What are some drawbacks to a career in veterinary medicine?
AM: Depending on what area of veterinary medicine one chooses to pursue, there will be various ethical conflicts and dilemmas regarding the treatment of animals that will have to be addressed. For example, an equine veterinarian is likely to face situations in which owners of racetrack horses do not adequately rest their animals and/or start training them too hard and too early, leading to debilitating and sometimes fatal lameness disorders. A small animal veterinarian has to decide what procedures he/she is unwilling to do for ethical reasons (e.g. ear crops, tail docs, de-claws, convenience euthanasia, etc.) and be equipped to deal with clients and colleagues who may disagree with your ethical values. A food animal practitioner is likely to encounter tough decisions with regard to factory farm confinement and humane slaughter of animals. A lab animal veterinarian may have to confront researchers for violating animal welfare on their research animals. While being a veterinarian has it
