The door is never shut: Alternative career paths for veterinary graduates
Each year, roughly 3,200 new graduates from U.S. veterinary schools face the biggest decision thus far in their career.
They will join approximately 100,000 current veterinarians improving the health of animals, people, and the environment, and they will have to choose how they fit into that picture.
Less than 14 percent of them will deviate from the most common path of private clinical practice.
As the Class of 2025 moves through the last fall semester, the soon-to-be graduates walk the fine line of externships and working interviews, seeking their place in the world among the already established veterinarians.
Nontraditional paths in veterinary medicine include, but are not limited to, academia, government, and industry positions. Despite the critical roles these positions play, they are often overlooked.
Five members of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine's Class of 2025 weighed in on their decision to take the less traditional path and pursue careers outside of private clinical practice.
Ember Lucier didn't always know she wanted to be a veterinarian. She found her passion for animals in high school. After that, she knew she wanted to work in conservation medicine.
"When I first applied to vet school, my goals were to work in One Health and I felt like zoo medicine was my way to do so," Lucier said. "Turns out, it combines all my interests: conservation, policy, education, and One Health."
Mackenzie Krason echoed Ember's sentiments.
"I knew early on that I did not want to work with dogs and cats," Krason said. "While I enjoy helping people with their pets, I've always been interested in wildlife and zoo medicine and conservation. I enjoy the challenge of developing preventive medicine and treatment plans for species that we know so little about, and the huge breadth of animals I get to work on — anything from a small frog to an elephant in a single day."
Outside of the conservation realm, Victoria Ice-Gipson chose a spin on companion animal clinical practice, hoping to work as an Army veterinarian. Inspired by her mother being in the Navy, she sought out animal positions within the Armed Forces.
"I wanted to go into the Navy, so I looked up what animal-related jobs existed," Ice-Gipson said. "The Navy only had marine biologists, and I knew that wasn't what I wanted. I saw the Army had veterinarians and ever since I've put my focus toward that."
Katie Gingrich let veterinary school drive her towards her ultimate career. She discovered during undergraduate studies that she enjoyed conducting research and aspired to earn a doctoral degree.
"After being accepted into vet school, I decided that I still wanted to do a Ph.D., but wasn't sure what opportunities there were for veterinarians in biomedical research," Gingrich said. "I found my calling during my pathology and laboratory diagnostics rotation. I liked how it is like a puzzle, whereby putting together the gross and microscopic findings, one can piece together the information to create a coherent narrative about what occurred before death."
Anna Schilling learned that knowing what you don't want to do is just as important as knowing what you do want to do.
"When I entered vet school, I knew what type of veterinarian I did not want to become, but still hadn't found the right fit yet," Schilling said. "I had interests in animal welfare, specifically because of my experience working on a dairy farm in undergrad and I knew that I wanted to advocate for animal welfare at a broader scale. Once I learned about public policy and how veterinarians could get involved, I knew that this would be a great avenue for me to accomplish my goal."
While knocking on new doors is never easy, and stepping through them even once opened can seem daunting, three alumni shared insights on their nontraditional veterinary careers and advice for those next to come.
Bill Tyrrell DVM ’92 ended up pursuing small animal clinical medicine through a cardiology board certification. He has since climbed the ranks and is now the Co-Chief Medical Officer for CVCA Cardiac Care for Pets.
"I want to give back to the profession and that's how I ultimately want to be remembered for in this profession," Tyrell said. "For being active in organized veterinary medicine, for my efforts put into resident training and helping the next generation of veterinarians thrive."
Anna Katogiritis DVM ‘18 serves veterinary medicine through the multiple nonprofits she founded. After graduating in 2018, she went on to work part-time as a relief veterinarian in emergency medicine and spends the other half of her time organizing trips to Greece to help promote animal welfare in her home country.
"Education is key — especially for kids," Katogiritis said. "You can spay and neuter and promote animal welfare all you want, but ultimately the real change must start from the ground up — and that starts with children."
Vanessa Oakes BS '12, DVM '16, MPH '16 completed two degrees during her time in veterinary college, then went on to work in industry as a board-certified anatomic pathologist for IDEXX.
"All of our slides are digitized, so I work 100% remotely," Oakes said. "Since most of my time is spent reading surgical biopsies these days, I do a lot of diagnosing. IDEXX is a multinational corporation, so I have the opportunity to help veterinarians all over the world with diagnosis and prognosis – general practitioners and specialists alike."
Whether an upcoming graduate or an alumnus, all the interviewees had the same advice to pass on to those in veterinary medicine:
The door is never shut. Whether you step off the beaten path the minute you step off the stage at graduation or whether you find down the road you need something new, there is always opportunity and room for growth and change within the field. Don't get lost in the forest.
With an ever-changing world, we look forward to seeing how all our upcoming graduates change with it and how their careers will flow like a river and grow like a tree as they fulfill their veterinary oath to "protect animal health and welfare, prevent and relieve animal suffering, conserve animal resources, promote public health, and advance medical knowledge."
