Why do you want to become a vet?

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I was wondering why you guys have decided to go into veterinary medicine. I know that during vet school interviews the question of “why did you decide to be a vet?” inevitably comes up and that saying “because I love animals” is a bad answer because everybody says it. However, this is one of the main reasons that I want to go into veterinary medicine. I also have a fascination with how different drugs and different therapies/surgeries can fix medical problems. However, I imagine that admission committees hear these two reasons from most of the applicants. But I also assume that that is because these are the main reasons that most people would want to become a vet. I was just wondering why everybody on this forum has decided to pursue veterinary medicine? Thanks.

I've always had a strong interest in medicine, but for most of my life assumed it wasn't really an option for me - I didn't think I could cope with blood and guts and death. Heck, I got queasy just watching ER!

So after undergrad, I began my career in nonprofit animal protection, working on companion animal overpopulation issues. However, after a couple of years it became very clear to me that my ability to do what I really wanted in my career (promoting effective policies among private agencies, government agencies, and veterinarians) would be very difficult to accomplish as a layperson. However, as a veterinarian, I would be in a much better position to not only make a difference in the cause I was so passionate about, but also to influence others to do the same.

love of animals, relieve suffering, interaction with animals and people (helping both), interest in science and medicine, interest in business and management, work with my hands, continually learning knowledge and skills, independence balanced with teamwork, detective work and problem solving, etc...

ultimately its more of a feeling than anything. I just really enjoy myself when going to work. I'm not a vet yet. I work as an assistant of sorts and really enjoy it. I don't enjoy it enough to do it as a career, but it deff left me hungrier and more driven to become a vet. I feel like I'm contributing right now as an assistant, but could do much more as a veterinarian.

Besides the fact that I love animals

Lifestyle reasons:
I want a career that will allow me to live in a rural area so that I can breed/raise heirloom ducks, geese and chickens. I want a career that allows me to work outside of an office and that requires some physical work. I want a career with flexible hours. I want a career that allows me a great deal of autonomy (eventually).

Intellectual reasons:
I want a career which emphasizes continuing education (formally or informally), where I am always learning something new. I want a career that requires a lot of problem-solving. I am good at observing and listening, and I want to use those skills.

"Cause" reasons:
I want a career where I make a difference in the lives of people and animals. I want to empower small farmers and organic farmers. I want to educate pet owners about proper care and training. I want to reduce the problem of pet overpopulation. I want to ease animal suffering. I want to reduce human disease.

I'll probably think of a bunch more... but those are my main ones.

Well, aside from all the usual answers, I want to become a vet because I have always had a "fix it" mentality when it came to animals. And funny enough (because I have a perceived weakness in math - other see it, I don't), I really enjoy the sciences. Ok, I could do without the chemistry and physics, but I truly enjoy biology. Together, with my interest (not love - bad word to admissions people) in animals, was born my desire to become a vet.

Blood and guts don't scare me or turn me off. Medicine itself has always held a fascination with me.

And that is why I want to become a vet. Oh yes - I really do love animals.

I don't remember when I first wanted to become a vet, but my mom remembers it. She loves to tell the story of how, as a toddler, I would use my toy stethoscope to try to find the heart in my stuffed animals. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to work with animals. Throughout my life, my desire to make animals well has never diminished. Instead, I have refined and narrowed it to a more specific field of interest. Now, in addition to knowing that I want to help sick animals become healthy, I know that I want to do so in the area of companion animal behavior. As I studied the bonds between owner and pet, I discovered that a many relationships were destroyed because of undesirable behaviors in the pet. My interest was immediately sparked. I could work in an area where I could save the life of an animal by educating the owner and helping to modify the unwanted behavior of their pet.

My pets have been a big influence in my decision. I've almost always had pets and been intrigued by their behaviors and what the mean. I've also worked at three vet clinics (small, med, large) and found (or reconfirmed) from those experiences that I love working with animals, prefer the behavioral side to the medical side, and love interacting with pet owners.

"Because I love animals" isn't good to say - not because everyone says it, but because it says you don't know what veterinary medicine is about.

Loving animals and wanting to fix them is a very small part of being a vet... you have to deal with the people, the limitations of medicine and your client's budget, the ethics, and a heck of a lot of other problems. If you think about what it is you like about being a vet -- and what it is you like to do in general -- see where the two overlap. Laurafinn has some good answers.

It's good to know what you like and want to do -- and it's good to keep an open mind. Vet med has a whole lot more opportunities than people medicine... you can go in so many different directions with a DVM. So keep learning about the field and that can only help you - with admissions and with future career possibilities!