A Beginner’s Guide to Become a Professional Veterinarian PDF. A veterinarian (American English) or a veterinary surgeon (British English), often shortened to vet, is a doctor who treats non-human animals and a practitioner of veterinary medicine. The word comes from the Latin veterinae meaning “working animals”. “Veterinarian” was first used in print by Thomas Browne in 1646. Many careers are open to those with veterinary degrees (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), D.V.M., VMD (Veterinaria Medicina Doctoris), MVB (Medicina Veterinaria Baccalaureate), BVS (Bachelor of Veterinary Surgery), BVMS (Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery), BVetMed (Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine) or B.V.Sc. & A. H. (Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry). Those working in clinical settings often practice medicine in a limited field such as “companion animal” or pet medicine, which includes small animals such as dog, cat, and pocket pets, production medicine or livestock medicine. Production medicine includes specialties in dairy cattle, beef cattle, swine, sheep, and poultry, equine medicine (e.g., sport, race track, show, rodeo), laboratory animal medicine, reptile medicine, or ratite medicine. Veterinarians may choose to specialize in medical disciplines such as surgery, dermatology or internal medicine, after post-graduate training and certification.
