To think it takes more than being an animal lover to be a vet?

[PinkHamster]

Okay first of all I've had very little sleep, so forgive me if that title doesn't actually make any sense .

But AIBU to think that it takes a more than simply being good with animals and liking animals to be a vet?

People tell me all the time how brilliant I am with animals and I guess that's true. I'm a bit of an animal nut tbh and animals always seem to like me. However after telling me how good I am with animals they nearly always go on to tell me that I should be a vet or ask me why I didn't become one. It's not really getting worked up about I know but I get annoyed at this because I think it takes more than that to be a vet and I don't think I'd be suited to being a vet or that I'd even make a very good one. There's also the fact that I don't want to be a vet.

For starters to do veterinary medicine at university you need Chemistry and Biology A Levels. That's the first barrier for me - Science was always my least favourite subject at school and it was always my worst subject. I was always in the bottom set for science and just about scrapped a C in GCSE double science and that was with extra help and tuition. So if I struggled with it at GCSE level that much then how would I cope with doing it at A Level?

Then there's the fact that I'm probably far too sensitive regarding animals to be working every day with sick animals, dealing with injured and abused animals and having to put them down. I appreciate that makes me sound like a wimp but that's how I feel.

Also I don't think I'm really suited to university anyway - the thought of spending three or four years studying simply fills me with dread. I know it's a bad thing to say but I think there are people who simply aren't suited to higher education and I am one of them.

Yet my mum for instance constantly tells me that I should be a vet, even after I explain why it wouldn't be a good idea, she accepts it for a little bit but then starts again the following week!

I mean, I am not crazy to think that it takes more than loving animals to be a vet, am I?

It's probably because a vet is the first thing people associate with animals. I think if you were really good with children say, you would be advised to become a teacher or a nursery nurse, childminder, social worker etc. rather than a Dr. I would have thought having a natural affinity with animals would be a good base for a career if you wanted to do something in that field, but I would think things like behaviourist, rescue centre worker, dog walker, pet sitter etc. before vet as like you say, it is very academic/science based so not everyones area of interest.

Of course it does. A hell of a lot more and they must know that too, deep down, surely?

Most people are just making idle conversation without much thought - oh animals - vet! Lack of brain engage.

Tell your mum it's annoying you as it is an unsuitable career so please stop talking about it.

Are people worrying about what you'll do? Tell them you are still thinking about it and keeping your options open, but you'll fill them in once you've made some decisions. If it's actually any of their business, of course.

Or tell them the sight of blood makes you faint. Or you watched James Herriot and you don't want to spend half your life with your arm stuck up a cow's bum.

That made no sense did it?! I am sleep deprived. Basically I think telling someone that likes animals to be a vet is like telling someone who is good with people to be a Dr. It would not be the first career to spring to mind, whereas for animals, peoples first thought is usually vet.

I think you have to be exceptionally intelligent to be a vet. Same as people that become doctors. You would need to breeze through GCSEs and A levels to be able to cope with the rigour of vet academia.

I'm with you, aside from needing the academic capability, vets have to deal with some pretty heart breaking situations that will never suit everybody. I adore animals, but will get over emotional about sad situations.

pumpkin's point is excellent - liking children wouldn't make you a shoe in for a career in child protection.

I do think a job like training police or guide dogs would be nice though.

YANBU. I wanted to be a vet for years because I love animals. But after doing work experience at a vet's and realising I didn't enjoy studying biology at all, I concluded that it wasn't for me. A love of animals wasn't enough to get me through 5 or 6 years of studying a biological science subject at uni and coping with the realities of the job. Also the competition to get on the vet uni course was fierce - only 6 unis offered the course at that time.

I think you have to be exceptionally intelligent to be a vet. Same as people that become doctors. You would need to breeze through GCSEs and A levels to be able to cope with the rigour of vet academia.

That's what I think. Even if I did want to be a vet I don't think I could do it, I don't think I'm bright enough. That's not to say I'm stupid, I'm probably reasonably bright, just not bright enough to study anything like medicine/veterinary medicine, etc.

I think that someone who is very sentimental about animals would have a very hard time as a vet. Plus you'd have to be ok with the messy jobs like anal gland squeezing!

I'd agree with you. I wanted to be a vet right up until it was time to apply to University. Had the A'level grades, had the aptitude for sciences, had work experience etc etc etc.

However, at a certain moment I realized that I would never to able to cope with operating on sick animals, or making a decision not to operate on a sick animal due to age or other confounding factors that might make operating risky or dangerous. So, I changed my mind and applied for another science based profession instead.

I have the utmost admiration for people who could do, but the reality wouldn't have been for me.

I've always wondered if there's some irony in being a vet - a job for animal lovers where you spend a considerable amount of time killing animals. Obviously it's for compassionate reasons but I suspect that doesn't make it much easier. A really tough job I reckon.

I worked with vets for a number of years and actually found a lot of them to be incredibly unsentimental about animals. Some were vets because they came from 'vet' families. Or because they got the right exam results and wanted a fairly prestigious career. Part of the training involved spending time in abattoirs. So I would say that becoming a vet doesn't always involve a love of animals in the same way that some doctors are rubbish with people. I would say that to become an excellent vet/doctor it would be good to like animals/people though!

Vet school is more competitive to get into than Medical school so your A level grades have to be top notch - A * in at least one science at A level, A s in the others.

If that's not for you - and we're talking years of studying from here - have you thought of being a veterinary nurse?

I am a vet. Regardless of all the science stuff - yes it is needed unfortunately, I think to be a good vet you need to be very unsentimental and yet empathetic.

I work in animal welfare and see some pretty awful situations that i know a lot of other people wouldn't cope with. I do my job because for me, the animals are the priority, but that often means squashing down on my own feelings and 'delivering a service' in terms of what that animal needs (often euthanasia). You also need good communication skills to be able to deal with people who may be hugely emotionally invested in their animals but financially, or psychologically unable to care for them. I've certainly had many colleagues who struggle enormously with the client-management side of the job, and with the constant stream of benign and deliberate neglect, abuse, apathy and cruelty towards animals. I have a well developed sense of black humour, which may sometimes come across as harsh, but its a necessary coping mechanism in a profession with such a high suicide rate.

I also have two rather wonderful success stories of my own asleep on the sofa right now who are a constant reminder that we can make a big difference for the individual animal.

What about being a veterinary nurse? They seem to get forgotten about and yet imo are as important as vets ..

www.rcvs.org.uk/education/i-want-to-be-a-veterinary-nurse/

SunshineAndShadows I quite agree and am in awe of you. I flatter myself that I could probably have managed the academic side of things, but no way in the world could I cope with such trauma every day.

My sister has just told me that her MIL's dog is being put down tomorrow. I am in floods of tears. Definitely not cut out for it...

Watching 'Supervet' on TV recently showed me how intelligent and highly knowledgable vets are. The vet on there was pretty much a engineer and biologist in one: he was carrying out amputations, heart ops, nerve repairs, the lot. It was amazing how intricate his work was: he was constructing metal frames around limbs and connecting all kinds of fragile bones with wires. The GPs at my surgery don't perform that kind of surgery, so I'm sure vet sciences must be harder than medicine.

I would think the perfect job for an animal lover would be a trainer or a dog groomer. You get all the cuddles and none of the heart break. :)

YANBU. I have a friend who is training to be a Vet and although I am fundamentally an animal lover (prefer them to people, am Veggie for ethical reasons blah blah blah) I could never be a Vet. Some of the placements she has done and has to do in the future, I would struggle with for ethical and emotional reasons. She did a lambing placement - very cute and all that but I couldn't do it because I'd know where those poor lambs were going to end up. Plus, to a Farmer they are nothing more than income, which wouldn't sit well with me either. Then there is the placement she has to do in a slaughterhouse - something that I would never do in a million years. I agree with SunshineAndShadows about being unsentimental but empathetic - I think that is how they are able to do the job they do. After all, it wouldn't be very professional to take your pet to the Vet to be euthanised, only to find the Vet was a blubbering wreck, would it? I think if they were you would question their ability to do their job efficiently.