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?

It’s 5 years, isn’t it? The same as dentistry-which is a bachelors degree (BDS).

I thought the vet qualification was a Bachelors degree in veterinary science (BVSc)?

Yes, I could do a job in pharma sales earning more. I could do a lot of jobs that earn more. I don’t want to though - some stuff is more important than money.

In answer to other posters - Vet nurses earn about £28k - 35k, maybe up to 40k if a head nurse.

I appreciate both vets and nurses are underpaid compared to equivalent training / our human healthcare counterparts - but our wages are directly funded by veterinary fees, so it’s inherent in the business model that there’s going to be a ceiling to what we get paid (the exception being if you own a practice, as then your income is going to be linked with profit - so contrary to public opinion, an independent practice owner probably has more incentive to upsell than the average vet working in a corporate).

I’m actually fine with not earning what doctors / lawyers / business owners do - I went into this job with my eyes open and it’s a decent living for a job I enjoy - but it makes it pretty galling when we are accused of being ‘only in it for the money’.

My niece studied at St Catherine's college, Cambridge Uni, and that was 6 years according to this: https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/subject/veterinary-medicine

She became an equine vet and worked in Newmarket, where there are a lot of rich racehorse owners. This presumably avoids some of the hassle of uninsured pet owners complaining about the cost of everything. (Apparently the bigger the animals vets treat, the more they get paid. Who knew?)

Thank you. How much more can you expect to earn?

Maybe 36/40 hrs + one in 4 Saturday mornings luckily no on call

Depends if you can survive with the crap terms and conditions! Liking teenagers isnt the same as teaching them.

In answer to your puzzling where the extortionate fees are going - private equity is probably where.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/aug/30/pet-owners-private-equity-firms-vet-ownership-rules-change

Good question. Not as much more as I assumed generally. (I've not discussed her salary with my niece.)

Although, apparently, "While ordinary small-animal vets have a larger corporate employer base with predictable career tracks, equine vets often see earnings rise significantly if they carve out a niche in referral hospitals, orthopaedics, or high-value stud medicine."

Fingers crossed for niece. And OP!

Judging by our current people NHS...

....I absolutelt do not want an NHS for pets.

@DifferentLandscape It is a Bachelor's degree - mine is BVMS. We are allowed to call ourselves Dr as long as we use our post nominal, so we are not confused with medical doctors. It is a courtesy title which was not in place until 2015.

@PHB65 No, qualifying as a vet is not longer than as a doctor. The degree is the same length but once we graduate, we can go straight out into practice. Unlike doctors who undergo compulsory residencies.

I left clinical work a long time ago (qualified over 30 years ago) because of the issues OP alluded to. I am now earning around £150k including bonus, having moved into pharma (not sales). Even at that salary, I am vastly underpaid compared to my peers in other countries and similar roles in the human field. The UK has always undervalued vets.

Totally reasonable looking to change careers, but absolute unreasonable if you think the same/similar issues won't arise in teaching. Teachers are literally constantly in the news for various things and have parents at their door on repeat accusing them, requesting things, emailing concerns etc etc. You might like teenagers and enjoy teaching, but that's not the entirety of the profession, you'd also have to enjoy huge amounts of paperwork, elements of social work, getting by on a minute budget, working at all/any hours etc, managing complaints and difficult "customers", family therapy, counsellor - the list goes on.
I'd look at teaching veterinary students maybe, or retraining as something else that might be more fulfilling or fully avoid the things you're currently not enjoying.

For what it's worth, I love our vets, I hear the noise about prices but I know how hard training to be a vet is and I appreciate the effort and care that goes into my animals. I may be lucky, in that I can afford it, but I've never been pissed off at my vet. I have regularly had to email or complain or meet with teachers not fulfilling their statutory responsibilities to my send child (not their fault, but neither is it my childs). The vets always seem happier, are easier to discuss things with and generally appear more relaxed at work tbh. The teachers are stretched, know they're not able to teach how they ideally would (class sizes, lack of funding and facilities, lack of TA support etc) and seem pretty stressed.

I think re-evaluating a career is always worthwhile, especially when feeling disillusioned with where we are at. I took a pay cut and changed to a role in a non profit company after a couple of decades with a large corporation and have never regretted it. Now I am thinking of another change. It seems easier to make a big change now. It took me a long time to realise that changing can just be trying out something new and lead to other new avenues. The only thing I would caution against is going to something new because of disillusionment- It can lead to giving more positive weight to the new role, and that might lead to disappointment.

Teaching is not a particularly well respected profession. It is hard work and tiring and if you aren't suited to it, it is an awful job. The holidays are a massive bonus and probably the one thing that makes people stay in the profession.

I agree some vets really do just have your pants down !! I had a pup with an eye issues the vet quoted over 3k in the end i found a opthalmology specialist who charged £680 !!! That tells me these prices can be kept reasonable they just choose not to .

You may not personally do this but yes, vets ARE upselling. My dog had a dental procedure that was £1100, if I was to have an equivalent at my private dentist it would've been half that. Just as an example.
We had to run liver enzyme test a few times, they came up with a list of about 20 more tests we could also do.
This was previously small practice, now is run by a chain and you can tell because the care went downhill and cost skyrocket. But there is no alternative as every vet around is now a chain.
I have 2 cats and a dog, when they go, I won't be having any more pets, I lost trust in the vets anymore. It's not even the cost, it's the fact they just don't really care, they constantly cancel or reschedule (haven't had 1 appointment at it original time/date in years), they forgot to send blood to the labs and tried to charge me for it, they prescribed wrong dose of meds to one of the cats, they were trying to charge us for meds my dog is not taking, obviously put on the wrong account. It was obvious he wasn't taking it because he doesn't have the relevant illness. It's all huge waste of time and money.
Every appointment they just try to schedule when we say we specifically can't do that time or day, because shock horror, we also have jobs.
I can go on...
So yeah, I'm not surprised you are disillusioned, you probably have 10000 examples for one of mine and you can see it first hand.
I get these are businesses, and I don't mind paying but I just expect my pets to be treated better and feel like a huge inconvenience and like they are doing me a favour.
I spent my youth working in animal shelter in Europe and although the conditions were terrible, the vets were wonderful, the private ones as well. Vets nowadays, feels like, have zero calling, this is one of the few professions where you have to have a calling. I'm not saying you should not be paid fairly or not have good conditions, absolutely not - but but everyone is suitable to become a vet.

Reading the comments, I'm not alone in my experiences. I'm not blaming you for feeling how you do, but look at it from your customers perspective, they shouldn't be disrespectful to you but I kinda understand their frustrations.

Could you go into schools doing workshops or career talks? Independent schools would likely be interested as they often have guest speakers doing talks for medical societies, careers days, animal clubs or science days. Even just doing it for a bit will give you some insight into teaching to help you decide if you would like to do it.

There is a place I know of in W.London that does animal related BTECs and similar. I know someone who went there for 6th form equivalent and another who went there earlier I think. They both had an amazing time and are now working as vet nurses. Would teaching somewhere like that be good for you? I'm not sure how common they are though.

https://www.capel.ac.uk/open-days/open-day-10-october-registration/?utm_term=animal%20care%20courses&utm_campaign=Generics+-+School+Leavers&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&utm_id=23972204790&hsa_acc=6923087498&hsa_cam=23972204790&hsa_grp=198584269195&hsa_ad=825012720469&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-310393177102&hsa_kw=animal%20care%20courses&hsa_mt=p&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23972204790&gbraid=0AAAAA_OlsD0K4BapqyzChJljFhTCUfkIp&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjr_e_8ORlwMVvJFQBh33BQr2EAAYASAAEgJW2PD_BwE

If you go into teaching definitely go into higher education. You will be teaching adults who actually want to be there and won't have to spend your time on crowd-control. You don't need a PhD to lecture at a university. The poster who said this is completely wrong and students welcome very much to be taught by someone who has been in practice for decades rather than just a career academic.

Good god if you feel undervalued as a vet do NOT go into teaching. Wouldn’t recommend it at all unless you are 1000% sure it’s for you. Signed, an ex teacher.

Teaching is amazing but please consider your change in demographic here. There is a massive different between teaching adults who want to be there and then working in a school.

I got called a ‘scruffy fucking lesbian’ today because I confiscated a vape. I have parents consistently telling me how to do my job. All part of teaching and honestly, it doesn’t bother me, but your reasons for leaving being a vet to be a teacher scream out of the frying pan and into the fire for me.

Would you volunteer in a school first? See how you find it.

All the things you hate about being a vet basically boil down to dealing with being under-appreciated for an emotionally draining and tiring job, dealing with entitled idiots, scrutiny from a general public who think they understand your job but don’t, and unrealistic pressures from above, from people who don’t fully understand your job.

And all of that sounds exactly like everything teachers say about their job.

It sounds like a bizarre move to me…

Teaching is very vocational. You probably won't earn as much as a senior vet, especially in first few years , but if you can afford it, retrain as a teacher and enjoy it as a second career .

As a teacher of over 20 years: if you want to become a teacher because you'd really like to be one... absolutely!

However, I'd suggest you're jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Teachers and school staff get a lot of flack in the media, in person, via email, over the phone and it's long hours with a terrible work-life balance.

The training and NQT years are intense and it takes years to work up the pay thresholds (albeit there are faster routes to leadership through some ITT providers).

I'm clinging on at this point because I absolutely adore my students and the subject I teach and perhaps because unless I win the Euromillions, we cannot drop to a one wage household in this economic climate.

It's not a career choice to be taken lightly as it's intensity can be fierce and burnout is high.
Unless you hit leadership, you won't command wages 70k plus.

You are disillusioned with your job because you are so committed to your clients and try to go the extra mile, but the media and the government think you’re crap and the clients don’t trust your professional advice?

That is what most dissatisfied teachers say about their jobs.

I think you’d be crazy to join a profession that has very similar downsides, hours and a starting salary of £30k.

You sound like you'd be a good candidate.

See if you can spend some time in a school before you decide.