Switching Area of Emphasis?

[goatvet]

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Hi All,
I know this is a "pre-vet" forum but I noticed there were some veterinary students on here and thought maybe they could answer a question for me. How common is it for veterinary students to switch their area of emphasis (ex. from large to small) after enrollment? Like, I applied as a dairy vet hopeful but one good kick from a cow and now I'm switching to kittens? 🙂 Just curious if anyone had done this and had been given a hard time by their vet school?
Thanks!

 

[nyanko]

I think it's pretty common to change your mind once you have taken some classes in vet school and gotten exposure to different fields. As long as your hypothetical person was sincerely interested in dairy med at application (with the experiences to back it up!), and weren't just saying it for a better shot at admission, I don't think anyone can fault the person for changing his or her mind.

 

[cuitlamiztli]

I agree with nyanko. There's nothing wrong with changing your mind--plenty of people do. We've been told by a number of professors that many of us will change our minds, whether we are planning to or not. One of the examples was a student who was very pro-large animal--president of a club, all LA electives, internships, tracked LA in 4th year, etc.--and ended up in a small animal practice after taking one of the required SA rotations. Or something like that.

On the flip side, there's also nothing wrong with not changing your mind. You shouldn't feel pressured to stay in an area just because you stressed it on your application, or to change your focus because many of your classmates are.

 

[goatvet]

Thanks for the advice! Wasn't trying to pull a fast one on the admin committee but just wanted to know if it was as tedious as trying to change a major in undergrad.

 

[Angelo84]

Thanks for the advice! Wasn't trying to pull a fast one on the admin committee but just wanted to know if it was as tedious as trying to change a major in undergrad.

this to some extent depends on if you go to a school that tracks. If you do it is a little bit harder to switch focus if you try to do it in your last year. That said many of the programs that track have a mixed option which is basically undecided/I want to do everything so that would be fine if you are unsure. Also even if you do track you can still change your mind post graduation you are never locked in to a field you just might have to brush up if its something you haven't kept up with.

At a school that doesn't track you can change your mind at any point.