How do i achieve my goal of being a veterinarian?

Zoo veterinarian or Exotics veterinarian?

• 1. What's the difference between the two? 2. Animals I'd help out? 3. How long will I have to go to school? 4. How much would both pay, if I live in the wichita, KS area? 5. How much would I make hourly, yearly and monthly for a beginner,Intermediate and advanced? 6. What ( ANY ) School should I go to for either a zoo or exotics veterinarian? 6. Where would I earn the most money? 7. How hard is it? 8. Should I work with people or open my own private company?? THANK YOU, for answering! Please answer all eight.. :)

• Answer:

  1: None really since in both you deal with exotics. Main difference you might find is where you work.. for example in a zoo or in the field. 2: Just depends on what animals are around. Zoo vets cover everything in the zoos collection, domestic or exotic. If you are in the field it just depends on what project you are working on and where in the world you are. 3: It depends on how you stack your classes but most are right around 8 years... that includes your undergrad, vet program and internships/residencies. 4: Again depends on where you are working, how long you have been there and your exact position. Starting tends to be 35k to 45k. Might not seem like much but you have to understand that any animal related job is done because you love it, not because of the pay. 5: Again depends but I can say that the vast majority are salary based which means no overtime. Some however are hourly and union. Just depends. 6: In all honesty it really does not matter. What you will want to look for is a program that offers help in finding internships and resident programs. You might also want to look for schools that have zoos close by. When you are looking for an internship or resident program look for large zoos or zoos that have a wide collection of animals. You want to work around as many species as you can. 7: Like I said before... when you work with animals you do it because it is what you love to do and not because of the money. 8: Very hard. 9: You really are not going to find much work if you start your own exotic practice considering zoos retain their own vets and field jobs tend to have pre-set vets too.