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How do I become a Marine mammal vet?

How do I become a Marine Wildlife Veterinarian?

  • Hello there! :) I'm a junior in high school that's aspiring to become a Marine Wildlife Veterinarian but is unsure of the college "paths" that should be taken as there are various. Which college degree would be the most beneficial to take for my Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate? I know that I could possibly major as a "Pre-vet," "Marine Biologist," or "Animal Biology" for my Bachelor's degree and as a "Vet," "Animal Biology," or "Zoology" major for my Master's. If anyone has any ideas as to what majors would most likely be best to choose in order to be a more "qualified" marine vet, it would be nice to share! Also,  any other background information or advice on the Marine Wildlife Veterinarian career generally would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much in advance! :)

  • Answer:

    EDIT: I would like to clarify that I'm a researcher with Marine Mammals. Most of the information I provide to you is very common knowledge, but I did ask a Veterinarian in our lab about her experiences. You would need to become a Veterinarian. During your bachelor's, you have some leeway, but I would recommend a Bachelors in Biology. Expected coursework would be a year of General Chemistry, a year of General Biology, a year of Calculus-based Physics, a year of English, a year of Calculus, and a year of Organic Chemistry. You could be an anthropology major as long as you took all that classwork. The important step is to make sure you intern in labs that work with marine mammals. SO that means you would either need to go to a school that is near a marine lab, go to a Veterinary school that is near a marine lab, or spend a summer interning near a marine lab. The tricky part, however, is to get a job as a veterinarian who works with marine mammals. After conferring with the vets in my lab, this was accomplished by massive volunteer work while waiting for an opening. These positions are high in demand, and low in volume. You could be waiting years for a spot to open up. I'm not trying to discourage you, just letting you know the reality of your situation. One of the vets in our lab got her job by becoming an unpaid intern. What did this entail? 40 hour weeks for 3 months in the lab doing veterinary work. Oh yeah, did I mention this was all unpaid. Yup, she had to have the resources in place to make sure she could make a living during this time. Lucky for her, her husband is a lawyer so they were financially in a place that they could do this. By the way, in case you're wondering, I was an unpaid intern for years before I secured my position working with marine mammals. It just kind of comes with the field.

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From what I read you need to go graduate vet school.  But not only that you have to be first in your class in vet school and you would have to be accepted to a wildlife vet program beyond vet school.  With marine animals it may be another route to just get a biology undergrad somewhere and then go for a phd in marine biology at another school. Warning, very very few people have this job which means it is difficult to get or it doesn;t pay anything.  I recommend watching tv shows on PBS and when thy talk to a researcher get the researchers name and then email them.  As them these questions.  Another thing you can do is to email aquairums Like monterey bay and the shed aquarium.  Remember MANY of the professors in college don't really know what the job market is like for marine biologists so try to talk to someone who will "settle with you" and give the good and the bad... Most sources paint a rosey picture of this profession because they are zoological in nature and made to appeal to little kids.   "oooo look at the pretty zebra fish honey"... if I were you I would contact at least 5 profressors from colleges, contact your local zoo and ask to speak to a person in charge of the fish exhibits.  In the end I don;t think a marine biologist is often a vet.  Most of the time they are Marine biologist PHD's.  Also jobs can be searched for individually on bureau of labor statistics job handbook.  You can type in your job and see what it pays and how many will be employed in the future.

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