Not sure

[Leonopteryx]

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So I'm not sure which way to go. I know I want to be in the medical field. I have thought and been leaning more towards being a veterinarian, because I love animals.
I'm a junior in high school this year. My school requires you to have a career cluster course for 3 years of your high school life and obviously mine is the medical cluster. And that's where it through me off. I have volunteered at a vet clinic when I was in 7-9th grade and I absolutely loved it. It was a great experience, considering I was allowed to do a lot of things most volunteers aren't able to do. I was able to watch surgeries, help pass instruments, create slides, put blood in a centrifuge and separate it, fold towels "the right way", put instruments in the autoclave.
Then I got to my new school and was put in my first medical class. "Health science" which gives you overview of many different careers. We would have to memorize certain terms, nothing out of the ordinary, but I enjoyed learning about the human body just as much. Though I'm not sure I learned that much. I excelled in that class like a do in all my other classes (straight A student and athlete).
My question is, which do you think is a better choice? My parents have already said "Do what makes you happy" but that doesn't work when both would make me happy. I'm not sure what I would specialize in after my bachelor's degree. I just know that I would want to. I hope I don't sound too standoff-ish.

 

[NickNaylor]

You're not even in college yet. Worry about getting into college, then worry about your future career. More than likely you're going to base your decision based on clinical experiences you get in both fields. Animal medicine and human medicine are fundamentally different careers. If you're relying on a forum to tell you which career is "better," then your research is woefully lacking.

 

[Leonopteryx]

I know that they are fundamentally different, I'm not a complete idiot. And I was asking which you thought was the better choice, just an opinion. Obviously I'm not going to take whatever is said in reply to this thread as rock hard evidence.

 

[AntiHouseMD]

You really need to try it out for yourself. We can all give you opinions (I'm personally a bigger fan of human medicine, but there are many good reasons to get into veterinary medicine as well). Try to shadow a veterinarian and a physician and see which one fits you better, and I would recommend you do this while in college. Both types of medicine, from a high school junior's viewpoint (not completely informed), is that there isn't much of a difference in terms of hours, salary, etc. It really comes down to what you're more interested in.

More importantly, don't worry about it now. You're in high school. You don't need to decide now what you want to do (I entered high school wanting to become a sportswriter; now I'm looking to become a pediatrician). Enjoy your time now, and don't feel the need to make a decision now.

Good luck with everything!

 

[Doxorubicin]

I know that they are fundamentally different, I'm not a complete idiot. And I was asking which you thought was the better choice, just an opinion. Obviously I'm not going to take whatever is said in reply to this thread as rock hard evidence.

First of all, welcome to SDN.

Nick was merely offering you some advice based off of many peoples' experiences. There's no reason to come off as rude.

Anyhow, I've been in the same situation as you; for a while, I wanted to be a veterinarian and then I'd want to be a doctor... then a vet... then a doctor.

After shadowing, I've found there to be significant differences in each profession. The issue is finding the one where the positives and negatives balance just right for you.

Among the things I disliked about veterinary medicine, the owners were the most infuriating. They want pets -- otherwise they wouldn't be at the clinic to begin with, right? But they whine and moan about the littlest things. $8.00 for some tramadol because your dog has terminal lymphoma? Complain that it isn't cheaper. $100 extra at your clinic for a spay (as opposed to the one down the road for $150) because the vet wants to run blood chemistry, have IV access, and administer pain control? Complain that you're robbing them blind and the vet down the road is much more affordable for the "quality" of care.

Teeth falling out because of periodontal disease? Eh, it's ok. Let their gums bleed. It'll all fix itself, right?

If you can get over the owners and the dramatic pay difference (average ~90k +/- for an associate vet; ~160k +/- for a human family doctor; can be much higher for specialists) for a similar debt load, I think veterinary medicine would be a fantastic option for me. As a vet, you can really practice the full gamut of medicine; you can be the cardiologist, anesthesiologist, general surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, "plastic surgeon," neurosurgeon, pathologist, OB-GYN, ENT, dermatologist, physical therapist, ER doctor, radiologist... whatever you'd like. I feel that as far as human medicine goes, you've gotta limit yourself to a single specialty. For some, this is a plus, for some, a minus.

In human hospitals, I feel like diagnostic capability is much greater, with an entire pathology lab and imaging modalities available. In a veterinary hospital, most places have a lab, but only an x-ray. Very, very few have CT and MRI machines, which are invaluable in human diagnostics.

As far as hours go, it's entirely dependent on the vet or doctor. It's pretty much a wash if you take ER call as a vet, but from my [limited] experience, there are plenty vets who work 40-45 hour work weeks. Doctors, on average, work more hours a week than that.

Educationally, a doctor will spend a longer time training, as an internship is required to practice. The vast, vast, vast majority of doctors complete residency. Most vets haven't undergone an internship/residency, with about half going on to complete a 1 year intership after vet school these days.

Try to get a shadowing gig at a doctor's office and see the difference.

While on paper, the careers may seem alike, I feel that in practice, they're completely different. Just keep an open mind and explore. This isn't subtle -- at least not in my experience.

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