It Finally Happened (DVM Tried to Dissuade me from Vet Med)

[DressageEnthusiast]

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What the title says; I was shadowing at a practice today where I've shadowed for a few years now, and one of the relief vets tried to talk me out of applying to vet school this year and encouraged me to pursue other career options 🙃 This was not due to any of my stats (like "don't bother applying because you'll never get in anyways"/"I don't think you actually have what it takes to be a veterinarian because xyz") or anything like that, it was very obvious that her comment was due to her own grim perception of the veterinary industry and where it's heading ("everyone here is miserable and underpaid, you would be so much happier making more money in human medicine!" type of comments).
Before this, I had heard of people encountering veterinarians who tried to talk them out of pursuing a career in the field, but I, myself, had only been told similar regarding specific sectors of veterinary medicine(ie "I wish I had gone into companion animal, they make way better money", "I miss large animal, it was fun having a truck and driving around to different farms to help clients", etc), never the veterinary field as a whole. I also had never been directly warned "you shouldn't do this!" so directly, all the previous vets had referred to themselves and what they would have done differently.
Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

 

[supershorty]

What the title says; I was shadowing at a practice today where I've shadowed for a few years now, and one of the relief vets tried to talk me out of applying to vet school this year and encouraged me to pursue other career options 🙃 This was not due to any of my stats (like "don't bother applying because you'll never get in anyways"/"I don't think you actually have what it takes to be a veterinarian because xyz") or anything like that, it was very obvious that her comment was due to her own grim perception of the veterinary industry and where it's heading ("everyone here is miserable and underpaid, you would be so much happier making more money in human medicine!" type of comments).
Before this, I had heard of people encountering veterinarians who tried to talk them out of pursuing a career in the field, but I, myself, had only been told similar regarding specific sectors of veterinary medicine(ie "I wish I had gone into companion animal, they make way better money", "I miss large animal, it was fun having a truck and driving around to different farms to help clients", etc), never the veterinary field as a whole. I also had never been directly warned "you shouldn't do this!" so directly, all the previous vets had referred to themselves and what they would have done differently.
Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

I don't recommend people go into this field if they're not already committed financially. The student loan situation being so up in the air particularly makes me say that.

The debt to income ratio in vet med is awful, and it's going to get worse. I think there are many starry-eyed pre-vets who truly cannot grasp the concept of living with that level of debt - because how could they? They don't have the life experience to, and it's easy to say "well I can live like a student forever!" but when you want to have a family, or buy a house, or maybe enjoy life a little more... having that kind of debt adds up.

I don't think my saying that to people has ever made a difference in what they did, but I think it's important that we're up front with potential students about what they're getting into.

 

[JaynaAli]

I don’t think the degree is currently a good return on investment. The costs are crazy now, especially compared to our salaries, and while I enjoy what I do and make a good living doing it, it would be a different story if I had 300,000 or more in debt to still repay. It’s not only the debt, but debt coupled with crazy housing costs, increasing cost of living, and all that. It’s even scarier to face when you consider that federal loan rules are potentially changing and the income based repayment plans may also change as well. Even though I always wanted to do vet med, at the end of the day it’s just a job and has stresses and hard times like anything. Looking back, if I had to start over and do it again, I probably wouldn’t. I certainly wouldn’t pay over 300k for the degree, and probably not even that much. If I wanted to go into medicine I’d find a human field like NP or PA with a better debt to income ratio. Or I’d find a lower stress field…I think I’d make a pretty good administrative assistant or something like that. I don’t necessarily actively discourage people from entering the field, but I do tell them to make sure they really understand the costs and the ramification of that.

 

[juggling-zebra0831]

What the title says; I was shadowing at a practice today where I've shadowed for a few years now, and one of the relief vets tried to talk me out of applying to vet school this year and encouraged me to pursue other career options 🙃 This was not due to any of my stats (like "don't bother applying because you'll never get in anyways"/"I don't think you actually have what it takes to be a veterinarian because xyz") or anything like that, it was very obvious that her comment was due to her own grim perception of the veterinary industry and where it's heading ("everyone here is miserable and underpaid, you would be so much happier making more money in human medicine!" type of comments).
Before this, I had heard of people encountering veterinarians who tried to talk them out of pursuing a career in the field, but I, myself, had only been told similar regarding specific sectors of veterinary medicine(ie "I wish I had gone into companion animal, they make way better money", "I miss large animal, it was fun having a truck and driving around to different farms to help clients", etc), never the veterinary field as a whole. I also had never been directly warned "you shouldn't do this!" so directly, all the previous vets had referred to themselves and what they would have done differently.
Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

I am coming from slightly different perspective here as incoming nontraditional veterinary student this fall. So please do not come at me but also not going to sugar coat it lol. It is true what the others say though that you need to really weigh everything in context and seriously consider the debt you will be taking on. It can grossly vary based on the school/location you end up at ($200k-500k or more; see VIN Cost of Education Map) but debt is still debt at the end of the day. And the most debt you will ever save on is when you go to select the schools you apply to; you will be much less inclined to turn down an offer if it is your only one. Unsure if your circumstances allow or if you already have employment at a hospital but would strongly advise you work in the profession as vet tech/assist if anything to get your feet wet and see what it is like to be in the "trenches" on any given day. Turnover is very high for a reason--long hours, poor pay, debt, emotional/mental health challenges (i.e., seeing pets unnecessarily euthanized because a client cannot afford treatment or further diagnostics, suicide rates, etc.), physical toll to name a few. I am not by any means discouraging you here. Just pointing out that at least for me my experience shadowing vs. working were very different and sometimes it can be difficult to see the reality of these things when viewed from a distance then when you are confronted with them on the daily. I took a few gap years working in GP/ER & speciality/lab animal and honestly can say it gave me lot of fat to chew to better appreciate rewards/challenges of the profession and decide if this was really something I wanted. For me, I couldn't really see myself doing anything else. I thought about pursuing other paths (i.e., Masters, nursing, med school, STEM career, etc.) and couldn't justify it on cost factor alone. Do take time to really think about your "why" because it will be the thing you fall back on at the end of the day when you are feeling frustrated, discouraged, battle with imposter syndrome etc. Some of the best advice I got was "you do not have to love it 100% to still pursue it and feel fulfilled". It's normal and actually perfectly healthy to not love it at 100% all the time. Unfortunately, I also had doctors, advisors, etc. in my career and life that have tried to dissuade me from pursuing this path. I guess I felt the need to prove them wrong jk lol but in all seriousness do consider where that individual might be coming from. Their view might be a bit more colored based on their experiences so do consider the source but there may be some kernels of truth there to offer/worth listening to too.

 

[battie]

I'll comment in a bit. Got 2 year old bed time to do soon. Just don't want to forget about this

 

[spellcheck09]

What the title says; I was shadowing at a practice today where I've shadowed for a few years now, and one of the relief vets tried to talk me out of applying to vet school this year and encouraged me to pursue other career options This was not due to any of my stats (like "don't bother applying because you'll never get in anyways"/"I don't think you actually have what it takes to be a veterinarian because xyz") or anything like that, it was very obvious that her comment was due to her own grim perception of the veterinary industry and where it's heading ("everyone here is miserable and underpaid, you would be so much happier making more money in human medicine!" type of comments).
Before this, I had heard of people encountering veterinarians who tried to talk them out of pursuing a career in the field, but I, myself, had only been told similar regarding specific sectors of veterinary medicine(ie "I wish I had gone into companion animal, they make way better money", "I miss large animal, it was fun having a truck and driving around to different farms to help clients", etc), never the veterinary field as a whole. I also had never been directly warned "you shouldn't do this!" so directly, all the previous vets had referred to themselves and what they would have done differently.
Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

I was told the same thing by a relief vet (in an ER at the time) who also used to be a large animal vet lol.
Keep in mind that many relief vets take that path because of bad experiences in normal clinic/practice situations and use it as a stopgap for burnout. Vets who are happy long-term at their clinic don't go into relief generally.

That said, I'm a nontraditional student coming from a 9-5 career. I know the financial realities of adult life. I already know the "cushy" office life isn't for me, and vetmed clicks for me in a way that nothing else has, even other things I'm passionate about. I think a lot of vets see greener grass on the other side and feel trapped by the debt of vet med and lack of other options, but the few vets I've met who had other careers beforehand and made the choice with their eyes open had no regrets.

Anyways, my point is that perspectives and opinions are valuable, but context is key imo.

 

[genny]

Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

So I am incredibly happy with my role as a small animal GP, but I still caution students looking to go to vet school. I know I'm never going to dissuade anyone from applying because every single student thinks they're going to be the exception and really love this career no matter how much debt they have to take on. I try to at least make them think about the financial reality though. And make them think about how much more time a doctor spends managing people (both owners and staff) than they do interacting with animals. There are so many other ways to help animals that don't involve taking on $300-400k in debt.

 

[DressageEnthusiast]

Do take time to really think about your "why" because it will be the thing you fall back on at the end of the day when you are feeling frustrated, discouraged, battle with imposter syndrome etc. Some of the best advice I got was "you do not have to love it 100% to still pursue it and feel fulfilled". It's normal and actually perfectly healthy to not love it at 100% all the time. Unfortunately, I also had doctors, advisors, etc. in my career and life that have tried to dissuade me from pursuing this path. I guess I felt the need to prove them wrong jk lol but in all seriousness do consider where that individual might be coming from. Their view might be a bit more colored based on their experiences so do consider the source but there may be some kernels of truth there to offer/worth listening to too.

I actually think about this a lot (and not just because it's "the VMCAS essay question" lol)- there's still a part of me that loves this field despite its flaws. I won't go into exact details on my financial situation but I am privileged in the sense that most if not all of my education will be paid for even with four years of vet school (though I am still trying to stick to the cheaper options).
My mom was a PT/OT for most of her career and my grandma was a nurse. I grew up hearing the horror stories of human medicine and while I've never shadowed it, it seems like they're having a lot of similar problems (maybe not at the MD level but very similar burnout+overworked and underpaid+people getting frustrated at costs towards nurses and PTs). Similarly, I have multiple friends in trade school right now and they are also facing widespread mental health problems there (although for different reasons from what I've been told). At the end of the day, a job is a job and work is work- you're probably going to hate it at one point or another. However, I doubt that pushing passionate people away from this field is going to fix its existing issues, just concentrate them on to a smaller cohort. Who knows, maybe this next generation will help formulate a solution to some of the issues if they come in informed of some of the widespread problems?
I hope this does not come off as trying to talk over you or disprove you, I am not always great at conveying tone over text 😅

 

[juggling-zebra0831]

I actually think about this a lot (and not just because it's "the VMCAS essay question" lol)- there's still a part of me that loves this field despite its flaws. I won't go into exact details on my financial situation but I am privileged in the sense that most if not all of my education will be paid for even with four years of vet school (though I am still trying to stick to the cheaper options).
My mom was a PT/OT for most of her career and my grandma was a nurse. I grew up hearing the horror stories of human medicine and while I've never shadowed it, it seems like they're having a lot of similar problems (maybe not at the MD level but very similar burnout+overworked and underpaid+people getting frustrated at costs towards nurses and PTs). Similarly, I have multiple friends in trade school right now and they are also facing widespread mental health problems there (although for different reasons from what I've been told). At the end of the day, a job is a job and work is work- you're probably going to hate it at one point or another. However, I doubt that pushing passionate people away from this field is going to fix its existing issues, just concentrate them on to a smaller cohort. Who knows, maybe this next generation will help formulate a solution to some of the issues if they come in informed of some of the widespread problems?
I hope this does not come off as trying to talk over you or disprove you, I am not always great at conveying tone over text 😅

Lol I actually think we are both in agreement but just saying some of the same things in different ways so no worries! Have always felt too that pushing people away who are passionate is not the solution but could very well exacerbate the problem to begin with. To add another layer to this, think the profession needs to also work to support advancement of future practitioners who come from underserved demographic populations and huge part of that is working on the financial barriers imposed.

Anyways, think more or less why I brought up the need to have your "why" to fall back on and "you don't need to love it at 100% all the time to feel fulfilled" topic had to to do with conversation I was having with myself this time last year. I was waitlisted on my first cycle (15 seats off before the class closed), none of the schools I was denied from could offer file reviews for feedback and like many had dedicated my entire life, making many sacrifices, personal and financial, along the way to even get to the point to put forward an application. I felt a lot of futility in that moment, burnt out and questioned whether it was even worth my sanity let alone money, energy, time to reapply. I told myself one more cycle and then if not in the cards that I would give myself permission to explore other paths knowing that I could always circle back at any point if I wanted to. I always on some level felt a "calling" into this profession but recognized I am human at the end of the day too with real needs and needed to give myself permission to let it go. Reapplying and setting a personal boundary with myself gave me the perspective and clarity I needed to reaffirm this path was meant for me.

Something I want to add to the whole "at the end of the day, a job is a job and work is work" is that there are actual key differences between a job, occupation, and profession. Basically the premise is there is "what you do well", "what you love", "what the world will pay for", and "what the world needs". You can be paid well for a job to get by but will you feel fulfilled, have sense of purpose, etc.? There is nothing wrong with having a job be a job and for many that is the only option. Just wanted to point out the importance of how things get framed and mindset adopted. Psychology Today did an article you can read more here; also quickly search Venn diagrams comparing "job, occupation, profession, vocation, etc." and you can see what I am talking about.

"It only takes one desperate generation to change history—even erase it" -Rebecca Yarros (for those Fourth Wing enthusiasts out there)

 

[battie]

For reference, I'm one of those who always wanted to be a vet since childhood and that's all I ever wanted to do. Didn't explore anything else at all. Got in on my third try. Repeated first year. Almost failed second year. Graduated and went into GP thinking id love it cause I'm very much so a people person. Didn't like it. Switched to ER exclusive and love it as far as type of practice. I work for a corporate that has been hands off for two years and has now done some major upheavals with ultimately 6/21 doctors leaving between April and August and a 7th doctor taking a leave of absence for the summer. Relief doctors are not picking up as many shifts. We are a three hospital group within that corporate and one is definitely not hitting numbers.

How do you feel about this?

I think this is why every applicant needs to have a high number of hours shadowing a variety of doctors across as many facets of the industry. There are so many opinions that students need to be exposed to as many of them as possible.

Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

I am telling people not to become a veterinarian or veterinary technician right now purely because of the finances. For the majority of students who go in, it's a poor financial investment and a good example of millennials and later generations not being as financially secure as their parents. For those who are already in it, there's some shielding because the contracts we signed for our loans guarantee an income based loan repayment system.

But until the financial picture clears up, I cannot honestly recommend college at all to anyone who 1) is not willing to move to go to a smaller, cheaper school for their bachelor's degree like I did; or 2) independently wealthy. With the current line up plans for student loans, 200k is not enough to pay for vet school and private loans are a hard stop. This profession is not worth a private loan of 10%+ interest.

I agree that we need the passionate people. But unfortunately, we're a luxury service industry with the implication of life and death. And so that means the passion can only go so far. I can pay the bills, but that's only cause I reduced my student loan payments (currently on forebarence, but going for 750/month vs 1400/month). I'm hoping to be able to devote a significant portion of income towards loans in the next few years to get rid of them.

So I've been telling people considering medicine to do jobs like sonography where you get to do some cool technical aspects with minimal education costs and good income (50-60/hr here in Denver; for reference, I make 75/hr). If you want the higher knowledge base, going for medicine is still fine. But would be choosey about what it is you do.

 

[pp9]

Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

I have absolutely said something like this to prevets, but in specific situations. I am a zoo vet, and it's not uncommon these days for a prevet to want to do zoo. Zoo med has a lot more exposure these days (TV shows, for example, but vet med in general has these now too) that kids will see early on. Then they grow up wanting to be a zoo vet specifically, and in my experience, have nothing but a TV show or the vet window at Disney World/Nashville/wherever else as to why they want that career. That's not to say a TV show/other is a dumb reason to be interested in a career. Exposure is exposure, and what we do is 'cool' and is almost always assumed to be glamorous. People get really excited by it. But if you are coming to chat with me as a husbandry intern, guest relations/concessions employee, whatever, and saying 'I want to be a zoo vet and my only reason/'experience' is this thing, and I only want to do this to pursue this extremely competitive (and simultaneously poorly paid, and sometimes excessively niche) sector of vet med, I'm going to give you a heavy reality check. In my experience, some of the most outspoken 'haters' of vet med are people who went into the field for a very specific career and did not/have not yet gotten into the sector they wanted to be in (not just zoo, either)

Aside from that, I don't routinely try to dissuade prevets from pursuing the field. When asked, I will give my thoughts, but the truth of the matter is that we can all talk until we are blue in the face and no one will listen. I don't have a horribly negative opinion of this field, and I am lucky to be debt free since my third year of practice (thanks to partly killing myself with work, partly due to 'lucky' circumstances and having a husband to split costs with). I'm also not in a 'client' facing role currently, if I was I might have different feelings. Even if I did, the onslaught of 'This field is miserable, you'll be crushed by debt, we all hate our lives, etc etc' goes in one ear and out the other. Most of us, myself included, probably had at least one vet try to dissuade us and that obviously didn't work. The financial outlook for the field is not great at the moment - we are experiencing the aftermath of corporations exploding and ballooning in the heat of COVID and now that demand has dropped quite a bit. If we hit a true recession, we will be right back where we were in the 2009-2015ish days where new grads couldn't find jobs. That means absolutely nothing to kids who haven't lived through scary times, were too young to see the fear in their parents' eyes during the last recession, haven't paid their own bills yet, haven't watched their loan balances climb despite monthly payments. Vet med also currently is comprised of white females from middle (or higher) class families (myself included, until my family hit harder times). This is not a dig at anyone, but people from those backgrounds usually don't understand the concepts of debt and loan repayment, financial risk, struggling to make ends meet, etc. Vet med is very much a 'follow your dream, kid!' type of career and being able to pursue a dream with blinders on to the finances is peak privilege imo.

I have had one vet I worked for in my prevet days try to dissuade me. She was a solo vet who owned her own practice, ran things very old school, and worked 6-7 days a week even though she probably didn't have to. She moreso just hated her situation, I think. She was otherwise debt free, and very much went to vet school because her mom was a vet and that was just the path she was laid. Not everyone who goes to vet school actually discovered they wanted to be a vet at some point. IMO the 'vet-by-nepotism' (maybe not the best choice of words, but I'm tired) path is much less common these days but for some, it's all they know because their parents basically raised their family in the clinic working 14 hour days 7 days a week. So long story short, I do agree that context/knowing a bit more about the person trying to dissuade you matters to some extent.

I will say that I am discouraged by how many college-age students I meet that want to be vets, but still have not step foot in a veterinary setting by their sophomore or junior year of undergrad. I know it can be hard to get experience, but I have to wonder how many people get 'trapped' by the concept. By the time they get vet experience and don't like it, they feel they can't get off the ride and still pursue vet school. It's a scary thing to have had a goal for the majority of your life, only to realize it's not for you and you haven't explored anything else (or you want it but never get accepted, and then don't know what you want to do). We probably all know a few classmates/vets that absolutely hate the field, or a few pre-vet undergrad friends that never really figured out an alternative.

Vets who are happy long-term at their clinic don't go into relief generally.

Unrelated to the main topic, but this is absolutely not true. Sure, some people go into relief for the reasons you said, but a lotttt go into it just because they like having the scheduling freedom and you can make bank doing it, if you do it well. Some of the most highly paid vets in this country are doing ER relief (we're talking $450k+ working 12 shifts or less per month). Considering the fact that you don't need any specialty training to do this, it's an extremely attractive option for a lot of vets.

 

[Shiloh47]

If this helps anyone, my sister who’s good with excel and numbers (lol not me) made a super rough estimate of what loans look like and repayment under the conditions listed in this document (sorry for the crappy screenshot). Obviously this can change with interest rates and whatever *******ery is trying to be forced through the senate. But anyways, the salary is based of off small animal ER. I’m interested in large animal and so my salary estimate would be lower but I also realize the reality that my debt load will likely force me into small animal. Maybe I can get some mixed practice in there!
I recently worked with a large animal vet with 500,000 in loans who just pays the minimum each month and doesn’t have anywhere near a small animal salary. And he seems chill and happy? So idk I’ve had really encouraging experiences and other people who are speaking to you like their past self and figuratively screaming “don’t do it!” so it’s so individual dependent.
The student loan problem in this country is wild to me (private loans are not the answer) but hopefully this screenshot can put into perspective how much salary can go to repayments and taxes. But listen as someone who’s made minimum wage all my life and has 0 interest in a typical administrative office position, it’s still worth to it to me. Even if it means doing small animal over large animal.
Other actual vets can comment on these numbers since everyone is different financially

 

[pp9]

View attachment 404654

If this helps anyone, my sister who’s good with excel and numbers (lol not me) made a super rough estimate of what loans look like and repayment under the conditions listed in this document (sorry for the crappy screenshot). Obviously this can change with interest rates and whatever *******ery is trying to be forced through the senate. But anyways, the salary is based of off small animal ER. I’m interested in large animal and so my salary estimate would be lower but I also realize the reality that my debt load will likely force me into small animal. Maybe I can get some mixed practice in there!
I recently worked with a large animal vet with 500,000 in loans who just pays the minimum each month and doesn’t have anywhere near a small animal salary. And he seems chill and happy? So idk I’ve had really encouraging experiences and other people who are speaking to you like their past self and figuratively screaming “don’t do it!” so it’s so individual dependent.
The student loan problem in this country is wild to me (private loans are not the answer) but hopefully this screenshot can put into perspective how much salary can go to repayments and taxes. But listen as someone who’s made minimum wage all my life and has 0 interest in a typical administrative office position, it’s still worth to it to me. Even if it means doing small animal over large animal.
Other actual vets can comment on these numbers since everyone is different financially

That is a really low estimate for ER, FWIW. I know less about mixed animal but the last social media post I saw that had mixed animal people discussing their salaries had a lot of replies around 100k, but iirc, that was their base before production. SA GP seems to be in the low to mid 100s before production as well.

Like you said, super dependent on the individual. If you take 10 vets, half will burst into tears at the drop of a hat over their loans, the other half will say 'It is what it is, I'll never pay it off, so why stress?' or whatever.

ETA: Also looking closer at those numbers - a lot seem off for what I know in 2025 times (both in good and bad ways), but who knows where we will be in 2030.

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

I would say when I poll fellow veterinarians it is generally ~50/50 for who would do it again.

I like what I do and would likely do it again. That being said, I also would have been happy doing other things. I think it is worth noting that I am fortunate to not have student loans; I’m not sure my answer would be the same (or if I would even be a vet) if I had the standard amount of debt most Americans graduate with.

 

[JaynaAli]

Mixed is highly variable I think; I do know people making over 100 but my friend who does rural mixed in a very rural area makes about 75 at this point. Started at 55 years back.

I agree the expense numbers seem on the low side for what I’ve experienced…but obviously it’s gonna vary widely in different geographic areas and with different employers. I don’t have a high deductible health plan so I pay more monthly, but my company’s hd plan will cost the employee closer to 1800/yr (70 employee cost per biweekly pay period) and that doesn’t count the vision and dental add ons either. I live in a very low cost of living area and my mortgage and utilities are 1800/mo not factoring in cell phone, pet insurance/pet food, etc. 300 seems low for a car payment nowadays especially if you’re buying new and my car insurance is more, but I do have a newer car and live in an area with frequent hail storms and such so insurance is expensive. Just an example of how things vary.

Also, if you’re truly planning on a 30 year repayment and if (big if) things don’t change, it can indeed be cheaper to go on an income based repayment plan, pay the minimums, and then also keep saving money separately for the tax bomb when forgiveness occurs. But it’s definitely good to plan for a worst case, long term, fully pay off scenario too. Things will definitely change over time, so any planning this far in advance is a best estimate of course and will be highly variable.

 

[mkg323]

What the title says; I was shadowing at a practice today where I've shadowed for a few years now, and one of the relief vets tried to talk me out of applying to vet school this year and encouraged me to pursue other career options 🙃 This was not due to any of my stats (like "don't bother applying because you'll never get in anyways"/"I don't think you actually have what it takes to be a veterinarian because xyz") or anything like that, it was very obvious that her comment was due to her own grim perception of the veterinary industry and where it's heading ("everyone here is miserable and underpaid, you would be so much happier making more money in human medicine!" type of comments).
Before this, I had heard of people encountering veterinarians who tried to talk them out of pursuing a career in the field, but I, myself, had only been told similar regarding specific sectors of veterinary medicine(ie "I wish I had gone into companion animal, they make way better money", "I miss large animal, it was fun having a truck and driving around to different farms to help clients", etc), never the veterinary field as a whole. I also had never been directly warned "you shouldn't do this!" so directly, all the previous vets had referred to themselves and what they would have done differently.
Has anyone else encountered this before? How did you respond? Has anyone actually BEEN talked out of vet med by something a specific veterinarian said? Current DVMs- how do you feel about this? Have you ever said this to one of your shadows?

Hi! Some meandering thoughts from a new equine vet - I have not had any vet actively tell me not to do it, but I have been reminded of the reality that if you want to ride, it’s really hard to do as an equine vet (and vet student). don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to the rule, but I accepted very early on that I was not going to be the student having time to ride 5x a week while still passing classes, or the vet running around 5* events in my free time, or honestly any kind of competition at any level anytime soon. A vet I worked with talked to me a lot about her decision to start a family and be an equine GP instead of doing a residency, which I really appreciated bc the reality is (at least for her and for what I want to do) a residency and the sacrifices that come with it is not the end all be all that you sometimes think it is as a student. I think a lot of the time prevet students don’t always realize what they’ll lose by going to vet school besides all the money. The QOL change with hobbies, location, support system, bodily injuries (which is practically guaranteed with horses lol) etc. all factor in.

 

[DressageEnthusiast]

Hi! Some meandering thoughts from a new equine vet - I have not had any vet actively tell me not to do it, but I have been reminded of the reality that if you want to ride, it’s really hard to do as an equine vet (and vet student). don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions to the rule, but I accepted very early on that I was not going to be the student having time to ride 5x a week while still passing classes, or the vet running around 5* events in my free time, or honestly any kind of competition at any level anytime soon. A vet I worked with talked to me a lot about her decision to start a family and be an equine GP instead of doing a residency, which I really appreciated bc the reality is (at least for her and for what I want to do) a residency and the sacrifices that come with it is not the end all be all that you sometimes think it is as a student. I think a lot of the time prevet students don’t always realize what they’ll lose by going to vet school besides all the money. The QOL change with hobbies, location, support system, bodily injuries (which is practically guaranteed with horses lol) etc. all factor in.

Thank you for this- I have been thinking about it a lot and have pretty much accepted the fact that I will almost certainly have to give up riding for the 4 years that I am in vet school. I am already extremely lucky to be able to ride 2-3 times a week as is given that I do not own a horse and it's pretty difficult to find a lease option that allows you to show up every 3-4 months and hop back on in-between a regular rider for a couple of weeks just to disappear again 😅. However, I didn't know that there are equine vets who have sacrificed riding entirely for their career. Of the equine veterinarians that I have worked with, virtually all of them own at least one horse and one of them competes regularly at lower-level eventing. Now that I think about it, the only one I know who does not own a horse is a current resident.
I never had any intense competitive aspirations for my riding, but it is still something important to me that I would like to continue as a hobby. This is definitely something I'll chew on...

 

[mkg323]

Thank you for this- I have been thinking about it a lot and have pretty much accepted the fact that I will almost certainly have to give up riding for the 4 years that I am in vet school. I am already extremely lucky to be able to ride 2-3 times a week as is given that I do not own a horse and it's pretty difficult to find a lease option that allows you to show up every 3-4 months and hop back on in-between a regular rider for a couple of weeks just to disappear again 😅. However, I didn't know that there are equine vets who have sacrificed riding entirely for their career. Of the equine veterinarians that I have worked with, virtually all of them own at least one horse and one of them competes regularly at lower-level eventing. Now that I think about it, the only one I know who does not own a horse is a current resident.
I never had any intense competitive aspirations for my riding, but it is still something important to me that I would like to continue as a hobby. This is definitely something I'll chew on...

you might not be able to ride during the school year (I think I rode 3 times total my first year of school), but I always tried to ride in the summer. My first summer I did research with flexible hours so I could ride my own horse, and then after I lost her I worked off a lease my second summer and took a mental break from school/externships. There's always a way it just might not be what you expect, or the quantity. Which is why it’s so important to find other ways to recharge during the school year.

 

[Shiloh47]

you might not be able to ride during the school year (I think I rode 3 times total my first year of school), but I always tried to ride in the summer. My first summer I did research with flexible hours so I could ride my own horse, and then after I lost her I worked off a lease my second summer and took a mental break from school/externships. There's always a way it just might not be what you expect, or the quantity. Which is why it’s so important to find other ways to recharge during the school year.

I'm debating whether I should bring my English saddle across the entire country for this reason 😅 Maybe someone would want a summer lease of their older horse for trail rides lol. Do people do that? I've actually never leased before but it's way too much to bring my horse coast to coast as the old man he is.

 

[mkg323]

I'm debating whether I should bring my English saddle across the entire country for this reason 😅 Maybe someone would want a summer lease of their older horse for trail rides lol. Do people do that? I've actually never leased before but it's way too much to bring my horse coast to coast as the old man he is.

A friend of mine was able to find a lease like that! She rode 1-2x a week, and lessoned every other week I think.

 

[es223]

Thank you for this- I have been thinking about it a lot and have pretty much accepted the fact that I will almost certainly have to give up riding for the 4 years that I am in vet school. I am already extremely lucky to be able to ride 2-3 times a week as is given that I do not own a horse and it's pretty difficult to find a lease option that allows you to show up every 3-4 months and hop back on in-between a regular rider for a couple of weeks just to disappear again . However, I didn't know that there are equine vets who have sacrificed riding entirely for their career. Of the equine veterinarians that I have worked with, virtually all of them own at least one horse and one of them competes regularly at lower-level eventing. Now that I think about it, the only one I know who does not own a horse is a current resident.
I never had any intense competitive aspirations for my riding, but it is still something important to me that I would like to continue as a hobby. This is definitely something I'll chew on...

Just popping in to say, that I am a second year vet student at a 2+2 school and I absolutely have time to ride. I brought two horses with me to vet school, and work them probably 3x per week. I also picked up a side gig at a local barn giving riding lessons and putting training rides on a few horses a month. I'm overall probably riding ~5 days a week on average, usually 2-3 horses a day. My class schedule changes every 8 weeks, so my horse schedule changes with that, too. But my grades are good, I'm active and hold officer positions in a number of clubs, and I have employment and leadership roles in our teaching hospital.

Things will change when I reach my clinical years, and there have been (and will be more) times where I had to put horses second. BUT you don't HAVE to give up your entire life for veterinary school.

I may catch some heat for this, but horses and riding are my passion. Vet med, while I enjoy it and I am happy to be where I am, is a job.

I admittedly am a CHONIC overcommitter, and I am probably doing more than I should. However, I am not the only person in my class who rides regularly or owns horses. I do think it's absolutely feasible for you to continue to ride while in school.

 

[pp9]

Vet med, while I enjoy it and I am happy to be where I am, is a job.

The majority of vets feel this way, actually.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Mixed salary is definitely quite variable and depends on the region and percentage of sm vs LG.

For the equine portion if you're intentional you can definitely have time to ride during school...just maybe not half to full day trail rides regularly. Housing may also be an issue if you were planning to take your own horse. Also depending where you go to school alot of the equine people at the school usually have students along and let them ride their horses or have some sort of care agreement or let students board a horse at their place so start hanging out in the equine hospital!

Speaking about equine my friend is equine gp and the weeks she's on call her riding life is nonexistent but she definitely rides in her days off the other weeks. For anyone considering specializing in equine med at least when I left school consider it very very carefully. There was a huge oversaturation within the eq specialities. So its definitely worth talking to your people at the school before deciding to pursue eq speciality.