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I lived 5 hours from home for undergrad, then 16 hours away for vet school. My sister did die early into my second year, and being 5 hours away would have been much more manageable than 16 hours, but I do see where you're coming from. The logistics of being involved in an ill loved one's care is rough in general. So this is absolutely valid.I will be 5 hours away from home, which isn't bad, but I have a very close family member that has a serious health issue and I am terrified of something happening while I'm gone. This is my biggest concern.
I took 3 cycles to get accepted to vet school, and 3 cycles was all I was going to go through for this very reason. I think it's absolutely reasonable to have an age boundary because there's other things you want to do. I also had a backup plan I had developed over that cycle that I would have loved to have done and would have made me just as happy as being a veterinarian. I honestly now wish I hadn't had so much tunnel vision growing up; I very likely would not be a vet right now if I had explored all the options out in the world.I am 26 years old and will be 27 in the fall. The last few years I have been putting off getting a house because I didn't know if I would be applying to vet school or not and I was fine with that, but now that time feels like it's going by so quickly, I really feel like I'm itching for that sense of finally having my own home and not renting anymore.
A DVM degree will always get you a GP or ER job, tbh. So you would have a job somewhere as long as there's not a recession happening. Likewise, there's always the opportunity to go into industry; there are a ton of GP/ER doctors leaving clinical work to go into industry or company management (think things like pharma, VetGirl, etc).I believe that I will always be involved in veterinary medicine or research, BUT I worry that if I did decide to make a career change at some point, I would be limited because I would look too overqualified in too specific of an area with that DVM degree.
This is honestly the only thing in your whole post I would advise against. I honestly don't even really advise most people become technicians overall unless they're going to make a living wage (i.e. ER, GP with a spouse with a good job, VTS). And my techs that I work with that are looking to move on (earning their VTS, going into human med fields, etc.), I am fully supportive of. Because the majority of techs will ultimately struggle if they don't have these life parameters. Being a technician with the debt level of a doctor? Don't do it. Absolutely don't do it.I also wonder if I would maybe switch back from research to general practice again where I would want to work as the tech and not the vet. Maybe this isn't accurate, but it's just something that's been running through my mind.
As I read and reread this, you may be in analysis paralysis. Take a weekend off, go away, and give your mind a rest. You will make the right decision.Hi everyone,
I applied to vet school this past cycle after working in general practice as an assistant/tech for over two years and I got in to my top school which I am so proud of! However, I'm thinking I may be declining the offers I got and taking a different career path. I've weighed my options again and again, gone through pros and cons, but this is still one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.
Context: through my experience in practice, I realized that I do not want to be a general practice vet. My plan was to use my DVM for the research field. Right before VMCAS apps were due last fall, I took a job at a government research facility and have recently been offered a higher up position within the facility that I'm really excited to try.
To summarize my worries regarding going to vet school, the first one is moving. I will be 5 hours away from home, which isn't bad, but I have a very close family member that has a serious health issue and I am terrified of something happening while I'm gone. This is my biggest concern. The next one is age-related. I am 26 years old and will be 27 in the fall. The last few years I have been putting off getting a house because I didn't know if I would be applying to vet school or not and I was fine with that, but now that time feels like it's going by so quickly, I really feel like I'm itching for that sense of finally having my own home and not renting anymore. I don't plan to have kids, so that does help, but I do have reservations with starting a new full blown career and just beginning to pay off debt at 31. Next is the concern of feeling stuck in a field of work. I don't have any plans to make a big career change in the future, I believe that I will always be involved in veterinary medicine or research, BUT I worry that if I did decide to make a career change at some point, I would be limited because I would look too overqualified in too specific of an area with that DVM degree. I also wonder if I would maybe switch back from research to general practice again where I would want to work as the tech and not the vet. Maybe this isn't accurate, but it's just something that's been running through my mind. Lastly, I feel that in order to accept a seat in veterinary school and make this big of a decision, I should be much more certain in my decision than I am right now. I do not want to attend veterinary school just because I can and have the opportunity. I want to do it because I feel that it is right for me and I don't know if I feel that way right now.
Mostly everyone in my life that I've spoken to about this fully understands, I have only had one family member who seems a little upset although they assured me that they will not be disappointed. I can't tell if this is just my nerves talking or if these are legitimate reasons to decline my offers, but why do I feel so guilty declining?
Thank you in advance.