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Public & Corporate Career Advisors for Veterinary Students

Find a veterinarian who is working in your area of interest within the public or corporate domain!

Career Advisors

Are you interested in learning more about pursuing veterinary career paths that are outside of private clinical practice?  Veterinarians with a wide variety of educational and work experience have volunteered to be advisors to veterinary students like you.  By using the predefined tags listed below, the filters, and the embedded search box, you can determine if any of the veterinary advisors listed at the bottom of the page have a background in your areas of interest.

Important Notes:

  • We have committed to our career advisors that we will try to limit the public availability of their biographies. Therefore, please do not share this web page or any biographies with others.
  • Further down this page are categories of tags, followed by a set of four filters and an embedded search box. In general, the filters are the quickest and easiest way to identify the biographies that interest you. The embedded search examines the text in the biographies but not the tags. For example, it's useful for finding a specific school name (VMCVM, other) or a certification not listed below. The filters work independently of the search. Best results are usually found using one or the other, but not both simultanously.
  • Once you've identified the relevant biographies, click on the advisor’s name to read their story!
  • We have profiled each biography using a master list of tags. If a tag is not found in the filter list, it indicates that we do not have an advisor with that attribute.
  • To make this a valuable experience for both the advisor and the student, each advisor set a personal limit on the number of students they are able to accomodate at a given time. Some advisors may already be fully booked working with other students. Therefore, to respect the capacity of our advisors, please pass the name and biography link of those you wish to contact to CareerA@vt.edu - we'll confirm their availablity, as well as arrange an email introduction. Please do not reach out directly to the advisor until after the introductory email.
  • You may initially request up to four advisors of interest. Please prioritize your selections, and we'll try to match you with an advisor in the order of your preference.
  • If you decide not to contact, or have finished working with an advisor, please let us know at CareerA@vt.edu.  You may then request a new prioritized list of advisors, if you wish.
  • AHP (animal health policy)
  • AHBOND (animal - human bond)
  • AQUATIC
  • AVIAN
  • DEVICE (medical devices)
  • DIAG (diagnostic laboratory)
  • ECON (veterinary economics)
  • EPI (epidemology) 
  • ER (emergency preparation and response)
  • FOOD (human food safety, security, and defense)
  • INFECT (disease / infection surveillance, prevention, and control)
  • LAB (lab animal medicine)
  • NUTRI (pet food / nutrition)
  • ONE (One Health - positions in which the work involves the relationship between the health of people, animals, and our shared environment)
  • PHARM (veterinary pharmaceuticals and vaccines)
  • PUB (public health)
  • REGIE (regulatory - import / export)
  • REGPET (regulatory - pet food)
  • RESCLIN (clinical research)
  • SHELTER (shelter medicine)
  • TEACH (teaching)
  • WELL (animal welfare)
  • WILD (wildlife health and conservation)
  • ZOO (exotic, zoo medicine)
  • ACAD (faculty / researcher in an academic institution)
  • AVMA (employed by the American Veterinary Medical Association)
  • CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Includes Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS Program) participants
  • CORP (corporation - positions in which the work is performed for a single business entity, regardless of its  legal structure, including for-profit, non-profit, sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc. Examples include veterinary medical conglomerates / partnerships / consolidators. See also "industry".)
  • FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
  • FED (employed by a federal government agency not specifically listed here)
  • INDUST (industry - positions in which the work involves a general group of companies that operate in a similar business sphere. Example: "the pork industry" or "the dairy industry". See also "corporation".)
  • INTLORG (employed by an international organization)
  • MILITARY
  • NGO (employed by non-governmental organization)
  • NIH (National Institutes of Health)
  • SELF (self-employed)
  • STATE (employed by state government agency)
  • USDA (United States Department of Agriculture, including Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
  • MPH (master of public health)
  • MASTERS (master of science degree in a subject other than public health)
  • PhD

There are many certifications available in veterinary medicine. We created tags for those certifications that are AVMA-Recognized Veterinary Specialities (TM). To learn more about these specialities, visit the AVMA website.

Additional certifications not listed here will still be noted on individual biographies.

  • ABVT (American Board of Veterinary Toxicology)
  • AVDC (American Veterinary Dental College)

American College certifications:

  • DACVIM (diplomate of the American College of Internal Medicine - ACVIM)
  • DACZM (diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine  - ACZM)
  • DACPV (diplomate of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians - ACPV)
  • DACLAM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Laboratory Animal Medicine - ACVLAM)
  • DACVPM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine - ACVPM) 
  • DACAW (diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare)
  • DACT (diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists)
  • DACVAA (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia)
  • DACVB (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists)
  • DACVCP (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology)
  • DACVD (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology)
  • DACVM (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists)
  • DACVNU (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Nephrology-Urology)
  • DACVO (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists)
  • DACVP (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists)
  • DACVR (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Radiology)
  • DACVSMR (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation)
  • DACVS (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons)
  • DACVECC (diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care)

American Board of Veterinary Practitioners certifications:

  • ABVPAP (ABVP diplomate - Avian Practice) 
  • ABVPBCP (ABVP diplomate - Beef Cattle Practice) 
  • ABVPCFP (ABVP diplomate - Canine and Feline Practice) 
  • ABVPDP (ABVP diplomate - Dairy Practice) 
  • ABVPEP (ABVP diplomate - Equine Practice) 
  • ABVPECMP (ABVP diplomate - Exotic Companion Mammal Practice) 
  • ABVPFP (ABVP diplomate - Feline Practice) 
  • ABVPFAP (ABVP diplomate - Food Animal Practice) 
  • ABVPRAP (ABVP diplomate - Reptile and Amphibian Practice) 
  • ABVPSMP (ABVP diplomate - Shelter Medicine Practice) 
  • ABVPSHP (ABVP diplomate - Swine Health Practice) 
  • For the location of an advisor, select one of the state abbreviations listed. Be aware that if a state is not listed, there is currently no advisor working in that location.  
  • Use DC to identify those living in or near Washington DC.
  • Use INTL for advisors who are working overseas or have extensive overseas experience.

Do not press enter after filtering or searching. The list automatically updates.