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Hi All!
Im looking for insight and advice on studying nursing and working in the field as a stepping stone to get to where I ultimately want to be, a DVM.
Im 25 years old and have a BSc in Biology, but my interests lie with medical sciences and helping people. Im into animals too and have a lot of vet experience, so ideally I want to be in the veterinary setting, working as a DVM. I am not interested in becoming a human doctor, or a veterinary nurse/technician. Oddly enough its nursing and DVM that are most appealing to me!
Anyways after I graduated I came to Australia and have completely fallen in love with the country. I want to study here, and live here after my studies. Studying DVM is $46 000 tuition alone per year for 5 years, which is daunting- also considering my loan options. I am a Canadian citizen, so our loans work a bit different then US loans- but as a rough estimate I can get $10 500 from government loans per year, and $10 000 in bank loans from individual banks each year. That just doesnt cut it.
Looking in to getting permanent residency status (which leads to citizenship) in Australia, nursing is one of the jobs on their skilled migrants list. Is it wise to study nursing for 2.5 years and try to get permanent residency all the while spending $60 000 on tuition alone? I would be able to work in the field, earn decent pay (on figures alone- off topic of nurses being under paid for the work they do) and if everything goes as planned I can get into vet school and also have a decent paying job to fund my studies. As a permanent resident, Id have access to health care, citizen tuition fees, and student loans.
Am I just digging a bigger hole and creating more work for myself?
As for studying in Canada, Ive already applied once to my home vet school and was rejected. Im only applicable to attend one vet school out of the 5 in Canada, and in the USA Id be considered international. I know what I have to do to get into my home vet school, but I feel like Id be re-taking undergrad classes over again, re-writing the dreaded MCAT, etc I feel like I would just be putting all my eggs into one basket.
By taking nursing, I could at least start working as a young professional, and my education would be useful towards pretty much landing me a job anywhere in Australia and basically anywhere in the world soon after I graduate.
Studying nursing in Australia doesnt guarantee that Ill get residency- but nothing in life is really guaranteed. So is it worth steering my life in a completely different direction to try and get the best of both worlds? My other option right now would be to study another program at my chosen Australian uni, and try and get into vet school after first year. But then I still run into the issue of massive tuition fees.
I'm still considering this route as a possible option, so I haven't done any shadowing or volunteering at any hospitals as of yet. I have worked as a vet assistant at a 24 h/specialty animal hospital, so I am familiar with working long hard hours, over night, all day, etc., needles, catheters... I have no issues with bodily fluids and can emotionally deal with death- in animas. I don't have issues with some bodily fluids from humans (funny how that works!! Its all the same, essentially!), and I haven't really dealt with many deaths in humans- so I know nursing will really test my emotional limits. But, I love a challenge [most of the time! 😉]. So I know working as a vet assistant doesn't compare to nursing, but it does give me a minimal idea of what to expect.
On a side note, my sister is a RN and has been practicing for I think 15 or 16 years. A few years ago I considered going into nursing, and she strongly advised against it. Ive done some searching on SDN and many people advise against it. My goal is to use nursing as a pathway to DVM, but also have it as a back up career to fall back on should my plans to further study fall through.
I know Im the one that has to make the decision, but Im just looking for some outside input as to if Im being too unrealistic here.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Im looking for insight and advice on studying nursing and working in the field as a stepping stone to get to where I ultimately want to be, a DVM.
Im 25 years old and have a BSc in Biology, but my interests lie with medical sciences and helping people. Im into animals too and have a lot of vet experience, so ideally I want to be in the veterinary setting, working as a DVM. I am not interested in becoming a human doctor, or a veterinary nurse/technician. Oddly enough its nursing and DVM that are most appealing to me!
Anyways after I graduated I came to Australia and have completely fallen in love with the country. I want to study here, and live here after my studies. Studying DVM is $46 000 tuition alone per year for 5 years, which is daunting- also considering my loan options. I am a Canadian citizen, so our loans work a bit different then US loans- but as a rough estimate I can get $10 500 from government loans per year, and $10 000 in bank loans from individual banks each year. That just doesnt cut it.
Looking in to getting permanent residency status (which leads to citizenship) in Australia, nursing is one of the jobs on their skilled migrants list. Is it wise to study nursing for 2.5 years and try to get permanent residency all the while spending $60 000 on tuition alone? I would be able to work in the field, earn decent pay (on figures alone- off topic of nurses being under paid for the work they do) and if everything goes as planned I can get into vet school and also have a decent paying job to fund my studies. As a permanent resident, Id have access to health care, citizen tuition fees, and student loans.
Am I just digging a bigger hole and creating more work for myself?
As for studying in Canada, Ive already applied once to my home vet school and was rejected. Im only applicable to attend one vet school out of the 5 in Canada, and in the USA Id be considered international. I know what I have to do to get into my home vet school, but I feel like Id be re-taking undergrad classes over again, re-writing the dreaded MCAT, etc I feel like I would just be putting all my eggs into one basket.
By taking nursing, I could at least start working as a young professional, and my education would be useful towards pretty much landing me a job anywhere in Australia and basically anywhere in the world soon after I graduate.
Studying nursing in Australia doesnt guarantee that Ill get residency- but nothing in life is really guaranteed. So is it worth steering my life in a completely different direction to try and get the best of both worlds? My other option right now would be to study another program at my chosen Australian uni, and try and get into vet school after first year. But then I still run into the issue of massive tuition fees.
I'm still considering this route as a possible option, so I haven't done any shadowing or volunteering at any hospitals as of yet. I have worked as a vet assistant at a 24 h/specialty animal hospital, so I am familiar with working long hard hours, over night, all day, etc., needles, catheters... I have no issues with bodily fluids and can emotionally deal with death- in animas. I don't have issues with some bodily fluids from humans (funny how that works!! Its all the same, essentially!), and I haven't really dealt with many deaths in humans- so I know nursing will really test my emotional limits. But, I love a challenge [most of the time! 😉]. So I know working as a vet assistant doesn't compare to nursing, but it does give me a minimal idea of what to expect.
On a side note, my sister is a RN and has been practicing for I think 15 or 16 years. A few years ago I considered going into nursing, and she strongly advised against it. Ive done some searching on SDN and many people advise against it. My goal is to use nursing as a pathway to DVM, but also have it as a back up career to fall back on should my plans to further study fall through.
I know Im the one that has to make the decision, but Im just looking for some outside input as to if Im being too unrealistic here.
Thanks for reading 🙂
