what to do what to do.....

[frozen_canadian]

So here is my dilemma. I was pre-med all the way through college (now in 3rd year) but have recently thought about switching to prevet and applying there next year. My reaons are many, and i won't bore you with the details but suffice to say I think prevet is a better fit for my personality. However, money is a major issue for me. My family is very poor and they've put everything into my school and future career. They think that once i am a doctor, I will be able to help them out, which I will be more than willing to do. If i switch to prevet, they think i won't make as much money as a medical doctor, and they don't seem to care what I may actualy prefer to do. So, does anyone have real life success stories from the vet field they'd be willing to share that I can use to backup my posititon with the family. Most of the vets I know make a decent living, but not as much as the average medical doctor. I'm posting this is the DVM forum, but that doesn't get much traffic so I was wondering if anyone had the same predicament on here and what they did.
Anyway thanks in advance, i realize this may all seem a bit confusing to a lot of you.

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[RustNeverSleeps]

So here is my dilemma. I was pre-med all the way through college (now in 3rd year) but have recently thought about switching to prevet and applying there next year. My reaons are many, and i won't bore you with the details but suffice to say I think prevet is a better fit for my personality. However, money is a major issue for me. My family is very poor and they've put everything into my school and future career. They think that once i am a doctor, I will be able to help them out, which I will be more than willing to do. If i switch to prevet, they think i won't make as much money as a medical doctor, and they don't seem to care what I may actualy prefer to do. So, does anyone have real life success stories from the vet field they'd be willing to share that I can use to backup my posititon with the family. Most of the vets I know make a decent living, but not as much as the average medical doctor. I'm posting this is the DVM forum, but that doesn't get much traffic so I was wondering if anyone had the same predicament on here and what they did.
Anyway thanks in advance, i realize this may all seem a bit confusing to a lot of you.

I know several vets who make a really good living (better than a lot of doctors). If you have good business acumen, in particular, you can make a lot of money in being either a doctor or a vet.

However, I think you need to consider something a little more -- what you want. From what you write, it seems like you really want to be a vet. Something my parents tried to instill in me is that it doesn't matter how much money you make if you aren't happy. I don't know if it's true, but I've taken it to heart after all these years.

I say go with what's in your heart. You will make a good living either way (which should satisfy your family), but you should do what makes you happy.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Don't let your family dictate your future. Easier said than done, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Any professional in the health fields - physician, dentist, vet, opto, podiatrist, etc - can make a very good living if they try (at least in the U.S. - I don't know about Canada).

 

[PhotoMD]

Ditto on the other posts. You might want to consider the harm you would do to hundreds of patients because your heart's not in it.

 

[BradenDO]

Tell them you want to be a zookeeper instead, then they'll be thrilled when you switch back to pre-vet!

 

[OSUdoc08]

So here is my dilemma. I was pre-med all the way through college (now in 3rd year) but have recently thought about switching to prevet and applying there next year. My reaons are many, and i won't bore you with the details but suffice to say I think prevet is a better fit for my personality. However, money is a major issue for me. My family is very poor and they've put everything into my school and future career. They think that once i am a doctor, I will be able to help them out, which I will be more than willing to do. If i switch to prevet, they think i won't make as much money as a medical doctor, and they don't seem to care what I may actualy prefer to do. So, does anyone have real life success stories from the vet field they'd be willing to share that I can use to backup my posititon with the family. Most of the vets I know make a decent living, but not as much as the average medical doctor. I'm posting this is the DVM forum, but that doesn't get much traffic so I was wondering if anyone had the same predicament on here and what they did.
Anyway thanks in advance, i realize this may all seem a bit confusing to a lot of you.

Don't base it off of money.

Definitely don't base it off of your family.

Base it off of which you would enjoy the most.

 

[frozen_canadian]

thanks for the posts guys - guess i've got some thinking to do....

 

[madonna]

first, as others said do what you want because its for the rest of your life. but if money is the deciding factor, vets make a load of money. pets are mostly uninsured and most people will do anything to save them. maybe you can apply to both schools and once you get in you can make your decision.

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

first, as others said do what you want because its for the rest of your life. but if money is the deciding factor, vets make a load of money. pets are mostly uninsured and most people will do anything to save them. maybe you can apply to both schools and once you get in you can make your decision.

I don't know about applying to both...That seems like that would be an expensive and time-consuming way to postpone ultimately making a decision. If you would rather be something else, going to medical school is a questionable decision. It is a lot of hard work as well as incredibly expensive. Not many people fail out at my school, but as my deans noted, the people that do fail out are generally the ones that went to med school for family pressure, etc. rather than their own reasons. I am certainly not saying you'll fail out of medical school if you go, I'm just saying think about this decision carefully and do what pleases yourself, not your family.

 

[frozen_canadian]

Its surprising that everyone seems to think that vets make a lot of money - i've heard a few really big success stories but most of the data i've collected indicates starting salaries are around $50,000 and average income of an associate is about $65,000. Maybe when you own your own practice you can make the big bucks....

 

[PBMaxx]

Its surprising that everyone seems to think that vets make a lot of money - i've heard a few really big success stories but most of the data i've collected indicates starting salaries are around $50,000 and average income of an associate is about $65,000. Maybe when you own your own practice you can make the big bucks....

STOP IT WITH THE MONEY TALK ALREADY!!! If $$$ is that important, then you should scrap the idea of an MD or DVM altogether and become an investment banker where you can have all of the money you dare to get. If you choose MD over DVM for $$$ reasons, you'll be just as miserable as being an accountant, lawyer, union plumber, etc. You can make lots of money in virtually any field but can only be happy in one-- your choice seems to be made for you already-- good luck in vet school, you'll be happy there.


A poor MSI,

PBM

 

[Rendar5]

and does ur family realize that if u go to medical school, you will not have any positive income for another 10-15 years minimum? school loans, followed by years in residency in which u get a stipend not a salary. then after residency, gotta work on getting rid of debt.