When it comes to purchasing an individual disability insurance policy as a veterinarian, your policy will be based on if you work with large or small animals, not based on your veterinary specialty. If you specialized in working with small animals, you will be placed in a better risk class, thus reducing your rates. If you work primarily with large animals such as horses or zoo animals, you will be placed in a higher risk class, thus increasing your rates.

This is different than physicians who are typically classified as surgical or non surgical. If you are a surgical specialist as a veterinarian but specialize in working with small animals, you will be placed in the better risk category. The definition of disability will still cover you in your veterinary specialty. For example, if you specialize in veterinary anesthesia and get injured and can’t work in that capacity, your policy will pay you benefits even if you can see patients or do research.

Here is a list of some of the veterinary specialties that are covered with an individual disability insurance policy:

Anesthesia: veterinarians who focus on making sure animals feel less or no pain associated with veterinary procedures
Animal Welfare: veterinarians with specialized training and experience in animal welfare Behavior: veterinarians with additional training in animal behavior
Dentistry: veterinarians who perform procedures on animals’ teeth
Dermatology: veterinarians who study diseases and conditions of the skin
Emergency and Critical Care: the “ER docs” and intensive care specialists
Internal Medicine, which includes specialties in
•Cardioloy: the study of diseases and conditions of the heart and circulatory system
• Neurology: the study of diseases of the brain, spinal cord and other parts of the nervous system
• Oncology: the study of tumors and cancer Laboratory Animal Medicine: veterinarians working in research or in practice, making sure that laboratory animal species (rabbits, rats, mice, etc.) receive proper care.
Microbiology: veterinarians who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.
Nutrition: veterinarians working to make sure that animals’ diets meet their body’s needs for nutrients
Ophthalmology: veterinarians studying diseases and conditions of the eye
Pathology: veterinarians studying disease in animals
Pharmacology: veterinarians studying how medications/drugs affect animals
Poultry Veterinarians: veterinarians who work with chickens, turkeys and/or ducks, usually in food production settings
Preventive Medicine: veterinarians who study how diseases are spread and how they can be prevented
Radiology: veterinarians who focus on the study of x-ray, ultrasound, computed tomography (often called CAT scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and other imaging procedures that allow us to see “inside” an animal’s body
Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation: veterinarians who focus on returning animals to normal function after injury, lameness, illness or surgery
Surgery: veterinarians who specialize in performing surgery, which can also be split into 2 subcategories:
• Orthopedics: these surgeons focus on bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, etc. of the body’s skeletal system
• Soft Tissue surgery: these surgeons focus more on the internal organs and non-bone tissues of the body
Theriogenology: veterinarians who specialize in animal reproduction
Toxicology: veterinarians who study the effects of poisons and other toxic products on the body (and how to treat animals affected by these toxins)
Veterinary Practitioners: veterinarians in clinical practice who have additional training and expertise in certain animal species • Avian Practice(birds) • Equine Practice(horses) • Beef Cattle Practice(cattle raised for meat) • Feline Practice(cats) • Canine/Feline Practice(dogs and cats) • Exotic Companion Mammal Practice(ferrets, rabbits, mice, rats and other small mammals often kept as pets) • Food Animal Practice(cattle and pigs) • Dairy Practice(cows that produce milk) • Reptile and Amphibian Practice(snakes, lizards, salamanders, turtles, etc.) • Swine Health Management(pigs) Zoo Medicine: veterinarians who work with zoo collection animals, free-living wildlife, aquatic species and companion zoological animals

For more information about disability insurance for veterinarians, veterinary specialists or to request a quote comparison, contact Set for Life Insurance today!