This article on veterinary pathologist salary educates readers about this breed of brilliant pathologists who work for animals. Before coming to their pay package, let’s learn something about their job and responsibilities…
Basically pathologists are biological or medical scientists who specialize in understanding the changes in the bodies of plants, animals and humans, once a disease has effected them. These medical professionals work for a much more complex branch of health care and today veterinary pathology is one of the most important branches of animal health care. Students who wish to pursue their career as a veterinarian should give this upcoming field a try as its employment outlook looks very promising. This branch of medicine offers many opportunities for veterinary pathologists to use their skills which are not possible while treating human patients.
Veterinary Pathologist Job Description
Veterinary pathologists or animal pathologists or zoologists are medical professionals specializing in treating diseases of animals. They mostly work on poultry, livestock and pets. Veterinary pathologists apply new methods to livestock and poultry so that their life quality can be increased and they can be used for human food. In addition to improving food quality, these medical professionals work towards treating dangerous diseases like rabies and tuberculosis in animals which can easily affect human beings.
They begin the diagnosis by studying the effect of the parasite or disease on the cells, tissues and various organs of the body of the animal. Veterinary pathology is a branch in which doctors are trained to work with various kinds of animals. They always work to discover the real cause of illness in the animal and whether this illness can be dreadful for humans surrounding the animal.
Students need to have advanced training to become a pathologist. Undergraduate students should have amazing skills and they pursue a major in premedical studies, biological science or a similar field. Individuals who have a Bachelor’s Degree can find a job as a medical laboratory technologist but there is very less scope for this field. Students who have completed their Bachelor’s Degree are advised to go for Master’s Degree in animal pathology or microbiology. To be a licensed pathologist, students would have to complete their doctoral degree (Ph.D.).
To work as a veterinary pathologist, a Doctoral Degree in the field of zoology or pathology is very essential. After college graduation, students have to study in medical school for a period of 4 years. Most students spend an additional two years which brings the total years of studying to 6 years and earn their Doctoral Degree in pathology. After academics, the next step would be getting a license from the American Board of Pathology to start the practice. Many students prefer to spend some more years working as an assistant under an experienced veterinary pathologist to gain full experience of the field.
Salary of a Veterinary Pathologist
Coming to the pay package, the Bureau of Labor Statistics state that the salary range of the veterinary pathologist is going to be between $70,000 to $130,750. Various factors contribute to the salary package of a veterinary pathologist; educational qualification, location of his/her work, is the individual working as a salaried employee or he/she has started his/her own clinic, the type of case the veterinary pathologist is handling. If the animal pathologist works for the government, he/she is also entitled to some special perks and benefits.
If the assignment requires lots of traveling, then traveling allowance is also given and the company pays the residential charges. Pathologists who gain a considerable amount of work experience in this field are often employed by universities and medical schools to conduct lectures and classes for students. For teaching they are usually paid an hourly wage which can be anywhere from $200 to $800 for an hour.
So this was all about veterinary pathologist salary, its educational requirements and working conditions. Most of them would be working for private clinics or hospitals and their major part of the day would be focused on new research and finding new discoveries in the field of veterinary pathology.