Girls in Veterinary Science: The Sky’s the Limit

The month of March is a big one for girls and women everywhere. Each year, the Expanding Your Horizons Network holds a conference for girls in grades six through ten to engage in activities promoting opportunities for them in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. It is a great opportunity for these young ladies to learn all about the options that await them in the world.

Veterinary medicine is a science-based field that is full of opportunity for women of all ages. Learn more about girls in veterinary science and what prospects await them.

Girls Rule

Women are becoming a larger and larger majority of the veterinary field. As of 2009, this once male-dominated workplace has shifted to the majority of practitioners being women. And, with the majority of veterinary school enrollees being women too, this doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.

There are many reasons that this may be the case. Some reasons that have been proposed for the boom in girls in veterinary science include:

• An overall increase in women seeking professional degrees in all fields
• Decreased gender discrimination by college admission boards
• The movement away from relying on physical strength for restraint of animals
• Better and more numerous female role models in the profession
• The caring nature of the profession

No matter the reasons, girls rule when it comes to modern veterinary science. The shift in gender has certainly had an impact on the profession, and largely for the better.

Opportunities for Girls in Veterinary Science

As veterinary medicine evolves, there are more and more options for those who wish to pursue a career in the field. Options for girls in veterinary science are more prolific than ever. Students who pursue a veterinary degree may work as:

• A private practice veterinarian (working with small animals, large animals, exotics, or a mixture)
• A veterinarian in industry
• A veterinarian within an academic setting
• A veterinary specialist
• A veterinary technician
• Performing research in private, pharmaceutical, or government settings
• An educator
• A member of the public health or regulatory medicine sector
• A member of the military

Every community needs veterinarians to serve in a wide variety of roles. We need people in the veterinary sciences to help care for our pets, maintain our food supply, protect us from infectious disease outbreaks, and help develop new medications. Women are inherently great for the rigors that these needs require, and an essential part of what lies ahead in veterinary medicine.

We at Oakland Veterinary Referral Services are proud to support women and girls in veterinary science and are excited to see what the future holds.