Job prospects post vet school

[EngrSC]

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How do you all feel about job prospects for vets? It's making me a bit nervous just because of the cost and debt of going to vet school. There are graduating vet students who are having trouble finding a job ... making me feel a bit nervous. I find myself questioning vet school but on the same token I can't imagine doing anything else ...

Thoughts?

 

[Leanne]

I read an article recently about how there is not necessarily a shortage of veterinarians coming out of school, but that there are certain areas in which more are needed - research, public health, and large or mixed animal practitioners in rural areas of the country to name a few. According to the vet I'm working with now, if you're willing to move to a small town and practice, you shouldn't have any problem finding a job. I think it mostly depends on what you want to do.

Here is the link to the article about the study: http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dv...d/Article/detail/778720?contextCategoryId=378

 

[Lissarae06]

 

[PetPony]

Hahaha

 

[EngrSC]

Honestly I think the best type of practice is mixed. In my mind it'd be nice to get out of the office sometimes and make house calls 🙂

Any idea if more specialists are needed? It seems there aren't as many vets that specialize.

 

[Finnsheep]

Honestly I think the best type of practice is mixed. In my mind it'd be nice to get out of the office sometimes and make house calls 🙂

Any idea if more specialists are needed? It seems there aren't as many vets that specialize.

Mixed can be fun. I work with a mixed practioner and he does small and large/food animals.

Personally, I don't really enjoy the small animal work. I would much rather spend my whole life doing 24/7 ambulatory large/food animal medicine. But, I can see where there would be an advantage during the slower times. And I do admit that after spending all day and all night freezing, it might be nice to occasionally have an office call, something that doesn't wrench your shoulder.

I have heard though that mixed practitioners make less money than either large/food animal or small animal exclusive. It does seem to be a more popular choice amongst vet students in my state, perhaps because they are envisioning a James Herriot lifestyle.

Mixed allows you to get up at night all the time during certain times of the year and still get to take care of small animals in the office. If that is something that appeals to you, then you may very well have plenty of job opportunities if you are willing to move to a rural area.

I can't really answer the specialty question, though I am certain that it would depend at least somewhat on where you want to practice.

 

[SnowyRox]

I don't really understand the negative responses here. The question of whether there is a shortage has been answered... there is a need for vets in very rural areas which don't have the wealth to sustain a veterinary practice.

But the OP's question is very valid. The job.market for veterinarians remains good as long as you are very flexible in location and/or specialty. Equine vets who cannot move (new grads) make up the unemployed vets that I know.

A lot of 4th years feel pressured into an internship even if they don't want to specialize because mentors are tough to find. I don't necessarily think this is a bad trend though as I would probably be interested in that anyway.

Specialists are very much a niche market and residencies can be tough to get into. Your job prospects are pretty good as far as I know but I don't have numbers. You definitely get paid more!

 

[Bearby]

Keep in mind that it can be all about who you know and how awesome they think you are. I just finished my first year of vet school and have post-grad job offers from 4 different clinics. They aren't where I want to live after graduation, but if I can't find what I want, I at least have something.

 

[StartingoverVet]

This has been discussed many times, and a few of the more veteran posters probably don't want to get involved anymore... It is not so straight forward as many of you seem to believe (on either side of the issue).

Here are a few random links i brought up to discuss this issue. (discussions happen in middle of some of these thread). Many discussions have turned to this issue so you find it in a lot of general threads.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=888784&highlight=jobs
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=12006395&postcount=1
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=10805437&postcount=1
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=11234990&postcount=1

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I read an article recently about how there is not necessarily a shortage of veterinarians coming out of school, but that there are certain areas in which more are needed - research, public health, and large or mixed animal practitioners in rural areas of the country to name a few. According to the vet I'm working with now, if you're willing to move to a small town and practice, you shouldn't have any problem finding a job. I think it mostly depends on what you want to do.

Here is the link to the article about the study: http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dv...d/Article/detail/778720?contextCategoryId=378

I call massive BS (coming from someone who bought into the whole "oh, vets are needed in research" thing back in school). I'm continually wary of these articles and school administrators (who are screwing the profession by increasing class sizes anyways) who say that there is a "great need" for vets in research.

While there *should* be more veterinarians in research in a philosophical sense, most labs don't really want a DVM/PhD, because they can just hire a PhD who has more in-depth training with their specific research anyways for less money. Veterinary school itself does not prepare you for research, and almost ALL research-oriented veterinary jobs (heck, even academia positions) will at least require a PhD in addition to vet school.

Should there be more vets in research? Probably. But I wouldn't call it a "need" by a loooong shot.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

And as an aside, specialties are doing fine in terms of numbers - definitely not a need or a lack here. We're having a tough time as well in terms of jobs. Perhaps not quite as bad as graduates going directly into general practice, but still tough.

 

[JosephKnechtDVM]

If schools are increasing enrollment in order to pay their bills (instead of restructuring education to make it more efficient) and then are not increasing the residency training opportunities, then there will be more of you graduates competing for the same number of specialty training opportunities for which future job opportunities may be harder to come by. Sounds perfectly logical to me.

 

[Foxhunter]

And as an aside, specialties are doing fine in terms of numbers - definitely not a need or a lack here. We're having a tough time as well in terms of jobs. Perhaps not quite as bad as graduates going directly into general practice, but still tough.

To kinda echo this, I was talking to an equine surgeon recently. He said the year he finished up his residency there were 7 equine surgeons finishing up residencies and 3 advertised positions in the field. He was able to find a job that wasn't advertised through connections, but said he was really worried at first and had to be willing to move literally anywhere for a job in his specialty. I think WTF is right in that there's no need or lack of specialists, I also think residencies are going to become increasingly more competitive (especially in areas like surgery).

Side note- I've met like 5 members of the class of 2016 at NCSU who want to be equine surgeons (a specialty that is near to my heart/I am considering). Anyways, I can't help but think, "there is no way in hell all of us will end up equine surgeons" especially not after talking to the few that I know.

 

[deleted497320]

bumping this b/c i'm so confused.

i know that veterinarians are facing a difficult job market, but are there any fields that are considered more promising than others? i've heard good/bad things about lab animal med, large animal med, specialized small animal med, etc, etc.

honestly, i just want to work with animals. that might sound lame 😳, but i've been living in a lab doing research for my doctoral degree for the past few years and i know it's not what i want to do, even if it was the practical decision for me when i graduated. so i want to be pragmatic when picking a specialty in vet school, while still doing something that i love.

any advice?

 

[Lissarae06]

bumping this b/c i'm so confused.

i know that veterinarians are facing a difficult job market, but are there any fields that are considered more promising than others? i've heard good/bad things about lab animal med, large animal med, specialized small animal med, etc, etc.

honestly, i just want to work with animals. that might sound lame 😳, but i've been living in a lab doing research for my doctoral degree for the past few years and i know it's not what i want to do, even if it was the practical decision for me when i graduated. so i want to be pragmatic when picking a specialty in vet school, while still doing something that i love.

any advice?

You don't have to specialize if you don't want to. I'm not planning on doing an internship or residency after I graduate. I want to do mixed but I am keeping an open mind when it comes to finding a job and if I end up doing strictly small animal or strictly food animal then hey, at least I have a job and at least I get to work with some of the species I enjoy.

 

[deleted497320]

You don't have to specialize if you don't want to. I'm not planning on doing an internship or residency after I graduate. I want to do mixed but I am keeping an open mind when it comes to finding a job and if I end up doing strictly small animal or strictly food animal then hey, at least I have a job and at least I get to work with some of the species I enjoy.

thanks for the advice! for mixed animals, what do you get board certified in? (do you need board certification or is that just for specialties?)

 

[Lissarae06]

thanks for the advice! for mixed animals, what do you get board certified in? (do you need board certification or is that just for specialties?)

You don't need to be board certified to practice vet med.

 

[PetPony]

You don't have to specialize if you don't want to. I'm not planning on doing an internship or residency after I graduate. I want to do mixed but I am keeping an open mind when it comes to finding a job and if I end up doing strictly small animal or strictly food animal then hey, at least I have a job and at least I get to work with some of the species I enjoy.

That's pretty much my plan for now.

Although I'd love to do a residency combines with a PhD and become a faculty member. I love how here they teach, do research and work in the teaching hospital. That's like the perfect job for me.

But let's be real. I'll wait a bit and see then if I still want to add several more years of schooling..

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

That's pretty much my plan for now.

Although I'd love to do a residency combines with a PhD and become a faculty member. I love how here they teach, do research and work in the teaching hospital. That's like the perfect job for me.

But let's be real. I'll wait a bit and see then if I still want to add several more years of schooling..

That's exactly my plan. It's a loooong long road....but I do very much enjoy teaching. And according to the students I'm good at it. I make pathology interesting! Combine that with diagnostics and a little bit of research? Sweet. Admittedly, academia doesn't pay super well and there's bureaucracy to deal with,but I like the environment.

 

[Lissarae06]

I would love to be a clinician at a vet school and teach but I so do not want to do research.

 

[Frozenshades]

That's exactly my plan. It's a loooong long road....but I do very much enjoy teaching. And according to the students I'm good at it. I make pathology interesting! Combine that with diagnostics and a little bit of research? Sweet. Admittedly, academia doesn't pay super well and there's bureaucracy to deal with,but I like the environment.

Yeah. I think it would be really cool to do research (I'm interested in pathology) at a university and teaching could be enjoyable as well, but at least for the moment I'm a bit unsure about being a student for such a long time.

 

[MonkeyResrcher]

I would love to be a clinician at a vet school and teach but I so do not want to do research.

I feel ya, I have done research - not my cup of tea. On the flip side - I am not that interested in private practice as well, or equine.

Dream job would be conservation/behavioral based - disaster relief vet or in third world country in impoverish areas teaching husbandry to locals.