Unsatisfied Vet

[shocker682]

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Hey all,

I'm a vet student currently, and have become very disillusioned with my chosen profession. Every day I get up and feel as though I want more from my career. I love medicine with a passion, but recently I have discovered that my preferred patient is not animals. I still have a great fondness for all god's creatures, but I have the sinking feeling that this love will not transcend the limitations of veterinary medicine (i.e. economics, healthy euthanasia, extreme animal wastage, patients trying to kill me, etc...). I once had a great passion for working with the animals, but now I feel myself being increasingly drawn towards the clients and their well-being. This makes me feel like an outsider, especially when compared to the rest of my class.

I've worked extensively with animals and vets, and before I started school, I fully thought that veterinary medicine was the career for me.

I've always had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that Human medicine was the choice for me, but I chose to ignore it for what I thought was the right "fit" for me. I'm really just posting this message in search of advice. I'm sure others (prob everyone reading this board) have found themselves in this situation---how did you guys deal with it (possible career change)? what are your stories, and how did you realize that medical school was the choice for you? Any stories would be awesome, as I'm feeling like a fraud right now.

take care all!

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hey all,

I'm a vet student currently, and have become very disillusioned with my chosen profession. Every day I get up and feel as though I want more from my career. I love medicine with a passion, but recently I have discovered that my preferred patient is not animals. I still have a great fondness for all god's creatures, but I have the sinking feeling that this love will not transcend the limitations of veterinary medicine (i.e. economics, healthy euthanasia, extreme animal wastage, patients trying to kill me, etc...). I once had a great passion for working with the animals, but now I feel myself being increasingly drawn towards the clients and their well-being. This makes me feel like an outsider, especially when compared to the rest of my class.

I've worked extensively with animals and vets, and before I started school, I fully thought that veterinary medicine was the career for me.

I've always had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that Human medicine was the choice for me, but I chose to ignore it for what I thought was the right "fit" for me. I'm really just posting this message in search of advice. I'm sure others (prob everyone reading this board) have found themselves in this situation---how did you guys deal with it (possible career change)? what are your stories, and how did you realize that medical school was the choice for you? Any stories would be awesome, as I'm feeling like a fraud right now.

take care all!

Your thoughts are STRIKINGLY similar to a DVM friend of mine. In fact, he could have pretty much written this! He, too, had severe doubts about vet med from year 1 and he enjoyed interacting with the owners more, urging him to seriously consider human medicine but he didn't think he would be admitted. After thinking long and hard, he finished his DVM but was still totally unsatisfied by the practice of vet medicine. He ended up going into vet path so he could get his PhD. He now has his own basic science lab. Figure out what you really want...then go get it! Good luck.
P.S. My friend is also from Canada. Striking, I tell you....... 🙂

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

I propose a compromise: become a chimp vet!

Have you lost your sense of value in animal life? I suspect that this could happen with human pts, too, especially during residency. What humans lack in biting they can make up for in b$tch^ng. And they know how to activate your pager. Maybe the grass isn't so green on the human side of medicine . . .

So seriously, get down with the chimps!

 

[benelswick]

I can relate to the evolutiuon of your interests. I started out in my late twenties with the goal of becoming a paramedic, then decided i liked acedemics and changed to pre-nursing....then decided that relative to my classmates i REALLY liked to study and as I was working in an E.D. i saw what I really wanted to do--be a physician.

I think you should go for human medicine, without regret or need for justification, besides, hey that's what I'm interested in doing.--Ben.

 

[chirodoc]

There are other DVM's who couldn't decide to practice either...

Dr. Giggleman has been a licensed veterinarian since 1981 and first joined Parker College in 1984 as Dean of Student Affairs and has taught course in systemic anatomy and pharmacology/toxicology. He became Dean of Academic Affairs in 2000. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A& M University as well as a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Science and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science.

He taught my pharm/tox class in "Chiropractic College"...I'm sure he's knowledgeable but it's hardly something I would tell any PA/Med school admissions dept. rep. 🙄 But he is banking some easy coin.

Follow your heart but decide if "practicing" is what you want to do b/c as others have said you can have other career avenues as a vet w/o dealing directly with animal patients/ethical issues. Otherwise, your probably going to find yourself in my boat a licensed practioner of something you don't want to practice and scouring these boards trying to figure out a way in medicine (the human kind)! 😉

Good luck.

 

[chris03333]

Hey all,

I'm a vet student currently, and have become very disillusioned with my chosen profession. Every day I get up and feel as though I want more from my career. I love medicine with a passion, but recently I have discovered that my preferred patient is not animals. I still have a great fondness for all god's creatures, but I have the sinking feeling that this love will not transcend the limitations of veterinary medicine (i.e. economics, healthy euthanasia, extreme animal wastage, patients trying to kill me, etc...). I once had a great passion for working with the animals, but now I feel myself being increasingly drawn towards the clients and their well-being. This makes me feel like an outsider, especially when compared to the rest of my class.

I've worked extensively with animals and vets, and before I started school, I fully thought that veterinary medicine was the career for me.

I've always had this little voice in the back of my head telling me that Human medicine was the choice for me, but I chose to ignore it for what I thought was the right "fit" for me. I'm really just posting this message in search of advice. I'm sure others (prob everyone reading this board) have found themselves in this situation---how did you guys deal with it (possible career change)? what are your stories, and how did you realize that medical school was the choice for you? Any stories would be awesome, as I'm feeling like a fraud right now.

take care all!

Fellow vet student here. A few thoughts...What year are you in vet school? Have you been able to explore many different areas of vet med? Oh and comming from someone who works with chimps they are nothing like humans (working with them that is). Many of us go through the same concerns as you do so you do not have to feel like a fraud! Sit back and think why you made your decision to go to vet school in the first place. Are these reasons valid for you now? Why does human med seem like the right direction for you now? If you are truely passionate about getting into human medicine, why not start application process and see what you need to do. Likely you have the ability to get into a med school if you are in vet school, I am not sure if it would be held against you if you left vet school though. If you are close to finishing your DVM, why not finish it and then go on to med school if that is what you truely desire. There are many options out there for you. Good luck whatever you decide. 🙂

Chris

 

[medicomel]

what if you continued, but did comparative medicine? (i.e., work in an academic environment)

 

[shocker682]

Thanks to all that replied!

Been doing some serious soul searching, chatting with profs etc... I've come to a very sure conclusion...That I will be spending some more time in school following the DVM degree--Pathology, residency, comparative meds, mabe even med school if I REALLY feel the desire when I finish--Just boils down to the fact that Clinical vet med isn't for everyone, and the only sure fired way to find that out is to practice for a while. I've chatted with vets that had a TONNE of vet experience before they started school, graduated, practiced for a year and were EXTREMELY dissatisfied--some stayed in practice, some wend to do post-grad work, some went to law school---They've said to me that you never really know until it's YOU being the vet. Food for thought I guess.

Anyways, thanks to all that replied--some awesome responses!