals, you could do a B Sc Zoology followed by courses in Wildlife protection or zoological studies for a job with a zoological park or in wildlife protection organisations.

The Project Tiger in India, the World Wildlife Fund and other wildlife protection organisations recruit zoologists, veterinarians and other specialists for conservation programmes and to study ways and means of preserving wildlife in the country.