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How 'bout it? What made you switch?
Anyone else here start out pre-med?
- Thread starter j306c954
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I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're thinking about switching due to what is considered 'poor' academic statistics in the eyes of medical schools. Based on your post history, the only thing holding you back is a low MCAT.
To know if this profession is truly right for you or not, you will need a lot of veterinary experience (you also need it for an acceptance). I suggest you don't make veterinary medicine a backup career. The debt:salary ratio is pretty heartbreaking, and if you have any doubts (or would rather do human medicine), you probably shouldn't switch.
Your first step is veterinary experience! You have to decide if you can do this for the rest of your life.
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Hoomans? Ewe. Groce.
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I started out in human medicine. I made that decision at the age of 17 and really had no idea what I was getting into. I made the switch and I couldn't be happier. I knew I loved medicine, I just assumed that meant I would be happy as an MD. After actually exploring both fields I realized that I enjoy interacting with humans, just not treating exclusively the human - I love working with animals. My best advice is to take your time. Explore both careers. Shadow MD/DOs and DVMs too. Shadow in different specialties in both fields and see what you're really getting yourself into. It's perfectly fine to take a year or 2 off and explore. It'll make you a better applicant because you can say you've looked at your options and you found what's right for you.
I made the switch because I felt that veterinary medicine offered more variety and freedom. As a general practice veterinarian you are the surgeon, dentist, pharmacist, dermatologist, etc. and if I decided to specialize later in life I could. Going the MD route I didn't seem myself being satisfied with one field for the rest of my life. I've meet a few veterinarians that had multiple specialties because they wanted something new every couple of years. I enjoy the variety in the patients that you can have and the fact that you work with humans just as much as you work with animals so it just seemed like the best of both worlds to me.
