Fast forward nearly 100 years, and the profession finds itself at another turning point. Veterinarians will always be animal doctors, but veterinary medicine is also the only health profession that includes public health in its oath, meaning that veterinarians are involved with not just animal health, but human health and much more. The lines between human and animal medicine intersect, and movements such as Zoobiquity highlight the importance of comparative medicine.2 If, at the beginning of the 20th century, the profession had held onto the concept that veterinarians were only meant to supply health care to horses, the profession would have been notable, but historic. By instead adapting, the profession has expanded its role in and importance to society.
Today, the veterinary profession has yet another opportunity to adapt and expand, thereby providing opportunities for veterinarians well beyond clinical practice. Of course, careers outside of clinical practice are not new, but they remain woefully underemphasized inside and outside the profession, even given the recent popular interest in comparative medicine. For veterinary medicine to reach its fullest potential in contemporary society, the profession’s mindset will need to expand once again. Although the present article cannot provide information on all career options outside clinical practice currently or conceivably available to veterinarians, such expansion is necessary and can provide many benefits to veterinarians, the veterinary profession, and society.
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