I must admit a lot of thoughts were made around the process of becoming a vet. Making sure this is the right choice, finding the right school and for the right reasons, wondering how life would look like in uni and what kind of life I would be able to live.
There are a few things that I think are worth knowing before going into vetmed; please read the following list and let me know in the comments if these were things you had considered or not. I will start with some negative ones before I end it with some positive surprises.
1. Suicide rates
Did you know veterinarians had one of the highest suicide rates of any profession? I surely did not! Imagine people who are getting to snuggle puppies and kittens everyday would have such a rough time overall? I guess in fact it’s not actually what it looks like - add loads of student debts, daily euthanasias, difficult owners and a high work demand on top of it. It’s an epidemic, and cases seem to increase. According to a CDC study, nearly 400 veterinarians died by suicide between 1979 and 2015. My hope is that now that the numbers are out in the open - we’re getting better at recognizing burnout, and increasing the life quality of the general vet. Mental health offers, decreased workload, firing clients, proper payments and actual lunch breaks would probably make such a difference, imo.
2. Vet work vs nursing
I guess before I started vet school my thoughts were that the vet would care for the animal and the nurses would clean the poo. I could not be further from reality. Especially after working at a few big hospitals, I got a completely new picture of how it actually looks like at most big clinics. It is actually the nurse that takes care of and handles the animal (for the most part), while the veterinarian's main tasks will be talking to the owner, writing on the computer and taking calls. Of course this is not the case at every clinic, but I had to stop and question myself a few times once I realized this. I would recommend shadowing a vet at a few clinics before taking the decision to go study it. In fact, there’s not only nurses, but also techs/assistants depending on the size of the clinic/what country you practice in. A lot of roles need to be filled for the clinic to go around.
3. Low payments
Okay, it is a bit of a lie. I did know in advance that vets are not the best paid, and that being a human doctor does pay a whole lot better. But of course that was not going to stop me from following my dream. In most countries, being a vet is not a very lucrative profession. In my country - it pays as good as a school teacher. It is an expensive and very difficult degree to obtain - and the salary does definitely not match the debts and the difficulty level. That being said, it is not the worst paid job either, and it is always possible to specialize or find a better paying job within the profession. I guess my point here is; your wealth is determined by the work you are willing to put in after vet school.
4. Independent learning
I asked a few students what they wish they knew before starting vet school - and this point was mentioned by a few. I guess none of us really understood when starting the degree - how much independent work you would have to put in if you actually want to become a good vet. Uni serves you most of the info - the framework - the theory. But to become good at things you need to do it several times, and you need to see a lot of different stuff. If you want to have a chance to feel ready by the time you graduate - you are going to have to spend your holidays and free time searching for different learning opportunities, work shadowing and externships.
5. “Only do it if you’re sure about it”
The dropout rates in vet school are variable, but we generally lose a few students every year. Majority of the students I see that drop out or have to redo a year, are the ones that answered “I don’t know” when we asked them at the beginning of first year why they wanted to become a vet. It’s the ones that weren't sure in the first place why or if they actually wanted to become a vet. The ones that get through vet school are the most determined ones, the ones that are absolutely sure that vet is what they want to be. It takes a lot of motivation and determination to get through all the years of studying, challenges and hard work. Make sure you are absolutely sure, ready and motivated before you dive into the challenge of starting vet school!
6. The variety of work opportunities
When we hear “vet” I guess our first thought is a small animal vet working with cats and dogs. But in reality there are so many different things you can do with this degree. You are not limited to small animals, but can choose to work with exotics, horses in the stables, wildlife out in the bush, fish in the sea, or farm animals out on the big farms. The lifestyle of all these different areas are completely different. But you can also work with food security, disease control, do research, lab work, computer work, and much more! Even if you pick one area and get tired of it, you can always switch to something else - not being limited to this one thing for the rest of your life. In this way you can really choose the environment and how your everyday is going to look like. Not only can you choose your days in this way, but you can also choose to specialize your knowledge into one specific area, and become very good at one specific thing. There’s a world of opportunity within this profession!
7. The future isn’t dark
I don’t know other people's thoughts before starting vet school but my mind after highschool was quite dark. I had no idea what my future was going to look like, I barely had any big hopes and dreams for the future other than making it through vet school. Student life turned out better than I could ever have imagined; and I have traveled the world, hit many milestones and accomplished so much more than what I thought was possible as a student. Starting vet school does not mean the end of your hobbies, or your life in general. You will meet new people, try new things, and find new interests. Life has just begun, and you have an adventure ahead!
8. “Passion people”
When you narrow an interest down - that’s when you get to meet the most passionate people you’ll ever meet. You will find them as you travel, bump into specialists or just seeing some of our teachers in general. People who are so passionate about what they do, it couldn’t possibly not affect you in a good way. This is the kind of influence and energy you want in your life! There’s a lot of these “passion people” in vetmed. And these are the people who will lit the fire inside you!
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