Any vets/students I can talk to about their work experience?

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Menorquin

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Hi all,

I've been having an intense metal battle, for almost two years now,over whether or not I want a career in veterinary medicine, or if I want to pursue a career in marine or zoo biology or something of the like.

I was looking to get some insight on what the job as a veterinarian is as a "whole". I've volunteered with two vets in small and large clinics, however I was only shadowing their day to day client interactions and never had the chance to see what is done past that in terms of managing a clinic, stress levels, costs, salary, etc. (I may have also gotten ill and passed out a few times when seeing surgeries, yikes.)

Helping animals in one way or another is my goal, I just do not know if vet school is the right course of action for me.

Many thanks for anyone who can help me solve my quarter-life crisis.

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Hi all,

I've been having an intense metal battle, for almost two years now,over whether or not I want a career in veterinary medicine, or if I want to pursue a career in marine or zoo biology or something of the like.

I was looking to get some insight on what the job as a veterinarian is as a "whole". I've volunteered with two vets in small and large clinics, however I was only shadowing their day to day client interactions and never had the chance to see what is done past that in terms of managing a clinic, stress levels, costs, salary, etc. (I may have also gotten ill and passed out a few times when seeing surgeries, yikes.)

Helping animals in one way or another is my goal, I just do not know if vet school is the right course of action for me.

Many thanks for anyone who can help me solve my quarter-life crisis.
Shadow/volunteer with the vets, talk to them about owning a business, etc. Shadowing/volunteering should give you a good idea on whether you want to have their job or not. Do more of it. Talk to the office manager or owner about managing a clinic. Set aside time to do those things. Listen and observe when you are shadowing. How are people interacting? Watch the stress levels of everyone. Volunteer/shadow at multiple clinics. What year are you in school? There is a search bar in the upper right corner. Use that to find discussion of vast amounts of experience in these forums. Do your research.
 
Definitely look into any volunteering or intern opportunities in the zoo/marine/wildlife fields as well, if you haven't done so already! It's good to get your foot in the door, and will be great experience regardless of which path you end up choosing.

If you want to look deeper into vet med, you can also consider the academic side of things. How much schooling you are willing to go through, cost of attendance for vet school, etc. As Kata mentioned, this forum is an awesome resource for all things related to vet med and vet school, so if you dig around you can find all kinds of information (including many others who were in the same position as you). Good luck.
 
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My experience is in small animal general practice (10 years as a veterinarian), but if that's what you're considering I'd be glad to help. Ask away or send me a private message.
 
Hi all,

I've been having an intense metal battle, for almost two years now,over whether or not I want a career in veterinary medicine, or if I want to pursue a career in marine or zoo biology or something of the like.

I was looking to get some insight on what the job as a veterinarian is as a "whole". I've volunteered with two vets in small and large clinics, however I was only shadowing their day to day client interactions and never had the chance to see what is done past that in terms of managing a clinic, stress levels, costs, salary, etc. (I may have also gotten ill and passed out a few times when seeing surgeries, yikes.)

Helping animals in one way or another is my goal, I just do not know if vet school is the right course of action for me.

Many thanks for anyone who can help me solve my quarter-life crisis.

my best advice would be to try to get an internship (even if its unpaid) that allows you to get hands on experience. I interned at a small animal ER, which eventually led to being hired there, and being able to actually become hands on made a huge difference in how I perceived things. I dont know why but even things that seem gross/ unsanitary to watch other people do become a lot easier to deal with when you actually feel involved in the cases.
 
however I was only shadowing their day to day client interactions and never had the chance to see what is done past that in terms of managing a clinic, stress levels, costs, salary, etc. (I may have also gotten ill and passed out a few times when seeing surgeries, yikes.)


Many thanks for anyone who can help me solve my quarter-life crisis.

For that kind of information, you'll really have to be in a clinic a fair bit to see that kind of thing happening around you - and even then you might not see what "being a vet" is like (as opposed to seeing what vets do). IMO if you really want to see what being a vet is like (not just what they do during their workday), you really should talk to vets. Offer to take a few out to lunch (individually) in exchange for them talking to you and answering your questions for a half hour. If you can do that with some vets from different types of clinics (big and small, city and suburb, etc) and vets at different stages of their careers and in different roles (new grad, out for >6 years, associate, clinic owner, etc), all the better. If you can't afford lunch, offer to buy them coffee for a little bit of their time and interview answers.
 
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