Did you ever struggle to decide between pre-vet and pre-med?

[sharksarefriends33]

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I am a current sophomore in college on the pre-vet path, but since before even high school, I have often gone back and forth between pre-med and pre-vet. I think I would be happy doing both and have made many pros and cons lists, and I will choose for extended period of times one or the other, but then I will switch between the other again. Did you have any clarifying factor or feeling for you to help make you decide?

 

[SkiOtter]

Spend time in each field. Shadow doctors and shadow vets. That is really the biggest factor for how you decide. If you have for a lot of hours each field and still cannot decide and would be happy in either, I personally would go for the higher pay of human medicine.

 

[Yaya_Cat]

If I liked human medicine I'd go for that just cause of the pay. A lot of vets that I have talked to mention that they do not regret going into vet med but if they had to do it again they might go into human med. 😬 But like that wouldn't have worked for me cause my passion lies with helping animals in general. Each field has their pros and cons tho. Not like you can't earn very well in vet med too. Like they said above, spend some time shadowing both.

 

[Minnerbelle]

The reason why I didn’t was because I really liked the generalist nature of what I perceived vet med to be. I never specialized in vet med because I can’t imagine not doing surgery or dentistry or medical work ups. I also kinda like the hack job that we do. Like… “well it’s a cat, it will heal.” And “it’s a pit bull, it will survive this septic abdomen that I just cut after hours as an outpatient….” I like the chaos and riding the line of malpractice for the sake of saving lives. I offer referral like I would be as a human pcp, but I like having the option of winging it on my own if the owner declines referral.

It would sadden me greatly even to specialize within vet med (which is still super broad for MD’s - a neurologist doesn’t cut backs, manage epilepsy, and strokes for instance).

 

[battie]

the chaos and riding the line of malpractice for the sake of saving lives

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

[FarmGirl2]

It really depends on your personality and what you are hoping for in a career. It also depends on where your passion lies The other things to consider are that human medicine is more lucrative and comes with more prestige (no offense to vets), but has greater risk of getting sued and provides less opportunity to do varied procedures.

I practiced medicine for over 20 years (I am a pediatrician) and now I have worked as a vet assistant for a while and will be starting vet school next month. I would be happy to answer any questions based on my experience if you want. Feel free to pm me.

 

[sheltermed]

The reason why I didn’t was because I really liked the generalist nature of what I perceived vet med to be. I never specialized in vet med because I can’t imagine not doing surgery or dentistry or medical work ups. I also kinda like the hack job that we do. Like… “well it’s a cat, it will heal.” And “it’s a pit bull, it will survive this septic abdomen that I just cut after hours as an outpatient….” I like the chaos and riding the line of malpractice for the sake of saving lives. I offer referral like I would be as a human pcp, but I like having the option of winging it on my own if the owner declines referral.

It would sadden me greatly even to specialize within vet med (which is still super broad for MD’s - a neurologist doesn’t cut backs, manage epilepsy, and strokes for instance).

This is the best description of general practice that I've ever read. I have to save it somewhere. So much love to our GPs - I couldn't do it. You are incredible! Thank you for everything you do.

 

[DrBoopSnoot]

It was never a consideration for me. I love the more "small scale" nature of vet med. Every day is different, and you'll do procedures that cross several specialties within human med in a single day (surgery, dental, GP, etc). Plus, there are puppies.