success story

[frozen_canadian]

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I was talking yesterday to a vet who owns her own practice, and get this, she grossed over a million bucks last year, and took home $350,000 after expenses. She admitted she is a workaholic, but still its nice to see a financial success story in vet med. Take that dentists/doctors/pharmacists who flame us over our low paying profession. Anyone else know of any other situations like this? 🙂 🙂

 

[youthman]

I was talking yesterday to a vet who owns her own practice, and get this, she grossed over a million bucks last year, and took home $350,000 after expenses. She admitted she is a workaholic, but still its nice to see a financial success story in vet med. Take that dentists/doctors/pharmacists who flame us over our low paying profession. Anyone else know of any other situations like this? 🙂 🙂

Yes, I think if you look into some of the small, one vet clinics in metropolitan areas, you will be surprised at how much the vets make. Think about it, if you can average $3K/day, that's over a million/year. In the city, that is not even hard to do. Just don't turn away every surgery that's not a spay/neuter.
👍

 

[aubieRx]

the vet i shadowed has his own practice. while talking with him I assumed that vets didnt make more than pharmacists but he said he makes way more than waht a typical pharmacist makes and that he knows some vets who have more money than they know what to do with....millions

this surprised me because i always had this idea that vets did ok but nothing fantastic.

he told me that when vets start out they often end up working in someone else's practice for less but that can easily change whereas a pharmacists starts out high but is typically capped in what he can earn.

now my interest in vet medicine doesnt have a whole lot do to with money. If i apply it wont be to "get rich quick". BUt its comforting to know i have the prereqs to enter a four year degree program that can be very finanically rewarding later on down the road.

im in no hurry to jump into vet school though until i am very sure its what i want. pharmacy school...i jumped in and got accepted reflexively without having that much passion for it. im not going to get accepted to every professional school out there only to realize later that its not for me.

anyway...just thought it was interesting how well some vets do for themselves.

 

[Sidney]

That's excellent! They're always warning us that we wouldn't make any money - but I'm not in it to become rich, at any rate. I'll settle for comfortable. 😉

 

[aubieRx]

yeah the only money i want is the amount of money required to separate yourself from the losers. 50,000 will be more than enough.

if i end up with more in the end, great

but tons of money is less important than many things

 

[youthman]

The younger generation of vets needs to stop setting their goals so low, and help change the direction of vet med. It's important to not be in it for the money, and to realize that you can't expect to make as much as someone who actually treats humans, but at the same time I hope the future for veterinary medicine shows a strong increase in average income. They truly deserve more than what they make (most of them). It's great to say 50K is more than enough, but what does that do for the field as a whole? I mean vets go through the same intense schooling and pay the same amount of money as MD's, but you surely don't hear as many of them saying 50K is more than enough! What about dentists? Not trying to criticize you aubieRx, I think many hopeful vets and vet students probably say the same thing. Realistically though 50K is far from enough. Do you realize how little schooling it takes to go out and make 50K? You'll be making less than a pharmacist, less than an engineer, less than a computer tech, graphic designer, Xerox salesman, etc... A vet should make at least twice as much as that. Maybe not right away, but somewhere down the line for sure.

 

[aubieRx]

if you think money is not important to me you are very wrong 😛 hehehe. its very important. I love money and I think that any one who goes through four years of professional school and is competent at the end deserves to earn a padded salary. however happiness is also important. People want more money to chase happiness with, but if you are miserable at your job then the money wont do as much good. That is all I was hinting at.nothing to do with how I feel about what kind of salary a vet deserves.

anyway that is why i gave up Rx school. I had visions of me with a BMW yet perfectly miserable with my job

I don't know that much about the whole shebang but that vet I shadowed had reason to state that some vets do better than human doctors can. In fact he said he does much better than a pharmacist with his small animal clinic. I guess it just takes a bit of "pushing your way thru the crowd" to get to that point though. so much of life is competition.

as far as graphic designers...I doubt that many of them make over 50k. ( I always thought "art" majors were peons when they got out unless they had lots of talent and good networking skills.) Same thing with xerox salesmen unless they are dem' fine salesmen.

 

[HopefulUGACVM]

Good point youthman! I'm not in it for the money, but vetmed is a business and people like to crap on it (ie: not pay...forget their checkbook..."do whatever it takes doc" and then "oh yeah I just lost my job have 8 kids and my wife left me" after services have been rendered).

I think the big thing is that there is no insurance for vets. Insurance does not always garauntee an MD is going to be paid, but for the most part, they can make more for their services because people only have to pay a small % of actual services.

FYI- My boyfriend who is fighting for his HS diploma (long story, but he doesn't have one, but should) and no college degree makes 50k. Hes 23. I agree that vets should make more than someone who did not have to go through all the time and money invested. BUT if he loses his job is there someone out there who would hire him at 50k? probably not. At least with a DVM or equivalent you can always find another job somewhere.

 

[youthman]

as far as graphic designers...I doubt that many of them make over 50k. ( I always thought "art" majors were peons when they got out unless they had lots of talent and good networking skills.) Same thing with xerox salesmen unless they are dem' fine salesmen.

Ha ha!! Yeah lots of art majors end up broke but some find happiness in other ways. I can tell you though that 50K is mediocre for a graphic designer, unless they are just starting out. Having been in the graphic design/printing business for too long I can also tell you that xerox salesman make a whole lot of money off professional equipment (and service contracts). I agree with you that your salary alone won't make you happy, you have to love your job. I don't see why anyone would go into vet med just for money, better to go into dentistry, now those guys know how to run a business!

 

[aubieRx]

are you a veterinarian?

personally....i've never understood how people can be dentists and look into someone's mouth all day long. what is the avg. dental salary? it must be pretty high.......... I suppose i share similar feelings about protctology and gyneocology. Now those careers have to just be for the money.....