Not sure if I should be pre-vet anymore

[kururu16]

Hi, I am about to go into my second year at University of California, San Diego. I have a GPA of 3.56 so far. I originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but recently I came to realize the reality of income and debt. It seems like that veterinarians have to put in a lot of work, effort, and owe a lot of debt, but not get a lot of salary in return as compared to other jobs such as MD. I have been considering switching to PA, MD, or NP. Any pros and cons of any of those, or why I should stay or switch? I currently have 200 vet experience, if I do switch over, would those hours still count? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[Museum Nerd]

I think the general consensus is if you can see yourself doing anything other than vet med, being a veterinarian may not be the best fit for you. It is a ton of hard work, and the income/debt is something to really thing about. I cannot give you any insight into any of those other fields since I have never looked into any of them. My guess would be unless your 200 hours are straight research in a scientific field then no those hours won't count.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

If you would be just as happy to be in "human medicine" as vet medicine, then go with the former without a doubt.

 

[EngrSC]

Hello fellow San Diegan!

You should do what makes you happy and maybe you should consider shadowing a PA/MD/NP before you officially decide. The value of money varies from person to person but I can tell you it's not everything. If vet school would require you to go into substantial debt and you would have a hard time making ends meet then yes, maybe a different career is better for you. I personally would make more money in the long run if I stay in my current career but my best day here is worse than my worst day at the vet hospital. I can't imagine spending the next 40+ years doing something I rarely enjoy. It's a very personal decision that no one can make for you.

 

[WillowLeaf]

I agree with EngrSC that it's a good idea to shadow and get some experience in human medicine before making that decision. Luckily, quite a few prerequisites are similar between pre-vet and pre-med (I think), so you can probably take more time to get more experience and decide. You're right that the debt is pretty high compared to income for vets, and I think you have to really want to be a vet in order to be happy with that career choice. If you would be just as satisfied with human medicine, why not get paid more for what you do?

 

[superpom_7]

Hi, I am about to go into my second year at University of California, San Diego. I have a GPA of 3.56 so far. I originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but recently I came to realize the reality of income and debt. It seems like that veterinarians have to put in a lot of work, effort, and owe a lot of debt, but not get a lot of salary in return as compared to other jobs such as MD. I have been considering switching to PA, MD, or NP. Any pros and cons of any of those, or why I should stay or switch? I currently have 200 vet experience, if I do switch over, would those hours still count? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I was questioning whether or not I should pursue D.V.M or M.D myself. I'm only a Junior in HS, though. I've talked to a lot of people on here and I weighed the options and the differences, and ultimately I would be happier being a Veterinarian. Money isn't everything. But from talking to a lot of people on here as I stated before, you have to really think about it and be sure you want to bet a vet because of the debt + salary. I would be happy being a M.D, but not as happy as I would be a Vet. Every time I would just try and think about being a human doctor over an animal doctor, it didn't have an impact on me. I would always go back to Vet. I've always wanted to be a Vet. I changed my mind so many times. I wanted to be a Lawyer, I wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to be a nurse, heck, I even wanted to be a politician/legislator at some point lol. But no matter how hard I weighed other options and thought about other things I liked, Veterinarian would always come back to me.

Are you only considering switching because of the money/debt? If so, that's not really a good idea I think. Can you actually see yourself equally as happy being a human doctor/NP/PA? Why did you want to be a Vet? Why do you want to be an human doctor? I don't know much about NP's or PA's. There are pro's and con's to all of those. The con's I guess would be that it's a lot of work and required dedication (if you like challenges and hard work then it wouldn't be a con though). Have you shadowed anyone? If you haven't since you're questioning, you should really shadow someone.

I may not be able to help you as much as other people, but I try . It's ultimately up to you, and do what will make you happy.

 

[that redhead]

Hi, I am about to go into my second year at University of California, San Diego. I have a GPA of 3.56 so far. I originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but recently I came to realize the reality of income and debt. It seems like that veterinarians have to put in a lot of work, effort, and owe a lot of debt, but not get a lot of salary in return as compared to other jobs such as MD. I have been considering switching to PA, MD, or NP. Any pros and cons of any of those, or why I should stay or switch? I currently have 200 vet experience, if I do switch over, would those hours still count? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Pros of MD is that you get more money for a very similar training program. Cons are that you are obligated to continue training after the four years of med school, which can add a lot of time to your career path and delay that big paycheck. NP and PA are now essentially mini doctors and many can practice pretty much as doctors in many areas. Less time and money required for those programs, too.

My advice would be to take the time to shadow someone on the human health side of things and see how you feel about that environment. Fortunately, the pre-reqs are essentially the same for both career paths so you won't be hurting yourself by seeing what the other side has to offer. You may find that you do enjoy it as much as more as vet med, in which case I'd go that way. You may find you don't like it at all and follow vet med.

Your veterinary hours would still "count" as extra-curricular on your med school/other applications and would give you a good way to talk about why you ultimately chose human medicine (if you did).

 

[catnips]

I was questioning whether or not I should pursue D.V.M or M.D myself. I'm only a Junior in HS, though. I've talked to a lot of people on here and I weighed the options and the differences, and ultimately I would be happier being a Veterinarian. Money isn't everything. But from talking to a lot of people on here as I stated before, you have to really think about it and be sure you want to bet a vet because of the debt + salary. I would be happy being a M.D, but not as happy as I would be a Vet. Every time I would just try and think about being a human doctor over an animal doctor, it didn't have an impact on me. I would always go back to Vet. I've always wanted to be a Vet. I changed my mind so many times. I wanted to be a Lawyer, I wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to be a nurse, heck, I even wanted to be a politician/legislator at some point lol. But no matter how hard I weighed other options and thought about other things I liked, Veterinarian would always come back to me.

Are you only considering switching because of the money/debt? If so, that's not really a good idea I think. Can you actually see yourself equally as happy being a human doctor/NP/PA? Why did you want to be a Vet? Why do you want to be an human doctor? I don't know much about NP's or PA's. There are pro's and con's to all of those. The con's I guess would be that it's a lot of work and required dedication (if you like challenges and hard work then it wouldn't be a con though). Have you shadowed anyone? If you haven't since you're questioning, you should really shadow someone.

I may not be able to help you as much as other people, but I try . It's ultimately up to you, and do what will make you happy.

Wow, I was like you (as in, I changed my mind so many times but kept coming back to Veterinarian) but I did that in college, so you are in a good shape starting early. Every single thing you mentioned (lawyer, nurse, teacher, politician), I also wanted to be lol.

Each time I changed my mind, I have actually tried a new thing out, as in I did internships, other job shadowings (PT etc.) and just never got the same excitement as when I shadowed a vet. After trying many things, I am completely set in veterinary medicine and can't picture myself doing anything else (after all, I have tried, lol).

So money isn't everything even though it's important to a degree. Try the other things you want and if they grow on you, you have the option of making a better financial decision. But at the end, I believe it is very important to do something you are happy with.

 

[superpom_7]

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