Nursing as Undergraduate to Veterinary School?

[FinchHopper]

Hello!
I've seen similar questions for med school but not for vet school. Anyhow, I'm a senior in high school, and I really want to become a veterinarian. However, the (apparently) bad vet job market, among other things, is making me want to get a Bachelor in Nursing with pre-vet prerequisites. My parents are a bit biased towards this question (counselors at my school aren't exactly...helpful either, haha), so I was hoping I could get a few questions answered. First of all, I know med schools look down on nursing majors (apparently), is this a possibility with veterinary schools? Secondly, would this be a good decision? I know that's a rather vague question, but I've heard that nursing school is incredibly time and energy intensive. I'm a good student in school (4.0 GPA and taking only college level courses), but I'm worried that it will be difficult to maintain good grades with the nursing program and be able to complete pre-vet prerequisites, both with classes and the other prerequisites veterinary schools require.
Thank you very much for any help!

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[KCgophervet]

My first and biggest question is why? Are you just perusing through your career options and find both vet med and nursing to be interesting and want to find out which fits you better? If that's the case then sure, start off with a nursing major and see where it takes you. But if you're pretty sure you want to do vet med and have nursing as a "back up"... that seems like a bit of a crazy intense back up plan, and doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I know at least for my sister's nursing program she was spending a lot of time working in nursing situations, clinics, or what have you and basically devoted a lot of her time to her nursing classes (which her program would not have covered all of the pre-reqs for vet school, and yes it was a 4 year bachelor's program) and volunteering in the nursing field. For vet school you'd want to be devoting that volunteering time to getting experience in the vet world, shadowing vets, working part time in clinics, whatever you can do. It's extremely important to get those experience hours in, not only to make sure you know the field is what you want to go into but also for your application to vet school. You'd have to make sure you're getting the right pre-reqs in and how you'd manage to do all that while completing a nursing program seems a little mind boggling.

If you do major in nursing though I don't think it will be looked down (or up or sideways) upon at all. They really typically don't care what your major is, just so long as you do all of the pre-reqs and somehow demonstrate you can handle an academically rigorous schedule.

All that being said, you have time, and you usually don't have to declare a major right away.

 

[HowIMetYourPet]

So, I did this (kind of).

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but Nursing seemed like a not bad fit, I like medicine, I don't mind people, and it was a solid stable, well paying job after just 4 years..... I got half way through the program before realizing I absolutely abhorred it.

The biggest problem I see with nursing school would be getting the pre-reqs done. We had flexibility in our schedule for the first year. That was it. And then, our credit hours were filled with nursing pre-reqs. and none of the nursing pre-reqs overplapped with vet school pre reqs. Typically, once you're in nursing school, by your 2nd year, everything is all nursing all the time. I didn't even have to take a general bio class. (nursing prereqs were psych, soc, anatomy, chem overview)

Nursing isn't a bad way to go, but its VERY different than vet med, with very little overlap, and won't be very helpful in preparing for vet med. Your interactions with people are VERY different, and you learn suprisingly little medicine in nursing school. Its a lot more about the care than the medicine/science behind it.

All this being said, nurses are fantastic human beings, and it is an unbelievably demanding job. Its also not a bad option. It just wasn't for me, and I'm not sure it would give you the best leg up for vet school.

(oh, and I can see why med schools may look down upon it, while nurese and MDs work together, they are VERY different fields, and require very different types of thought)

 

[McVet0071]

Well, I'm actually someone who has done this path. However, vet school was not even on my radar when I started nursing school. It definitely won't hurt you when applying to vet school and I've received many comments about how interesting it is that I switched, but it definitely is not the easiest path. I've heard of a couple of people doing this, but not from the start of nursing school. It was a decision after already working as a nurse. There is not much extra time to fit in some of the time consuming pre-reqs like O Chem if you were to try to do both programs. Your summers would need to be for taking pre-reqs most likely.

I completed my BSN and then after 6 months of working realized nursing may not be what I want to do forever and I really wanted to have a deeper understanding of medicine. The job market in my area is incredibly competitive for hospital jobs and there are just so many nurses with 2 year programs graduating year round. I initially started to look at med school, but then became interested in vet med after dealing with my own dog. I worked part-time as a nurse and took 2 pre-req classes during the fall/springs semesters starting the spring after I graduated. I also worked on getting vet experience, which was the hardest part to find time to do. I graduated in 2010 and started vet school in 2013.

Overall, I think my nursing education has helped me. Nursing doesn't provide you with a very deep understanding of physiology, but I at least had the basics before I started vet school. Understanding medical terms and just being around medicine of any form has benefited me.

In general, if you want to do vet school then I would just go for that right away. It is difficult to get experience in vet med and human med and for your applications you have to come up with a good reason as to why you are switching. I would volunteer in a human hospital to see if that is even something you want to consider as a backup plan. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[ameropean_chelsea]

http://www.elliottgarber.com/one-health-wildlife-veterinarian-dr-cheryl-scott/

This is a woman who had a career as a nurse then switched to pursuing vet school. Very inspirational story and great podcast. Just food for thought.

 

[DVMDream]

Guess I'll play the part of asking..... WHY? as well.

I don't understand the thought process here. You are worried about the vet job market but yet still want to pursue vet med from what it seems like. I'm not sure I entirely understand where the nursing bit comes in. Do you want to be a nurse? If not, I wouldn't go that route. From what I know about nursing programs they've become very competitive lately and their job market is also not great. Nursing is its own career so I wouldn't do that as a "major" before vet school. You would be wasting a lot of time and money if your ultimate goal is vet school.

What I think you really need to do is get some experience in both fields. Try to shadow a vet for a few days and then a nurse. They are both a career in themselves and in my opinion it would be pointless to go through the schooling for one career (nursing) just as something on the way to the career you actually want (vet). If you really ultimately want to be a vet you are best to just commit to that and get the prereqs for vet school because you would get done quicker, have less debt and be in vet school sooner and working sooner. If you want to be a nurse then commit to that and focus on those prereqs.

It is one thing to go with nursing and decide to change part way through. That happens often. But going for both when your ultimate goal is vet med (or so it seems from your post that is your goal) is kind of a waste of time and money.

So I'd get some experience first, see what the fields are like and decide from there. Also you are still young, so you have plenty of time to think this through and plenty of time to change your mind 34577864 times before you ultimately decide what will work for you. And that might end up being neither nursing or vet med.

 

[FinchHopper]

Well, nursing was a financial backup plan just in case something didn't work out. The idea of having multiple options so I'm not stuck thousands in debt appealed to me (and my parents!).
I think I'm going to really reconsider this plan...it was never quite what I wanted to do and all of this advice has helped me tremendously (and that podcast was really fascinating!). Thanks a lot!

 

[HowIMetYourPet]

If I had it to do over, and wanted a financially stable back up plan, I would go the engineering route....just my two cents

 

[Cephal0pod]

I have several good friends currently in/recently graduated from nursing school, and just from some conversations I've had with them, I would like to strongly echo that doing vet school pre-reqs at the same time would be extremely difficult at best. Probably better to save yourself a little gray hair and commit to one or the other.

Regarding figuring out a back-up plan-- I know that for me personally, my "back-up plan" has evolved as I have progressed through undergrad and been exposed to different fields and experiences. I've learned a lot about what I find interesting and could see myself doing if it doesn't end up being vet med. It's good to plan ahead, and do think about that when picking your major, but I would say don't be too alarmed if you don't have a concrete back-up plan just yet.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

My friend is actually doing the opposite. She graduated with a degree in Zoology, got accepted to vet school, and proceeded to turn down the offer. There were a variety of reasons, but the debt to salary ratio and being unsure if she'd be completely happy as a vet were the two biggies. She is now planning to pursue a degree in Nursing through a 2-year community college program. She'll be great at it!

I don't see any nurse ever having a problem finding a job. You can actually make BANK depending on how far you take your career, too. I know a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Google tells me that a salary for $100,000 is a bit on the low end. The nurse I know supports her two kids and husband (laid off for years) complete with a massive/GORGEOUS house on a CRNA salary. Depends on how much more schooling you want to go through, and the programs are extremely competitive (moreso than veterinary school I believe, I looked into this years ago). Hard to ignore with that kind of paycheck, though. Like HIMYP, I don't think it's a fit for me. Hasn't left my mind, however.

A lot of friends did nursing...it looks like it IS tough. While pre-vets might spend a lot of time cramming info in at a desk as night, nursing students spend their days/nights in clinical rotations that are stressful and overwhelming. I'm in the 'there is no easy program in college' school of thought.

Edit: I noticed a lot of previous posts disagree with my opinion on the nursing job market, so I wanted to specify. I know a LOT of nurses. A lot. They make up the majority of my family and a good chunk of my high school graduating class. None of them struggled to find jobs, and nearly every school in the area/state offers a nursing program. I can't tell you whether or not their first jobs are night shifts, but a job is a job. The nurses who have been in the field longer have been able to find new jobs that work better with motherhood/other life circumstances without difficulty either. I think it is the area I live in though. Nursing careers are HUGE here.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

If I had it to do over, and wanted a financially stable back up plan, I would go the engineering route....just my two cents

Yeah....my boyfriend's entry level mechanical engineering salary was a stab in the heart. Proud of him, though.

 

[WildZoo]

Yeah....my boyfriend's entry level mechanical engineering salary was a stab in the heart. Proud of him, though.

My bf's cushy engineering internship salary was also a stab to the heart while I was working my butt off during my unpaid internship.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

My bf's cushy engineering internship salary was also a stab to the heart while I was working my butt off during my unpaid internship.

UGH THE WORRRRRST. His first internship was also paid well, got him a car for the summer, and directly led to him having his job before he even graduated. And he's promoted after one year. And has gotten a few raises already.

 

[WildZoo]

UGH THE WORRRRRST. His first internship was also paid well, got him a car for the summer, and directly led to him having his job before he even graduated. And he's promoted after one year. And has gotten a few raises already.

I could never be an engineer, but man.

Plus they can do all that without having to have a spectacular GPA

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I could never be an engineer, but man.

Plus they can do all that without having to have a spectacular GPA

Lol...tell me about it. My BF's grades were complete **** until he got his act together his last year. But I agree, I would lose my mind if I were to attempt that degree. He says the same thing about my goals though....so there you go

 

[FinchHopper]

I used to want to become an engineer before I decided on being a vet...then I took a physics class, and I find it incredibly boring.

 

[dvmhopeful2018]

Many nursing (BSN) programs in my area are 2 years general pre-reqs (you apply to nursing program as a sophomore), then 2 years of nursing-only classes. It COULD be feasible to overlap your pre-vet and nursing pre-reqs the first 2 years, but after that your life is CONSUMED with nursing school (my undergrad roommate is getting her BSN and she studied more than I did my last year of pre-vet). As others have stated, your time for any "experience" opportunities will be severely limited, impacting your application

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I could never be an engineer, but man.

Plus they can do all that without having to have a spectacular GPA

I used to want to become an engineer before I decided on being a vet...then I took a physics class, and I find it incredibly boring.

To be fair, though, engineering degrees at most schools are leaps and bounds above others. A C GPA in an eng major > a B in most Bio or AnSci major programs.

In addition, most of the advancement in the engineering field isnt your college degree or GPA, it is if you have become certified/licensed and who you know.

Also, college-level physics have basically nothing to do with most forms of engineering minus maybe civil. You need to be an obsessive planner with a love of either programming or circuitry or both.

 

[WildZoo]

To be fair, though, engineering degrees at most schools are leaps and bounds above others. A C GPA in an eng major > a B in most Bio or AnSci major programs.

True, true. It's just fun to complain sometimes I guess