Is veterinary medicine a good idea?

[GiantGeorge]

Inspired by the dentistry and medicine threads. Is it all private high street cats and dogs with a focus on cross- and up selling or an enriching and rewarding job? Insanely competitive, what's aVet's job life like in the UK? Would you recommend?

No!! Run away, run away now!!

how come?

Shall we just say you have to really want to do the job.

Salary is low compared to medicine.
Suicide rates are very high.
Chances of partnership low due to many practices now being chains.
Farm, equine or mixed practices are still an option but companion medicine is the bigger employer. There are other roles such as DEFRA type roles.

You need to be v resilient and complete work experience prior to applying. People will fail to make any provision for medical care for their pets then blame you for it. You can be euthanasing a pet one minute, and doing a new puppy consult the next.

I applied as a mature student but ended up declining my interviews after doing a load more work experience. I realised I wasn't resilient enough, although had an amazing time lambing.

I worked reception for 3 years and burnt out with the abuse I got. I thought being a qualified vet would be better but realised the public can be just as awful in the consult room as at the reception desk & that often your hands are tied by finances.

That sounds all quite awful! I hadn't realised you had to be so resilient and of course there is the euthanising aspect. How come suicide rates are high though, is it due to stress, money worries, feeling stuck and unfulfilled? It sound absolutely awful!

But you can do it anywhere in the world once qualified. No need to stay here if you are treated badly.

They give training at Uni on how to deal with rude and angry customers. Lots of business involved in the course too, so you can set up on your own if brave enough. You do need lots of work experience before applying but think this is so you know what you are getting into. Lots on DDs course looking to travel or work in mixed practices. All the vets she's met (& that's now a lot) love their job. It's hard work and long hours and you need to be mentally tough, but they've all given her lots of advice how to deal with that.

If one of my children wanted to become a vet I would heavily discourage it!
Long hours, pay not great and clients can be awful!!
I have lost a few colleagues to suicide. The veterinary industry is not a great place to work anymore sadly.

My daughter wants to and she has been focussed on it for the last 12 years - it’s not an easy life - you have to do on calls weekend etc and absorb costs and deal with customers who don’t pay - medicine is easier I think but if you are committed then you have to love it and not be in it for the money

One of the reasons suicide is higher tho is because vets have such easy access to the drugs required.

Anyone else that does it is looking at an experience that's more like to go wrong.

Ex vet nurse here. I'd imagine it depends on where you practice to some extent. We never had very rude people at our practice Just worried ones.

Can be upsetting but so is being a doctor I'm sure.

Long hours emergencies covered in disgusting fluids a lot

It's a hard job but a very fulfilling one.

Suicide rates are also high because it can be a high pressure and depressing job. Vet care is expensive and people can’t always pay or want to pay. They’ll say things like “If you loved animals you’d do the operation for free”. So there’s a lot of guilting vets and pressuring to do free work. Or putting down pets whose owners won’t pay the life saving operation.

That sounds all rather dark and difficult but I really appreciate the candid views.

My dd is in her second year of vet med and since she started on this route I have always been worried about the high rates of suicide and depression in the profession. We have discussed it openly but I don’t think there is anything you can say that will change their mind if that is what they yearn to do. My dh is a farmer which is another job with a high rate of depression and suicide. This has certainly given dd a good idea of the real stresses involved in such work but I think the desire to be a vet is so strong and long-held that nothing will deter them. On the positive side it is now a subject which is openly discussed and hopefully things will improve in the future with more awareness and honesty.

It's a calling, no one can say whether it's a good or bad idea but the person pursuing it.

It's a really emotionally, physically, intellectually challenging job. It's really interesting and it's never boring. It's poorly paid and abuse from clients is standard.

There is a lot work being done within the profession to improve mental health but vets are leaving in droves to do other, less mentally damaging work.

On the plus side, you'll never be out of the job, you'll be able to work anywhere in the world however flexibly you'd like. You can to work with amazing, thoughtful, interesting colleagues.

It's not just a job, it's a whole mindset and way of life.

@mumsneedwine
The idea that you can “set up on your own if you are brave enough” is almost laughable. Do you have any idea how much you need to invest in equipment, premises, staff etc? How will a low paid vet do this? Only people from wealthy families can even think about this.

Medicine is better paid by far and less risky in many ways.

@TizerorFizz as a working class family mine probably won't stay in UK. For all the reasons you've mentioned. Abroad she can earn a decent living, have a better quality of life and still love her job. Some vets though have set up mixed practices from her vet school in the last few years. No idea where the money came from.

And my other DD is doing medicine. Would not say it's easier, although it will be better paid eventually. It's different. Neither of mine went into their degrees for money though. What you've never had you don't miss I suppose.

Bank of mum and dad? They have no track record for a business loan. You need a lot of money to set up a vet practice. Not to mention experience!

I'm in the industry and would do anything to persuade my children not to go into it. Weekends, long days, on call, there's not enough staff to actually help you so be grads are thrown in and either sink or swim. It's a job you will unlikely ever be able to do 9 till 5.the pay sounds OK until you look at the actual hours. You never switch off from it. Then add the clients who think you should work for free. The heart break of putting animals to sleep when you could do more but they can't afford it. Or the heartbreak when you could end an animals suffering but the owners won't. The list goes on. I've seen so many vets start and not last. Their mental health suffers. I just honestly at the moment don't see the appeal to the career.

@TizerorFizz could well be. There are a lot of rich people on her course. They couldn't believe she'd never heard of young farmers and didn't own a horse 😂. But they've been v generous at providing EMS & have accepted DD as their weird friend from the town.

[quote mumsneedwine]@TizerorFizz as a working class family mine probably won't stay in UK. For all the reasons you've mentioned. Abroad she can earn a decent living, have a better quality of life and still love her job. Some vets though have set up mixed practices from her vet school in the last few years. No idea where the money came from. [/quote]
Which countries is she looking at moving to? My DS has expressed an interest in being a vet, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. He can get an EU passport if needed. We are in the US and pay is not great for vets here either.

@Anoooshka Australia, New Zealand, Canada or S Africa. Thankfully her course means she can practice in any of them straight away. Money not really a thing for her, as long as she can eat.

How can she not have heard of Young Farmers? It’s not very active these days though. Used to be the main “find a wife” club for farmers. Not to be taken seriously I think. If you are a country vet you might well have a horse. It’s common here. We have specialist equine vets too. More money in that I think. The horsy types know how to make money.

No, no, no. And no. If my children wanted to follow in my footsteps I wouldn't encourage it.

I wish I did something different. But similarly it was my dream job since I was 5, and knowing that the public perception of veterinary work isn't particularly accurate, I know I'd be (wrongly!) regretting it if I hadn't gone through with it.

If there was a way that we could treat all animals without having to worry about owner finances I think it would take a lot of the stress away. Client expectations are crazy. Verbal abuse is a daily occurrence. Days are long (longer than nursery hours). The competitive nature of the course means those selected are perfectionists who beat themselves up about not being able to diagnose on the clinical examination and one blood test the owner can stretch to. We now live in a world of keyboard warriors but can never respond to Facebook bashing due to GDPR. Starting salaries are currently good but earning potential is capped extremely quickly (to earn more we must charge more - and we have a hard time trying to justify costs to the public as it is!).

Funnily enough, euthanasias are low down on the list of reasons I dislike my career choice. Being able to kindly and gently end an animals suffering is a privilege.

@TizerorFizz 😂 we live in a town, know no farmers or vets and no one in the family has ever done anything agricultural. No clue how she's become a vet really. But never wanted to do anything else.