So, I'm going to be a ________ vet!

[DocDVMD]

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This link has some good info about daily life as a lab animal vet. Scroll down a bit to find the links.

http://www.aclam.org/pathways/index.html

 

[HeartSong]

Don't worry too much about knowing what you want to do. Many people graduate and still don't really know what they want to do. I've heard of several vets that change their focus after a few years of working.

I tend to lean toward the lowest paying fields. Behavior and shelter medicine. I love the idea of taking an animal that everyone is just about to give up on and turn them around into a great pet. I want to do a lot of low cost spay and neuters. I also really love public speaking and there's quite a bit of opportunity for that in behavior. I'm not absolutely sure if I want to be boarded in behavior or not, but hopefully my preceptorships will help me to decide if it's worth doing a residency.

The more I go through vet school, the more I find out what I don't want to do. Eyes freak me out - not an ophthalmologist. Teeth are gross - not a dentist. Don't like a lot of stress, critical patients, hysterical clients - so yeah that crosses off a lot of areas there. Can't interpret rads or echos worth anything. Path doesn't really interest me, doesn't bother me too much but ... they're either already dead or you're looking through a microscope. Surgery is the only thing that surprised me, I really like it but I think I'm much more into routine surgeries than major or emergency. I wouldn't mind doing GP routine work as long as I could also get some cool behavior cases thrown in. I would work on any animal as long as they are companion, work or small production especially for behavior.

 

[StillDreaming]

I am leaning towards Large Animal Surgery.

I got interested in general equine medicine when i started volunteering at a local barn in my spare time during high school (prior to this i wanted to go into marine biology research, not vet med). I always loved talking to the vet and very much enjoyed when he came out to care for the horses (when they were sick//injured as well as for general check up). I volunteered my senior year in a small animal practice and loved it, but wasn't interested in pursuing small animal

I chose an undergrad where there was a connected vet school so i could continue my exposure to the field. I got a job in a local equine hospital where i get a variety of exposure to cases, both medicine and surgery. Working at this hospital, I found that i love the surgery aspect (lameness especially) and am more drawn to it that the medicine side. I have also been able to see farm animal surgeries (few and far between though) which has made me want to do general large animal surgery and not specifically equine surgery. I'll probably do an internship in equine medicine and surgery and then a residency in large animal surgery and become a board certified surgeon.

WE'll see... i may change my mind once i get in there and start studying and clinicals, but that's what i am most drawn to right now.

 

[supermouse786]

I want to be a zoo vet! I would love to work specifically with exotic cats that are rescued from the pet trade or on a wildlife reserve.

As cool as that is.. its so hard to find a position

 

[Ben and Me]

I see myself going in 1 of a few different directions...

I always figured I'd practice equine medicine. I'm not sure if I want to do general practice though or to do a residency in Internal Med. One of the vets I work with has said that the internal med specialty is pretty tough to find employment in--you're pretty much stuck working for one of a very few vet schools or big practices (IE Rood and Riddle). He has said that lots of vets end up back in private general practice, even with an IM speciality, just because they can't find work. There is a lot about Internal Medicine that appeals to me though, and I don't think I'd mind sacrificing pay for better hours, etc. OTOH, part of me wants to be a part-owner of a practice, so who knows. 😀

And, in a totally different direction...the small animal oncology cases are the ones I find most interesting at work (ie I read the reports sent back from the speciality referral hospitals). Cancer is always something that I've been pretty interested in.

I also really liked the few hours I spent out at a dairy doing AI. According to the vet I was with, you can make an entire career out of doing dairy AI...but I think that might get a bit repetitive. 😀

 

[SvartaRosa]

As cool as that is.. its so hard to find a position

Really? Do you mean as a zoo vet or specifically a felidae vet?

 

[sumstorm]

Really? Do you mean as a zoo vet or specifically a felidae vet?

My guess is both! I know curator positions were very limited in zoos and wildlife parks, and there are more curator positions than vet positions.

 

[SvartaRosa]

My guess is both! I know curator positions were very limited in zoos and wildlife parks, and there are more curator positions than vet positions.

Wow, to be honest I had not even thought about that aspect since I still have so far to go before I am trying to get a position. Thank you for the info, though!

 

[incendium04]

The only specialty that I can think of doing is emergency/critical care. I work as a tech now for an emergency hospital that also sees GP stuff... we have our regular clientele for vx, spay/neuters, physical exams but are also open at night for the cool emergencies. As the only emergency hospital for 1.5 hr's drive, we get a good amount of stuff! This would be ideal for me. I like playing with the healthy puppies and kittens, performing surgeries, and saving the lives of sick animals. 🙂 Currently my idea is to get an internship in emergency/CC and decide whether I can afford to do a residency (and whether I want to stick myself only in emergency/CC for the rest of my life!) after that. Being stuck in a metropolitan area for my forseeable career is not what I really want.

 

[sumstorm]

Doing a residency doesn't mean you can't move out of that area, does it?

 

[incendium04]

No, not really. But I would hate to "waste" the 3 years of my residency (during which I received lower wages and worked my butt off) just to go back and do something entirely different. Especially since a residency would enable me to get paid better... but only if I work in the field I got the residency in (or so I think...). With emergency/CC, the places that would need/want a vet with a residency in the field would be in metropolitan areas. Does that make sense?

 

[VeganSoprano]

Right now I'm strongly leaning toward small animal E/CC. It's what I do now as a tech and I love it. My favorite cases are the critically ill internal medicine patients, but the ideanof managing acute crises is more appealing than managing the long-term care of a patient.

I also have a passion for high-volume spay/neuter, but I suspect I'll be doing that as a volunteer a few days a month.

I know I'm definitely not interested in general practice, exotics, large animals, ophthamology, dentistry, dermatology, or orthopedics.

I've by no means decided about doing a residency. It's something I'd love to do but I'd be 39 or 40 by the time I completed one. So we'll see.

 

[IvyLynx]

The more I go through vet school, the more I find out what I don't want to do. Eyes freak me out - not an ophthalmologist..

Me too! Eye stuff just creeps me out.

 

[katryn]

I'm strongly leaning towards GP (if I can ever make it in, of course). I've found that all types of medicine have the potential to fascinate me; I love reading lab and referral reports. But it's the long standing client relationships, client education, and client counceling that really makes me love the field. I could actually see myself doing GP a few days a week and offering grief counceling/treatment counceling a day or two a week.