I am a pre-vet and I'm having conflicting feelings about becoming a vet now. I am about to graduate with a degree in medical lab science that makes about 60,000 a year. I am really worried about the debt from vet school and I really want to be able to travel and enjoy life.
Are all of you able to do any of these things? How much time do you have do spend with family and do other things besides work? Also, what do you think about making 60,000 a year, is that more or less than what I would make as a vet?
General practice is not where you want to be if having time off is a big priority. There are exceptions like owning a clinic and calling the shots on the schedule, being a relief vet and working when you want, only working part time (how are you going to pay back the debt?), or having one of those very, very rare clinics where they're good about giving time off.
But from what I've experienced and from what I see in my colleagues and fellow graduates (as associate vets), a lot of it is working hours you have little control over. It may also be very hard to get the time off you want. (There's a thread somewhere around here with ChickenLittle (a vet) saying how difficult it is just to get a week at the beach. She may also not have a job after taking maternity leave.
On top of that, your job may require you to take on-call. And the nature of the job itself is too erratic to have "general hours". The business hours will say 9am to 6pm. But that means anything from leaving at 6:30 to leaving at 11pm depending on what walks in last minute, what's sick, what needs help being stabilized until they can transfer to a 24hr facility, etc. Maybe you work 40 hours a week, maybe you work 80. Just depends on what happens. It's not a lifestyle that will accommodate grand travel plans and personal spontaneity.
Example: my best friend works as an associate in a 2 doctor practice. She technically has 2 weeks of vacation but never gets to use it all. Her boss has stipulated that she can't take off more than 5 days in a row. So forget a trip to Europe. Her boss also gets crabby when she does try and take time off, so she gets saddled with more work and more on-call.
The vets I do know that have gotten better vacation time are older and have worked in their practices for longer. Even still, we're talking about 1-2 weeks off. Nothing that grand. The ONE and only vet I know that travels the world is in his 70s. He started his clinic, worked 80 hour weeks, sold the clinic and now sails to mexico for months at a time. So... basically he retired to have his time off.
60k is a decent amount for a vet in my area. It depends on where you live. Busy urban areas are going to pay more but you'll have a higher cost of living. Being out in the sticks you'll probably make less. From when I am, I wouldn't expect much over that unless I was closer to the city or was going to specialize.
That said, there are likely vet jobs that have better schedules and more regulated vacation. Perhaps government vets, meat inspection vets, possibly lab animal vets (though they're on call too...). But not so much general practice.
