A more superficial topic - income between GP and specializing

[chickenlittle]

Wow, that is significantly higher than the numbers I've seen both from publications and vets I've worked for. Definitely encouraging to hear. Maybe NC just pays less with the glut of vets here.

I think NC also pays less because pet owners (at least in much of the state) really aren't willing to spend much on care. Attitudes towards animals are different here than in other areas. I can probably count on one hand the number of my clients who could/would pay $3k for a FB!

I made just over $100k for a couple of years in GP, starting just two years after graduation. Worked 45-50 hrs/wk in a really hectic, chaotic, multi-doctor practice that took a ton of walk-ins. No joke, the boss would come up behind us and yell "Zoom! Zoom! Get 'em in, get 'em out!!" Haven't made six figures since then, but currently content with making $82k for working alternating 30/40-hr wks in a less-chaotic practice (though it's corporate, so that has a separate set of headaches). It is kind of a bummer to be ten years out of school and making 20% less than I was making two years out, though!

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[Teepster87]

I wonder if they included academia in this, though. Professor positions range from 80-120k (most of the time), and most profs have at least board cert if not a research degree on top of that.

I have a hard time believing that I'll be making it up, myself. I went from 135k in debt to 200k over the course of residency and PhD (7-8 years post DVM total), and I won't be making much more than an established GP vet in a lucative area who started working right out of school.

So there ya go @LetItSnow you'll always make more $ than me unless I luck out and get tenure

Just curious, are you working towards the PSLF thing?

 

[LetItSnow]

So there ya go @LetItSnow you'll always make more $ than me unless I luck out and get tenure

On the flip side, you'll always be smarter and I'll always be dependent on you for a solid diagnosis.

I am not trying to pull some "oh, all those studies are crap, I'm making a ton of dough" kinda line. My only point was to say that you CAN do well without specialization. Specialization is a more likely/reliable path to a better income without necessitating the add'l burden of practice ownership (if you view those responsibilities as a burden), but even without either of those it's possible to do ok. That was all. I know I've kinda lucked into a good paying job and that it isn't representative. And my job has definite downsides that make me constantly wonder if it's worth it.

 

[LetItSnow]

In fairness, it only happened once and it was a 6 month old kitten who came to us with all the pre-op diagnostics from the rDVM and went home about 12 hours later.

I've only done a few feline pyometras because hey, who has a female cat that isn't spayed, but I have to admit - they are my favorite. You rip that thing out in 15 minutes, sew them up, and they are bouncing around and eating and ready to go home a few hours later. It's so rewarding. Some of those old-dog pyos where they sit lackluster in a kennel for two days recovering.... ugh.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Just curious, are you working towards the PSLF thing?

I wish. I'm technically considered a PhD student on paper right now so I don't qualify. Neither did I when I was a resident, because I was considered a concurrent graduate student like many residents are - so not an "employee". I've essentially been an unemployed student living off GRA (or postdoc, at best) stipends for 7.5 years post-DVM, as fancy as the letters after my name might look.

Plus as far as I have been told, clinical professors working at a teaching hospital/vet school as part of a university that gets over a certain amount of federal research grant $$ do not qualify anyway. I don't know a single vet professor on PSLF at a vet school. I guess I could try to apply once I get a job but who knows.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

I've only done a few feline pyometras because hey, who has a female cat that isn't spayed, but I have to admit - they are my favorite. You rip that thing out in 15 minutes, sew them up, and they are bouncing around and eating and ready to go home a few hours later. It's so rewarding. Some of those old-dog pyos where they sit lackluster in a kennel for two days recovering.... ugh.

I like pyometras in general -- everything's big and obvious, easy to access and easy to grasp.

 

[JosephKnechtDVM]

I think NC also pays less because pet owners (at least in much of the state) really aren't willing to spend much on care. Attitudes towards animals are different here than in other areas. I can probably count on one hand the number of my clients who could/would pay $3k for a FB!

I made just over $100k for a couple of years in GP, starting just two years after graduation. Worked 45-50 hrs/wk in a really hectic, chaotic, multi-doctor practice that took a ton of walk-ins. No joke, the boss would come up behind us and yell "Zoom! Zoom! Get 'em in, get 'em out!!" Haven't made six figures since then, but currently content with making $82k for working alternating 30/40-hr wks in a less-chaotic practice (though it's corporate, so that has a separate set of headaches). It is kind of a bummer to be ten years out of school and making 20% less than I was making two years out, though!

Very true about it often being how cheap the work can be done versus keeping the pet in rural NC from my years both in general and emergency practice. I also know of a veterinarian who after selling his practice could not make enough doing relief so he became a missionary because health insurance and a stipend were included.

 

[Trilt]

I've only done a few feline pyometras because hey, who has a female cat that isn't spayed, but I have to admit - they are my favorite. You rip that thing out in 15 minutes, sew them up, and they are bouncing around and eating and ready to go home a few hours later. It's so rewarding. Some of those old-dog pyos where they sit lackluster in a kennel for two days recovering.... ugh.

I had a 9 month old one a couple months back. First feline pyo for me and youngest my boss had ever seen... they just hadn't gotten to spaying her yet, good family that took solid care of their pets.

I think NC also pays less because pet owners (at least in much of the state) really aren't willing to spend much on care. Attitudes towards animals are different here than in other areas. I can probably count on one hand the number of my clients who could/would pay $3k for a FB!

I made just over $100k for a couple of years in GP, starting just two years after graduation. Worked 45-50 hrs/wk in a really hectic, chaotic, multi-doctor practice that took a ton of walk-ins. No joke, the boss would come up behind us and yell "Zoom! Zoom! Get 'em in, get 'em out!!" Haven't made six figures since then, but currently content with making $82k for working alternating 30/40-hr wks in a less-chaotic practice (though it's corporate, so that has a separate set of headaches). It is kind of a bummer to be ten years out of school and making 20% less than I was making two years out, though!

This is so true. In NC, and I have generally good clients and a clinic where people somewhat expect to spend money, but still the vast vast majority of'em will tap out somewhere around a grand or so. Lots who can't even do a few hundred and I'm doing best guess treatment.

I actually don't know that I've had charges for one surgery or hospitalization go above 2k in the six months or so I've been here.

 

[NStarz]

I've only done a few feline pyometras because hey, who has a female cat that isn't spayed, but I have to admit - they are my favorite. You rip that thing out in 15 minutes, sew them up, and they are bouncing around and eating and ready to go home a few hours later. It's so rewarding. Some of those old-dog pyos where they sit lackluster in a kennel for two days recovering.... ugh.

Biased sample (we cater to low-income population in NYC) but we see cat pyos on almost a daily basis. I had to learn to start looking for them. We also see a lot of puppies referred for v+ for FB sx d/t diffusely dilated intestines on rads (we provide financial assistance for sx) that haven't been parvo tested by rDVMs...surprise! Parvo +.

 

[nyanko]

I've only done a few feline pyometras because hey, who has a female cat that isn't spayed, but I have to admit - they are my favorite. You rip that thing out in 15 minutes, sew them up, and they are bouncing around and eating and ready to go home a few hours later. It's so rewarding. Some of those old-dog pyos where they sit lackluster in a kennel for two days recovering.... ugh.

I had a feline pyo as a case (with a boarded surgeon during my internship) where the uterus weighed about the same as the cat and had some weird very confusing vascular anomalies during the surgery and then the cat started showing weird signs of hypercoagulation/throwing clots or something after surgery despite its heart being normal and we had to euthanize her. Not so satisfying that time. Super nice owner, super nice kitty.