vet to late?

[supaflyz]

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Hey guys I have a hard time deciding whether I should be a dentist or a vet. Here is the scenerio, I only have a year left before I graduated. My initial plan was getting a bachelors in biology, and a minor in psychology. However, I think I'm interested in psychology more. Also 4 of my relatives are dentist. I've visited their office since I was a child. I also kept animals since I was a child. From turtle, rabbits, birds, fish, dogs, to cats lol. Animals have always been a part of my life. However, the only school that's near me is Texas AM which is like 2 or 3 hours away from me. I really don't want to be away from my family. I've already taking the adv. biology course such as human physiology, microbiology, genetics. I don't think they will help me though if I want to be a vet since those courses deals with humans. I don't have any shadowing experience with a vet yet. My cum. gpa is 3.5 while my science gpa is a 3. I made 2 C's in physics because I hated that class. I'm 24 now do you think its to late to be a vet? Will a psychology degree even help for vet school. I took all the prereq for dental school except for orgo 1 and 2.

 

[NOPOLES]

It is never too late to follow your dream(s) and your passion.

If you are interested in Vet school, you should check the school(s) you are interested in (specially since you want to be close to your family...there are small # of vet schools around), and go from there. Look at their requirements: course pre-req, animal experience and research, and GRE. I learned different programs have slightly different requirements.

I think your interest in dentistry can help you in vet medicine when dealing with animals teeth, but not the other way around.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[bunnity]

I think you should start working or shadowing with a vet as soon as possible. You will need a least a few hundred hours of veterinary experience to be considered for vet school, and it will help you figure out if it's the right career for you.

There are a couple threads floating around on this page comparing vet medicine with human medicine (other people not sure which they want to do) that probably have information relevant to your dilemma since they have some good info about the pros and cons of being a veterinarian.

 

[sumstorm]

I strongly suggest shadowing a vet before making any decision. Enjoying caring for pets is very different, in my experience, then practicing medicine.

Also, if you really want to stay local to your family, vet school will be difficult, since there are relatively few of them.

There are ways of combining interests in dentistry and vet med, and if your interest in psychology includes ethology, that can be combined with vet med as well.

Sounds like some self examination is required!

 

[Minnerbelle]

Sounds like some self examination is required!

I second sumstorm on this one. If you are to get into and through vet school, you really really need to want it! Vet med is a very passion driven field, and serious pre-vet students are very very passionate about their potential career in vet med. If you read some of the threads on this forum, you'll see that many applicants sacrifice sooo much just for a chance at getting their DVM degree. With an applicant pool full of people who want a shot at becoming a vet more than anything else in the world AND have stellar stats, you'll have to be ready to show adcoms your genuine passion for the field in a non-generic (I've always had pets and I love animals and science) way.

Once you do figure it out though, I don't think it's ever too late to follow your passions. Sometimes it means that you'll have more obstacles along the road to start later in the game, but as long as you're able to convince adcoms that you're able to handle it AND have the passion for it at some point, you're all good. Plus, you're plenty young! You're still not even done with your undergrad! There are people here who apply well over a decade after they've graduated college.

 

[rileyroo]

I've already taking the adv. biology course such as human physiology, microbiology, genetics. I don't think they will help me though if I want to be a vet since those courses deals with humans.

not true. most schools require microbiology and highly recommend (if not require) genetics as an upper level elective. according to VMSAR, both genetics and microbiology are required for Texas A&M.

 

[Caninerepro]

You are also going to have to take at least a one semester Organic class -- about half the schools require the one semester, while the other half need the two semester series. My one semester Organic class was my primary constraint on what schools I could apply to. Also, a 3.0 science GPA is probably not going to cut it -- can you possibly bring it up to at least a 3.5?

On an aside, I worked in a clinic that had a retired human DDS come in two half-days a week and do some high-end dental surgery and such on animal patients. That may be an option for you as well. Particularly in horses and the more valuable dogs there is fairly good money in the field, almost as much as a human practitioner can make.

 

[bunnity]

On an aside, I worked in a clinic that had a retired human DDS come in two half-days a week and do some high-end dental surgery and such on animal patients. That may be an option for you as well. Particularly in horses and the more valuable dogs there is fairly good money in the field, almost as much as a human practitioner can make.

Is that legal?!

 

[david594]

Is that legal?!

They are probably just "assisting" the veterinarian managing the case. I know my personal dentist talked about going out to zoos while he was in school to work with the vet on things like root canals for the larger cats.

 

[nyanko]

I've already taking the adv. biology course such as human physiology, microbiology, genetics. I don't think they will help me though if I want to be a vet since those courses deals with humans.

That's ridiculous.

edit: Those courses would probably be worth more to you as a vet than they would as a dentist. 😉