Veterinarians and veterinary technicians work with all of the animals at the Zoo, from tarantulas to toucans to tigers. They provide medical care to sick animals as well as preventative care. This includes routine physical exams, guidelines for proper diets, doing blood-work, checking for diseases, treating illnesses and carefully watching new animals in quarantine to make sure they are healthy before introduction to the rest of the animal collection. In the photo at right, veterinarian Dr. Mitch Willette (at right) prepars to collect blood from a wolf pup.
"Getting the chance to do medical procedures, such as venipuncture, dentals, radiographs, and ultrasound on the exotic wildlife I grew up watching on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." Jenny Prom, CVT, Veterinary Technician Read more quotes	"Most of the animals have to be asleep (sedated) before I can work on them. And none of them will take their medicine." Dr. Mitch Willette, Veterinarian Read more quotes

Veterinarian: A zoo veterinarian must graduate from an accredited veterinary college. Generally, to become a zoo veterinarian in a larger zoo, a veterinarian would require additional specialized training such as completing a one year post-veterinary-school internship program in zoo medicine, or a 2-3 year residency in zoo medicine, or both. Some veterinarians gain the required experience in other ways such as becoming a contract veterinarian for a smaller zoo or working in an exotic animal private practice or starting as a volunteer veterinarian in a zoo, but that is less common.

Zoo veterinarian Mitch Willette offers the following advice. "Stay in high school and get excellent grades; take all the college level prep courses you can. Volunteer at your local veterinary clinic. Obtain a 4 year college degree and get excellent grades; the degree doesn't really matter although most are biology/wildlife/agriculture oriented. Volunteer at a veterinary clinic, or better yet, get paid for it! Be admitted to a veterinary school and get excellent grades; the college doesn't really matter although some veterinary colleges have more extensive exotic programs than others. Most veterinary colleges have strict residency requirements so you may have to plan ahead. While in veterinary school, try to volunteer in positions dealing with exotics such as a local zoo, rehabilitation facility, a private practice that sees a lot of exotics, etc. Be prepared to give up your summers and vacation time for this effort. Today, most prospective zoo veterinarians perform an internship and/or residency in zoological medicine. These programs are few in number and highly competitive, hence the remarks about good grades and lots of volunteer work with exotics.

Join the American Association of Zoological Veterinarians as a student member. If you are not fortunate enough to obtain an internship or residency, other avenues into zoological medicine include - specializing in nutrition, reproduction, or pathology; doing part-time contract work for a local zoo; and volunteering at a zoo. Other exotic careers include exotic private practice, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife medicine, and probably the newest field - conservation medicine. HAVE DEDICATION and PATIENCE, most of these positions take a long time and a little bit of luck to secure."

Veterinary Technicians: Most veterinary technician programs are two year programs. A certified veterinary technician graduates with an Applied Associated Degree. A Bachelors Degree may also be required for working at at zoo, university, or research facility. Most zoos want vet techs with some sort of exotic animal experience, so it's important to volunteer or do an internship at a clinic (small, large or exotic), humane society, wildlife rehabilitation center, or kennel. The Minnesota Zoo offers an veterinary technician internship.

http://www.avma.org/communications/brochures/careers/technology_faq.asp
http://www.aazv.org
http://www.avma.org
http://www.animalhealthcare.ca/careers.asp

Opportunities at the Zoo
Internships
Career Days
Volunteer
Current job openings at the Minnesota Zoo

School & University Programs
http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/animatedjourneys/aboutvets/vetschools.asp