Looking at veterinarians’ salaries cynically, it would be easy to assume that at least some of them are in it for the money. After all, an animal doctor just out of veterinary school can reasonably expect to earn at least $70,000 in the first year. But let’s take a closer look at the numbers.
Both doctors who treat people and doctors who treat animals graduate with an average student debt somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000. The two types of schooling take four years.
Yet the average first-year physician earns something along the lines of $150,000 — about twice as much as the average first-year veterinarian.
It’s true that $70,000 to $80,000 is nothing to sneeze at. But veterinarians choose to earn much less money than physicians even though getting into a good school is competitive, the after-graduation debt is similar, and the compensation is much less. It’s fair to say that for vets, it’s about the animals.
