AIBU to consider teaching after becoming disillusioned with veterinary work?

[Sadvetatcrossroads]

I have been a small animal vet for 20+ years and have gone as far as I feel I can with it. I am a senior vet with responsibility for other staff and many other functions related to the safe running of a practice. I am kind, experienced and efficient, but feel really disillusioned with the profession.

As individuals we are so committed to our patients and clients, we always try to find a way to make things affordable and go the extra mile (giving clients a lift home, rescuing wildlife etc) but it all just feels so hostile now. The media and even MPs talk about “extortionate” prices, as if we are literally criminals. Clients distrust our advice (the same people who will ask their GP to run bloods, automatically think we are upselling by suggesting them). People assume that a 2 hour dental procedure under anaesthetic should cost the same as 20 minutes in a dentist chair subsidised by the NHS.

And for the budget prices people want to pay, using only our crystal ball and magic wand, owners expect correct diagnoses and effective treatments, and complain when things don’t work out perfectly, or that we can’t save their fur baby who has multiple health conditions and is the equivalent of over 100 in dog years, or they were kept waiting while we dealt with an emergency walk in (no a&e to send them to). They say they want an nhs for pets but would not be happy if we left them waiting for hours to be triaged or a year for a knee op. And to be honest, I know that veterinary medicine is expensive but I don’t really know where all the money goes either (corporate), it definitely doesn’t go on payrises or bonuses for our staff.

I enjoy teaching vet students, I can stand on my feet dealing with awkward people and explaining complicated things for 9 hour days. I have a very strong bladder and like teenagers.

Aibu to think about jacking it in and training to be a teacher?

@Sadvetatcrossroads no your PGCE will teach you to teach, not teach you your subject.

I retrained as a secondary teacher in my early 40s and did some night school and other stuff to get up to speed or they wouldn’t have taken me on.

Do you think you would love your subject? You really need to in secondary. I no longer teach in school but have kept going with my subject, which I am thankful I rediscovered my love for.

edit typos

Yes that's awful, but you can't expect vets to give free treatment because of bad circumstances any more than you would expect a hairdresser to do a free cut and colour for someone whose DH had left them. If you can't afford it you have to find someone who can. Your aunt most likely would have qualified for PDSA treatment, which is only emergency care AFAIK but probably means that those who have fallen into bad times can hold onto their pets.

On that note, does a PDSA vet get paid less @Sadvetatcrossroads?

Its often much more than 50 pounds depends on where you live. Some operations etc are 10 thousand .
I too love vets but soneome needs to give the public a breakdown.
Eg a local cafe broke down on face book how much they actually profit from selling a latte for example.
Its all the misinfornation and the lack of transparency from the big chains causing the issues

I don’t blame you, I think vets terms and conditions are pretty crap for their high skill levels. People nowadays are generally moany entitled bastards as well. I’m just not sure teaching will bring you into contact with less of these types

Are you actually comparing a hair cut to an animal getting treatment?

BTW, not everyone is in the catchment area for PDSA treatment. I would be eligible based on the benefits I get, but I do not live in the "right" area.

@Sadvetatcrossroads as others have said a PGCE does not cover content, it's a teaching theory/practice course. However, I'm sure I have seen a course offered in a teaching college for teacher shortage subjects, where you do a PGCE + content when you have the subject at A level but not at degree level. Eg if you have a degree in Biology, you have physics A level and they want physics teachers, so you do an extra 6 months in addition to the PGCE to cover the chemistry syllabus up to GCSE level.

Interesting. My PGCE was very subjecty. We used to do the very tasks that we would be asking of students. Loads of incredible subject discussion. Most of them didn’t last the full course, but there we go.

What could possibly be unreasonable about leaving a situation with which you're disenchanted to pursue something you think may be more worthwhile?

Teaching is just as soul destroying but for other reasons. You’d be going from frying pan to fire.

I paid £27.99 for one antibiotic tablet for my dog this year at the vets, plus £32 for them to write the prescription for it. only rich people can afford dogs these days - it’s so sad. I’m not sure what is going on but it reminds me of private care homes. The minute they were all sold to third party investors and corporations it was a disaster with escalating prices.

The same tablets are prescribed for humans for an entire month’s supply for one NHS prescription charge (£9?)

She wasnt in the catchment area.
She loved het cat.and the cat was one of a couple of positive things in her.life.
The coporate took advantage instead of being honest with her.
She ended up having to sell furniture etc to pay the bills.
Cat ended up being put down unfortunatley

Would you consider a move into industry? It isn't for everyone but other options are out here, other than clinic work and teaching.

I also know of quite a few vets who have retrained as dentists. And one as a train driver!

A veterinary degree is just that. A degree. Use it to open whichever doors you need.

Yes I am, and it's shocking that people think it's a disgrace that vets charge money and consider their hair appointments a necessity.
My dentist (mid 60s, soon to retire) says he should have trained as a nail technician, as they charge a lot of money and people feel it's worth it. They resent £100 on a filling though, saying they've been ripped off. It's mad really considering the expertise, student debt, the years of training, not to mention huge risks they have to take every time they open someone's mouth. It's the same for vets.

Anyway op do whats right for you.
As usual media and big coporates causing agro

Teachers are blasted more than vets. Teachers deals with parents complaining and children being abusive. Parents will be complaining you can't fix their child just like pet owners. They will he distrusting of you like the pet owners. You will not be appreciated by the government. Sometimes difficult SLT with unrealistic expectations.
If you want to do teaching for a love of teaching go for it, but do it with your eyes open. The things you struggle with as a vet aren't all that different from what you will struggle with as a teacher.

We have an independant vet and they do their best to keep prices down as much as they can. He’s very experienced and I trust the practice.

Most people are aware vets don’t make that much money aren’t they? Practices do and they’re owned by corporate companies.

The problem is with advances in medicine you’ve got treatments like stem cell therapy £££££ for your pet and not everyone can afford it, so there’s guilt and shame attached to that. Years ago you had a pet until around say 10/12, it got ill you had a sad decision to make. Nowadays vets can do so much to prolong a life (but should they) I don’t know. often quality of life isn’t there anymore.

Yes i agree.

@realdeal7393 The same tablets are prescribed for humans for an entire month’s supply for one NHS prescription charge (£9?)

You do realise that NHS prescriptions are subsidised. In many cases, the £9 you pay is nowhere near the cost to the NHS. NHS prescriptions are price capped, private ones aren't. Also, vets are obliged to prescribe animal specific formulations when they are available, which are usually costlier. Even if on the face of it, they look identical to you.

My vet was not a national one, but had several branches where I live.
I paid £700 for 3 hours of dental... she had 14 teeth taken out. If you break it down for that £700 to pay the all the staff involved in her care for that time, and also after. I had a bargain.

I do know someone who has a dog that was diagnosed with bone cancer. Had an amputation and chemo and also immunotherapy. Has cost her over £20k and that is after insurance paid out. He now has mets in his lungs and the meds for that are looking to be well over £1k pm.

The anthropomorphizing of animals has meant that the expectation to save them regardless of cost/quality of life is a big factor. My cat was diagnosed with an abdominal tumour last year, it's most likely cancerous but I turned down the referral to a feline oncologist (£1000+ just for biopsy and to ascertain if definitely cancer and if so, which type) as I wouldn't go down any chemo or surgical routes anyway. The cat has had a great 11 years, the last thing I want to do is put her through chemo or major surgery. She's on steroids and appears normal, the day I feel she deteriorates will be the day I phone to get her PTS. We love her dearly but she's an animal who has no understanding of the meaning of life beyond getting fed 20 times a day.

Not a vet but have worked with this industry and I'd say that's unusual. Junior/ starring salaries 35k. Mid, 50-60k. Senior possibly a little more than OPs figure of 70k but not much.

The staff aren't getting the extra money!

The tax payer, of course. Not a vet, but know of several women who were very indignant that things weren't free, like they get for their kids (health, nursery, holiday club, food etc) and one asked if her benefits would go up when her dog had a health issue, like with her kids!
OP, find out about doing some observation in schools, if they let you do that these days. My friend's a teacher and asked local schools to let her observe before she applied, but that was years ago, so maybe they don't now, but if you can, you'd get more idea of whether it's for you.

I am on benefits, and I would not agree that vet care should be like the NHS. Pets are optional. Your own healthcare is not.
Saying that, there have been some horrid posts on here about people on benefits that have pets. I saw one about how people with benefits should have their money stopped unless they agreed to have their pets euthanised. Or that people on benefits with pets clearly get too much money if they can afford a pet.
I budgeted for my pet. I went without in a lot of other areas to be able to afford her to have a happy and healthy life.

That's interesting @likeafishneedsabike

Maybe my intel is out of date – it's more than 15 years ago. I did GTP (no longer exists) but also got a PGCE. We were a big group of different subjects and were told specifically at the start that we would be trained to teach, not trained in our subject, and that any subject knowledge we felt we were lacking we would have to cover ourselves.

Was your PGCE a big group of one subject? What subject? (mine is MFL not science but there were scientists on my course)

Genuine question, do you think that large numbers of vets being taken over by a few large companies has caused a lot of this? Interested in an insiders viewpoint.

When you have to start at the bottom of the teacher pay scale, M1 or M2 if they value your vet experience, then you get your first pay cheque, you will realise teaching is a financial waste of time...

And waste of vast hours of your life.

You won't see your family much, you will be knackered and unhappy, and for the first time money constraints will enter your life at a level you haven't experienced since your 20s.

Dont do it...

Teaching is a waste of time and a PGCE a waste of a year. Hard work earning zero, to then get a job that pays you half what you make now... God, idiotic on paper.