Hi all aspiring veterinarians! Just wanted to run a little survey to see what kind of medicine everyone wants to pursue. I myself am most interested in avian/herp, zoological, and conservation medicine (not necessarily in that order). Definitely want to board certify in avian medicine though !
I can really see myself in some kind of feline specialty, but I think I would really enjoy clinical pathology as well. Time will tell!
Equine, Wildlife/Conservation, and International. Pretty much in that order, all for very different reasons.
Small animal, possibly oncology or immunology. I have a feeling that i won't be specializing. But dogs are my primary interest. ETA: I also happen to have an interest in sighthounds and treating them and their sensitivities in particular.
Small animal with a focus (or possibly a specialty) in feline medicine. I'd also like to do research to further advances in geriatric feline care.
Equine, thinking right now that I'd like to specialize in something but I don't know what. I'm also interested in international vet med and research (related to horses of course!)
I love dogs too much to not work with them, so it has to be companion animal medicine. I'm very interested in behavior, but now I'm leaning toward emergency medicine.
Very much interested in shelter med as well, but also looking forward to studying cardiology & parasitology. We'll see when I get there....
Lab animal or shelter medicine. I don't have any experience with public health or conservation medicine but am interested in those fields too.
I am interested in small animal practice (anything little and non avian) either general practice with a little bit of ER work and behavior or maybe specializing in internal medicine
I'm leaning towards small animal, though I'm also interested in research. I'm thinking I may want to practice for a while and then maybe (hopefully) teach vet school.
Wildlife (either zoo, rehab, or conservation), exotics, or public health. But I have all of vet school to decide on this lol. We'll see how things go.
I would like to own my own SA and exotic's clinic. I would love to have a LA side aswell, however It would have to be run by a partner. I'm far more interested in small animal than large animal. Although that may change in school... I am really interested in orthopedics and emergency surgery, though.
I'm interested in emergency, though I'd like to be a relief vet and travel from clinic to clinic. I like spontaneous things - so emergency and random travel appeal to me.
Right now I'm interested in lab animal (pleased to see other people interested as well), zoological, and companion. We'll see what happens in vet school (y'know, if I get accepted).
Primarily zoological with a fair bit of conservation medicine and/or wildlife rehabilitation mixed in
Not sure yet! Either mixed private practice (maybe specializing in...something?), lab animal, or public health. We'll see what happens!
Definitely small animal research, then moving to large/all animal regulations and use policies for preclinical research.
Pretty much exactly the same. I'm also interested in non-equine large animal, although I have very little experience - just took a class this semester dealing with swine/cattle/sheep and loved it!
definitely public health. and within that, leaning more towards small animal (stray populations), but also interested in food animals. planning on spending a couple of years doing work in developing countries.
Heh i never realized that we had such a diverse bunch here. In fact I wasn't aware that some of these are official fields. Learn something new every day...
Very cool thread!! Right now I can see myself practicing feline medicine as a board-certified feline specialist the first half of my career, and then going into teaching and research with a concentration in public health and immunology. Of course, this is before I've stepped foot in veterinary school, so all speculations are subject to change!!
hmm...so many interesting experiences, but I'd have to say zoonotics research/public health and wildlife reseearch as a second choice!
Nice to see all the feedback. I see a lot of public health interest. Although my main interests are with exotics, I like the human side to vet medicine and its power to help just as much. With that in mind I like to hope that as a vet xf I can do some kind of vaccination/deworming thing for strays and homeless people's pets. Working in a clinic has taught me vet medicine is expensive, and being out of school has taught me the "real-world" is even more expensive, so I'd like to do something to help people out, even if it is just vaccines.
I'm really interested in conservation medicine/zoo, but a lot of my experience is in the small animal area so I might end up there instead. It all depends on what happens in vet school! who knows, i might get the research bug again and stick with that!
I am interested in focusing on equine/food animal research. I think the great thing about research is that the work you do in one species (immunology, diseases, cancer etc.) can often be applied to another.
Pathologists represent! Specifically, I'd love to be involved in comparative pathology in a biomedical research setting.. but I'm only just finishing my first semester, so there's plenty of time to get interested in something completely different! Oh, and I'm already branching out and investigating opportunities in zoo path.. so you never know
Mixed. I realy, really want to go live in a rural area and help the people with their cows, cats and dogs. I'd love to trvel to the little old ladies who can bring their dog in. I'd have to get out of the office every day....
Mixed. I realy, really want to go live in a rural area and help the people with their cows, cats and dogs. I'd love to travel to the little old ladies who can't bring their dog/cat in. I'd have to get out of the office every day.... It posted twice when I edited my typos....oops !
I want to do Infectious Disease surveillance/outbreak control/public health. I interviewed with Iowa State University this weekend, and they have excellent programs in place for that and seem to be at the top of their game when it comes to infectious disease and public health.
I was into Therio a bit ago (and I kinda like Toxicology, too), but I'm moving more toward being a rural area jack of all trades, myself. After shadowing and volunteering in a rural area, it seems more like a fit for me. No, I'm not a James Herriot nut. I just don't see myself in a primarily small animal clinic, or emergency clinic.
small animal, specifically dogs, but cats are really growing on me. Think I want to specialize in oncology.
Small animal, shelter medicine, exotics and wildlife... I can see myself too specializing in felines! That could all change though... I have no large animal experience yet, so after I get some, I could easily change my mind.
Well, I have no experience with LA but I'm hoping to have an open mind about them and maybe I'll fall in love when I get experience. However, right now my interests lie more with SA, specifically sighthounds like Groominator . I posted about that a week or so ago, actually. But I also like pathology, and I find bone structure fascinating, so who knows, maybe I'll end up doing some kind of specialization along one of those lines. I'm trying to keep as open a mind as possible to discover what I truly love.
