Veterinarian Diplomas

Diploma Programs for Veterinary Students

Many people who have a love for animals often times will use that passion for wanting to help animals to motivate them to make it through 8 years of education in order to become a doctor of veterinary medicine.  Now, some people may love animals and wish to help them in any way they can, but they may not be able to dedicate so much time out of their life to become a vet, or maybe the costs of all that education has kept them from pursuing their dream.  Luckily there are other routes that these people can take.  One way to help animals out without dedicating 8 years of your life, and that huge amount of money, is to get either a bachelor or associate degree instead.  A bachelor degree only takes 4 to 5 years to earn, and an associate degree is even less, at about 2 years.  Both of these degrees will allow you to do a lot of the same things a vet does, including working directly with the animals in the clinic. 

Another option would be to complete a diploma program in veterinary medicine.  Getting a diploma will allow you to work in a veterinary environment, but you won’t be doing much with the animals.  Instead you will be more centered on the office and laboratory testing areas.  But that does not mean you contributed any less to the health and well being of an animal, as manning the office or running lab tests are just as important as the doctor diagnosing the animal.

But What Will I Learn With a Diploma?

Completing a diploma program in veterinary medicine will be a short process, as it should probably only take 2 years or less.  You may have a small handful of classes learning some basic things about animals, such as:

-Veterinary Technology

-Animal Disease

-Veterinary Pharmacology

-Small Animal Clinical Procedures

-Laboratory Animal Science and Exotics

-Animal Management and Nutrition

Since you will be working around animals every day, most of your focus will be concentrated on more general skills like:

-Communication skills

-Office Management skills

-Technical skills

-Problem Solving skills

What Kind of Career Can I Find?

Even though you will be working at a clinic that is practicing veterinary medicine, with only a diploma, you will be working mostly with either the front office or back in the laboratory, running tests and analyses on animal blood, skin, urine, fecal matter, etc.  That may not sound that great, but remember you are still going to be surrounded by various animals all day long and you can go home every day knowing that your work helped to better the life of animal, and its owner.

The median salary for someone with only a veterinary diploma is $11.99 per hour.  Of course that will vary somewhat by state, with some states having a median pay rate of $19.00 per hour.  Another good point is that this kind of job can be a way to get your foot in the door, so to speak, and if you ever want to go back to school and earn a higher degree, then you are in a good position to be able to maybe even get your employer to help pay for you to further your education.  As for job security, if you ever lose your job as a secretary at a veterinarian clinic, the office skills will easily translate into another desk job working in an office as a secretary.