Career Change from Pharmd to VMD

[Solar1984]

I am in my mid 30s, have a Pharm D an MPH in epidemiology. Recently I found my calling that is to be wildlife vet. Does one have any idea how marketable this would be in general? Any suggestions?

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[genny]

I am in my mid 30s, have a Pharm D an MPH in epidemiology. Recently I found my calling that is to be wildlife vet. Does one have any idea how marketable this would be in general? Any suggestions?

Wildlife don't really pay their bills. You have to get state governments or the federal government to pay you, which usually means disease surveillance and control. Why wouldn't you just do epidemiology? So much less debt, and you can make about the same with an MPH as a veterinarian does. What is it that appeals to you about being a wildlife vet?

 

[Stroganoff]

Can you save like crazy, achieve financial independence (i.e., you can live off the money you've saved and no longer need to work for survival), and then switch over to your passion like wildlife vet med for funsies?

I feel like the opportunity cost of 1) lost income + 2) lost compound interest during one's mid-to-upper 30's would lead to a couple million $$$ or so in lost retirement earnings in one's golden years. Wait, scratch that, it's not how I feel, it's just the facts.

On the one hand, sure, pursue your passions or some drivel, but on the other hand, it's retirement earnings suicide to throw away a pharmacist income for another 4-6 years of school +/- residency or whatever. That's millions of dollars flushed down the toilet taking into account how money doubles when invested.

 

[supershorty]

Financially, it’s probably a better decision to stick with what you do now and volunteer at a wildlife rehab facility or something similar.

How much vet experience do you actually have?

 

[Teepster87]

I've got a pharmD in my class. I think she's looking to do like companion (+equine) and like hollistic medicine.
Some of the faculty who know she's a pharmD are HOUNDING her to take get into our hospitals pharmacy. I know there's more opportunities with other vet schools, the UC Davis extension facility in San Diego, the FDA, etc. But it's probably hard for vet med to attract pharmacists, as I'd imagine it doesn't pay as well.

There's definitely a place in vet med if you're really dedicated to it, but there may be other avenues to breaking into vet med without going through another 4 years of school

 

[Solar1984]

Wildlife don't really pay their bills. You have to get state governments or the federal government to pay you, which usually means disease surveillance and control. Why wouldn't you just do epidemiology? So much less debt, and you can make about the same with an MPH as a veterinarian does. What is it that appeals to you about being a wildlife vet?

Financially, it’s probably a better decision to stick with what you do now and volunteer at a wildlife rehab facility or something similar.

How much vet experience do you actually have?

Unfortunately, none. I just decided the career recently.

 

[Solar1984]

Wildlife don't really pay their bills. You have to get state governments or the federal government to pay you, which usually means disease surveillance and control. Why wouldn't you just do epidemiology? So much less debt, and you can make about the same with an MPH as a veterinarian does. What is it that appeals to you about being a wildlife vet?

I love the experience of healing and caring. I also develop a sense of ideology that wildlife animals are God creature need to be protected and cared for as a part of the earth life force in general. Can you please elaborate on the epidemiology path? Thank you.

 

[deleted676737]

Another thing to consider: do you already have student loan debt from your MPH or PharmD (or undergrad, too, for that matter?). Veterinary school in this country is stupidly expensive, to the tune of up to a quarter of a million dollars, or even more depending on where you choose to attend. Even if you managed to break into the exact field you're wanting, understand that wildlife medicine in general pays very poorly. Pretty much all of the wildlife veterinarians I worked with pre-vet school did it as more of a part-time side/volunteer gig alongside more profitable small animal practice. It's really difficult to do it full-time and actually make any sort of decent money from it. And, at the end of the day, you still have to make a living---passion doesn't pay the bills.

Monetarily, I don't think a DVM is worth it in your case. I would either stick with pharmacy or transition over to more epidemiological work, like @genny mentioned, with the MPH, and then perhaps look into volunteering in rehabilitation if you still find yourself seeking that wildlife fix. It sounds like you don't have any actual veterinary experience yet, so there's not much of a point in spending time and money dedicating yourself to a change in career path if you don't even know for sure that it's what you want (and you can't really know until you've shadowed with veterinarians on the job for a little while). Consider, too, that by going to veterinary school, you'd be missing out on four years worth of full-time pharmacist pay while getting yourself into more debt.

Ultimately, it's up to you and I know myself how hard it is to walk away from a dream, but I would hold off on committing yourself fully to the veterinary medicine path until you've actually crunched the numbers, taken a good, candid look at how this decision will impact your financial future well-being, and have acquired some real experience in the field. If you decide then that you still want to go for it, then by all means... but I would personally have a difficult time justifying it if I were in your shoes.

 

[supershorty]

Unfortunately, none. I just decided the career recently.

You can’t make this decision without vet experience, for multiple reasons. 1 - you won’t be able to get into school with no experience, and 2 - you don’t actually have a way to know what being a vet really entails!

You need to get some shadowing under your belt before you can really have an idea of whether this field is something you want to pursue.

 

[grebes4lyfe]

I am in my mid 30s, have a Pharm D an MPH in epidemiology. Recently I found my calling that is to be wildlife vet. Does one have any idea how marketable this would be in general? Any suggestions?

As someone interested in going into wildlife myself, i have been told ad nauseum by MANY vets, including the wildlife vet who I currently work with, that if you are going to apply to vet schools saying that you’re interested in wildlife, you better have the experience to back it up. And that doesn’t just mean lots of wildlife experience, it means lots of wildlife experience (~1000 hours min) PLUS lots of diverse vet experience outside of wildlife (so have a few hundred small animal, large animal, and equine vet hours too) so that admissions committees know that you know what you’re getting into because it’s competitive and doesn’t pay. I was told so many times that even with all my wildlife experience that’s backed up with research, essays, and recs, it was still a big risk to mark “wildlife” on my apps.

Food for thought.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I love the experience of healing and caring. I also develop a sense of ideology that wildlife animals are God creature need to be protected and cared for as a part of the earth life force in general. Can you please elaborate on the epidemiology path? Thank you.

But seriously. You need a much better reason than that for a career change. No vet adcom is going to buy that hooey, they will laugh you out of the interview (if you even get one to start with). Plus all of the issues grebes brought up about getting experience, which will take quite a while and likely be unpaid.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Honestly, all of the OP's threads on this topic need to be merged. I can't stand this repetitive posting style.