Considering withdrawing from vet school

[gurudeva]

Made this account for privacy reasons. If you want to skip the unexciting story, my question is bolded at the end.

I was accepted to my in state school c/o 2021. I'm 25 and I've spent the last 5 years of my life working up to this moment of getting into vet school, but I'm in some trouble. I've never questioned my desire to be a vet, but at the end of 2016 (after my VMCAS apps had long been submitted and I had been rearing to go) I had some life issues hit me that I was not expecting. I delved into a deep depression and many complications ensued. The last 9 months have been like a waking dream where I exist and go to work and deal with every day social interactions, but I can't properly recall anything I've done, it all just blends together. I feel like an emotionless robot during the day, and then a sudden emotional wreck when I get in bed... sleeping now requires meds. I still managed to interview in January while this was going on after coercion from my mom who flew up to stay with me for that week, and was accepted the week after my interview.

Two weeks later in February, after more coercion, I ended up at the psychiatric hospital (out patient) and was diagnosed with depression and anxiety which was not shocking. I was put on medication that has been changing around since then. I waited until almost the last day possible to accept my offer, but I did end up accepting and paid my deposit because I don't know what else to do.

I have spoken to my school and requested a deferment to next year on the grounds of mental health issues, which was denied. However, they are serious about mental health issues due to previous suicides and advised me to put that first and consider withdrawing. I'm at a loss. On one hand, if I withdraw from school, I can see myself spiraling downward even more because I've given up on my dream... however, if I try to start school in this state of mind, I feel like I would do horribly and fail, further ruining my dream of being a vet...

If there is someone out there who entered school in a state of serious depression, or withdrew from school because of this reason, I would vastly appreciate your story and/or advice. Please feel free to PM me as I realize this is a sensitive issue. Did you reapply? Did you talk about your mental health in applications/interviews when trying to explain the withdrawal, and how did that go over? Or did you go to school anyway and how did that turn out? Would you have done anything differently?

Thanks everyone ahead of time.

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[dyachei]

It seems weird to me that they care about mental health but won't let you defer. Sorry you're dealing with this.

I think you need to do some soul-searching. Would you be ok if you never got into vet school again? Can you see yourself pursuing a different path? Do you have it under control with appropriate techniques for the future?

Vet school is stressful and depression has a nasty habit of rearing its ugly head in those conditions. Have you talked to a therapist or counselor about it?

 

[CalliopeDVM]

You need to take care of yourself and your health first. I would never recommend that anyone who has an uncontrolled illness (physical or mental) enter veterinary school until they can get that issue controlled. Vet school is a high stress, demanding situation, and ill health (whether mental or physical) could be a real problem that could be worsened in that environment.

 

[Tired&StressedVetStudent]

It seems weird to me that they care about mental health but won't let you defer. Sorry you're dealing with this.

I think you need to do some soul-searching. Would you be ok if you never got into vet school again? Can you see yourself pursuing a different path? Do you have it under control with appropriate techniques for the future?

Vet school is stressful and depression has a nasty habit of rearing its ugly head in those conditions. Have you talked to a therapist or counselor about it?

If it seems weird to you that they "care about mental health" but won't do anything, them you obviously don't attend the same vet school as me. The admin here LOVES to talk about "mental health" and "work-life balance" and "taking care of yourself". And yet the policies on 4th year rotations require you to work weeks at a time without a day off, 90+ hour weeks, 2 weeks straight overnight, never a full weekend off, treated and talked to like a slave, never see the sun, and lose all your outside friends and hobbies. It doesn't surprise me that the veterinary profession is undergoing a mental health crisis. Honestly, what amazes me is that more people don't kill themselves IN vet school. Good luck to you, friend. It's a tough road and I wish I had better news.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

If it seems weird to you that they "care about mental health" but won't do anything, them you obviously don't attend the same vet school as me. The admin here LOVES to talk about "mental health" and "work-life balance" and "taking care of yourself". And yet the policies on 4th year rotations require you to work weeks at a time without a day off, 90+ hour weeks, 2 weeks straight overnight, never a full weekend off, treated and talked to like a slave, never see the sun, and lose all your outside friends and hobbies. It doesn't surprise me that the veterinary profession is undergoing a mental health crisis. Honestly, what amazes me is that more people don't kill themselves IN vet school. Good luck to you, friend. It's a tough road and I wish I had better news.

Not that it should be acceptable, but this is probably every vet school tbh. I've heard/witnessed some really crappy things happening to 4th years at my school too. And that's just 4th year, years 1-3 aren't always peachy here either.

Do you have a student-dean liaison or anything? Our class presidents meet with the dean every month or so and we anonymously submit our concerns to the prez, and he/she presents them to the dean. We've brought about some change here, but a lot of the things revolving around how students are treated/taught still get swept under the rug unfortunately. If there are serious issues, do something about it.

Although we've already heard the whole "4th year is a rite of passage, it tests your perseverance, how can you expect to be a good doctor if you can't function on no sleep..." All things said by our dean when concerns similar to yours have been brought up.

 

[dyachei]

My point is that it's a thought that is incongruous and is something they should be investigating. Not that it doesn't happen