Need advice - MD or DVM?

[JMiller85]

Hey all..

when I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian. That was until I worked for 4 years as a vet tech small animal hospitals, where I was introduced repeadedly to the ugly side of the profession - puppy mill breeders, cruel owners, neglect, abuse, etc.

So for the last few years I have been *really* interested in persuing an MD, or even an MD/PhD. My passion is medicine, and either form it comes in, I will be happy.

But...I have SO much experience with animals, such as those 4 years of full-time small animal clinical work, 12 years of competitive equestrian sports, and 4 years of actual professional horse training experience, that I think with some research activity at my university, I will have a really good shot of getting into a vet school. (of course as long as I keep my GPA up high and do well on the exams)

Medical school is my first choice, but I don't know if maybe I should apply to vet schools at the same time, and see where I end up?

Has anyone here thought of doing this?

I still have 2 years of undergrad left, but I need to decide a major soon, and don't want to inhibit any opportunities for either career path...

thanks!

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[nyanko]

Well, uhh, the two aren't really interchangeable. But if you are thinking of doing an MD/PhD what about a DVM/PhD? If you want to do research you have to deal very little with the bad clinical side of the profession.

 

[zpinkpanther]

Hey all..

when I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian. That was until I worked for 4 years as a vet tech small animal hospitals, where I was introduced repeadedly to the ugly side of the profession - puppy mill breeders, cruel owners, neglect, abuse, etc.

So for the last few years I have been *really* interested in persuing an MD, or even an MD/PhD. My passion is medicine, and either form it comes in, I will be happy.

But...I have SO much experience with animals, such as those 4 years of full-time small animal clinical work, 12 years of competitive equestrian sports, and 4 years of actual professional horse training experience, that I think with some research activity at my university, I will have a really good shot of getting into a vet school. (of course as long as I keep my GPA up high and do well on the exams)

Medical school is my first choice, but I don't know if maybe I should apply to vet schools at the same time, and see where I end up?

Has anyone here thought of doing this?

I still have 2 years of undergrad left, but I need to decide a major soon, and don't want to inhibit any opportunities for either career path...

thanks!

In most cases, you've got a better chance of getting into med school than vet school, simply because there are more med schools. There are only 28 vet schools in this country; not even one in each state. If human medicine is what you really want to do, you should do that, but if you still think you want to be a vet, go for it. If you apply to vet school, and apply to some med schools as a back-up, you'll probably get in somewhere.

Either way, it doesn't really matter what your major is. Choose one that doesn't make you want to pull out your hair, then if the major doesn't include the classes required for vet/med school, you can take them on the side. Best of both worlds!

 

[VetMed555]

I think if you heart is not really into vet. med., you shouldn't pursue it just because you have all that experience. Experience is great, and it will help you in med school as well. But I think "I have all the qualifications, so I might as well..." attitude is not how you should choose a career. I considered going to med. school, and I think, I'm very qualified to apply there. I know, however, that it is not for me. I just won't be happy doing it FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. Experience is never a waste of time. Ultimately, if nothing else, it taught you that you would rather be an M.D. than a D.V.M.​

 

[Bill59]

Just because you can get into vet. school is no more reason to go to vet school than going to med school just because you can get accepted. If med school is your first choice go for that.

 

[Habibti]

The point of experience is to know what you're getting into. As for being a vet, you know what you're getting into and you don't like it. You may want to pursue experience in human med, so you know what you're getting into there. Human med presents different problems.

All medicine was not created equal. It's the passion for what you do that carries you through the crappy days and crappy weeks. Sounds like you have this for human med, not vet med.

 

[pressmom]

If your heart is in human medicine, that's where you should concentrate your efforts. If you really are interested in animal research, you could do a DVM/PhD, but realize that it's even more competitive than doing an MD/PhD since fewer schools have the option. My heart is in vet med, even though I've had several people tell me I'd make a good human doctor. I want to be an anesthesiologist and don't want to deal with people lying to get pain meds and insurance (both patient and malpractice), etc. It's a personal choice. Good luck in whatever you decide to pursue. I would, however, get out and see if you can volunteer in an ER or shadow a human doctor to see what the pitfalls of clinical medicine are for human doctors because it's not going to be perfect either, but it might just be perfect for you.

 

[lailanni]

Like others said, sounds like your heart is not into vet med.

So don't go for vet med! If you don't like it after 4 years, you won't like it in 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, and you're not doing yourself any favors for living a happy life in the long term.

You've had the vet med experience, and it looks like it helped you find that it isn't the road for you. Unless it was just the clinical stuff you didn't like, then you could do research if that appeals to you....

Also, you could be taking the admission seat away from someone who really, really loves vet med, thinks vet med, breathes vet med, and dreams of getting into vet school every day. Like giving a loaf of bread to someone who just ate, rather than a starving person : )

Just because you have a good shot at getting into vet school doens't mean that you ought to. I could apply for regular grad schools and get in easily, but I'm not going to because that's not where I want to be. I've been offered jobs that pay $30/hr, but I didn't take them because that wasn't where I wanted to be.

Don't dedicate your life to something you don't love.

----edit
I also know someone who worked at an animal emergency clinic all through undergrad. She got into med school on her first shot, and she was under the impression that her time at the clinic helped her app. She was always pre-med, but worked at the clinic because it was near her house

 

[rexosaurus]

So you have lots of experience in vet med, and you for sure don't like the obvious uglies, but nobody does. Do you have any experience in human med, and its respective uglies? I understand it may be a bit more difficult to gain experience in human med, but that may be something to look into. For me, human med's ugly side is WAY more ugly than vet med. But I am also not planning on going into clinical medicine. One of the most wonderful things about vet med is that you don't have to work in a clinic, ever. There are so many genres that may never expose you to neglect, puppy mills, angry owners, poor owners, you get the picture. There are specialties of pretty much any sort that allow you to do whatever your heart desires, for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Do some research, get some experience in human med, and then make your decision. In the mean time, take the pre-reqs for vet/human med (they are generally the same). 2 years is enough time to make this decision, especially with your past experience.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Don't feel like you are obligated to go into vet med simply because of how much experience you have. If human medicine is what you want to do, by golly do it! More power to you.

If you are halfway through college already, my advice is to stop balancing the fence. Trying to make yourself a successful MD candidate as well as DVM candidate (you said you don't want to rule out either field...) will only spread you too thin in both directions and leave you a mediocre applicant for both. Gotta make a choice, sooner rather than later, which you are going to really throw yourself into.

 

[lailanni]

So you have lots of experience in vet med, and you for sure don't like the obvious uglies, but nobody does. Do you have any experience in human med, and its respective uglies? I understand it may be a bit more difficult to gain experience in human med, but that may be something to look into. For me, human med's ugly side is WAY more ugly than vet med. But I am also not planning on going into clinical medicine. One of the most wonderful things about vet med is that you don't have to work in a clinic, ever. There are so many genres that may never expose you to neglect, puppy mills, angry owners, poor owners, you get the picture. There are specialties of pretty much any sort that allow you to do whatever your heart desires, for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Do some research, get some experience in human med, and then make your decision. In the mean time, take the pre-reqs for vet/human med (they are generally the same). 2 years is enough time to make this decision, especially with your past experience.

Good advice! I actually volunteered for 300+ hours in human med, and that's all it took for me to see it was not for me. Well over a thousand hours into vet med, and still lovin' it!

There's nothing like experience to help you make your mind.

 

[JMiller85]

Thanks for the advice guys, it does help. I have about 100 hrs so far volunteering at the Mayo Clinic, on the medical and surgical floors. I have seen plenty of ugly there too. Not nearly as much as at the clinics over the years though.

I would have the same passion for vet med if I didn't work at a small animal clinic. And yes, I know there are many many MANY other avenues for a DVM to persue, such as research and other things.

Maybe I just don't know what I want. How do you know what choice is the right one? Do I really have to make a choice? Can I just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks?

As for my major, I really enjoy the biological sciences and psychology. I am also working on a minor in foreign languages.

 

[cyrille104]

Maybe I just don't know what I want. How do you know what choice is the right one? Do I really have to make a choice? Can I just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks?

We had a girl in our class who dropped out after the first semester to pursue an MD. It's a time-consuming and expensive mistake. Not only do you have to pay thousands of dollars, but you have to apply the NEXT summer for admission to med school in 1.5 years, having wasted a total of 2 years between entering vet school and entering med school. I would think long and hard before going to vet school just to try it out.

 

[Emio]

Can I just throw everything against the wall and see what sticks?

that's how i decide what to have for dinner every night.

We had a girl in our class who dropped out after the first semester to pursue an MD. It's a time-consuming and expensive mistake. Not only do you have to pay thousands of dollars, but you have to apply the NEXT summer for admission to med school in 1.5 years, having wasted a total of 2 years between entering vet school and entering med school. I would think long and hard before going to vet school just to try it out.

to be fair, she always knew she'd rather do human medicine; she was just pushed to go another route. not really a mistake if it makes you even more passionate about your original goals.

you had to know i was going to say something

 

[tkim]

Hey all..

when I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian. That was until I worked for 4 years as a vet tech small animal hospitals, where I was introduced repeadedly to the ugly side of the profession - puppy mill breeders, cruel owners, neglect, abuse, etc.

I am not sure if you think that human medicine has less of this - cruel parents/families, neglect, abuse? Plenty of it on this side, too.

 

[lailanni]

Maybe I just don't know what I want. How do you know what choice is the right one? Do I really have to make a choice?

No one can tell you which choice is right for you. That one is all you, my friend : )

What I noticed for me: I'm always happy going into work at the clinic. Even at the end of a long and crappy day, I'm not unhappy. Just over winter break I worked full time at the clinic. Everyday on the drive up, I thought to myself "Yay! I'm back!"

With human medicine, and later law school stuff, I was never *excited* about it. Just felt like something I had to do and get done. And that's no way to spend the rest of your life.

You have to make a choice sooner or later. Like mentioned above, take some time to find out what you do want - even if you need to take time out of school and wander for a while. It is a very time consuming and expensive mistake if you make it.

 

[Moonpaw]

to be fair, she always knew she'd rather do human medicine; she was just pushed to go another route.

That concept is so strange to me...my whole life, I've been pushed (blackmailed, almost) down the human med path by my dad and especially by all of "the family" in India. I don't know anyone (except maybe a doctor who is fed up with medical malpractice suits and dealing with insurance companies) who would tell their kid to become an animal doctor over a "real doctor".

 

[lailanni]

That concept is so strange to me...my whole life, I've been pushed (blackmailed, almost) down the human med path by my dad and especially by all of "the family" in India. I don't know anyone (except maybe a doctor who is fed up with medical malpractice suits and dealing with insurance companies) who would tell their kid to become an animal doctor over a "real doctor".

You too? Makes me feel better I'm not alone then : ) After I turned down human med, then it was law school this, law school that....

Then I made up my OWN mind to go vet med. My family wants to know why I don't want to be a "real doctor" and always pushes other jobs at me.

 

[Bill59]

We had a girl in our class who dropped out after the first semester to pursue an MD. It's a time-consuming and expensive mistake.

She was lucky. Some don't figure that out until they get to the hospital in 3rd or 4th year or even until they get out of school and work for a year or two.

 

[Emio]

That concept is so strange to me...my whole life, I've been pushed (blackmailed, almost) down the human med path by my dad and especially by all of "the family" in India. I don't know anyone (except maybe a doctor who is fed up with medical malpractice suits and dealing with insurance companies) who would tell their kid to become an animal doctor over a "real doctor".

it wasn't by her family. she was convinced by advisors that her grades wouldnt get her into med school, so she should do vet school instead. i know, i know, insanity. she knows that now too, and like bill said, she's lucky she's getting it straightened out now and not after three years of hating life as a veterinarian.

 

[Moonpaw]

she was convinced by advisors that her grades wouldnt get her into med school, so she should do vet school instead. i know, i know, insanity.

wow...I feel REALLY bad for anyone who had her advisors, because that's really horrible advice. Not to mention straight-up WRONG.

 

[VAgirl]

wow...I feel REALLY bad for anyone who had her advisors, because that's really horrible advice. Not to mention straight-up WRONG.

Pre-med advisors at schools with really competitive pre-med programs (often ones with really good med schools) are, for the most part, pure evil. I would rather chew off one of my own limbs than go talk to one of them. (At my school they tried to pass themselves off as pre-health, so they covered vet and dental school applicants, too, but as we weren't required to use them, I refused to.) They see themselves as the gatekeepers to the medical profession in this country. They appear as though they're trying to help, but in reality, they're trying to keep their ratio of pre-med students who applied to med school vs. pre-med students accepted to med school as high as possible. This is their sole objective. I've had more friends than I can count come away from meetings with pre-med advisors in tears and shattered.

 

[bakaduin]

Whats uglier puppy mills and neglect or HMOs?

All joking aside, go where you think you will be happiest. If youve volunteered at the Mayo Clinic and enjoy it more than go for it!

 

[theunraveler]

why settle for one if u can do both

 

[JumptheMoon]

not really a mistake if it makes you even more passionate about your original goals.

very well said.

 

[greenie53]

I too love the general field of medicine and currently have experience in both vet med and human med.

Two years ago I was pre-med, and I had a great experience on a medical service trip down to Costa Rica, but I was not doing well on the practice mcats. I decided to switch directions to vet med knowing that I enjoyed working at a vet clinic in high school, lifestyle reasons, insurance bs, and also the poor mcat results.

Within that last year, I was able to gain more vet med experience totaling ~1200 hrs but much of the work felt like I was just trying to get hours because I knew how big of a deal experience is for vet school admissions. I did enjoy some parts of volunteering and I do love animals. I applied to veterinary schools this past September, and by November, I had convinced myself that I was not going to get in because everyone says how hard it is. Plus, I began an animal nutrition course online and I really didn't like learning about what to feed a chicken/cow/.. and why. I am a small animal person and really don't find learning about farm animals exciting in the least.

In December, I had decided to go back to the medical field- MD or perhaps Physician's Assistant because I like primary care and the lifestyle is more manageable, although you must give up your autonomy... To fill up the supposed gap in application time, I started this semester to take public health classes and applied to a public health school- I really like my environmental health sciences class

January: I was accepted so far to 3 veterinary schools + 2 interviews in February, and I was shocked. Now I am so very confused and do not know what to do because I like/dislike aspects about both fields and each day the direction I think I'm leaning changes. I feel like I convinced myself out of vet med just based on the fear of rejection from veterinary schools.

Please help me! I do not know what to do and must come up with a decision by April!

(Other general characteristics about me that may help anyone who feels kind enough to submit an opinion regarding my sticky situation:
I am a laid back person, and I feel like I definitely fit in better with the vet kids crowd than the med kids. I am passionate about the science of how things work (got a BSE in biomedical engineering) but am not a fan of research because I love/need human interaction in my daily life. I simply love helping medically all beings, but cannot for the life of me decide which species I like helping more. Each field has issues: grumpy/stinky people <> mean/smelly dogs...

Also, while growing up, I never really "dreamed" of being this or that unlike other kids. I was very serious about classical music for a while and I liked biology and learning how things worked in the body. I just enjoyed my BSE degree and apparently didn't think/plan hard enough about my future options and now I'm paying for it. I honestly think I could do either vet med or human med and be pretty happy with it, but I can't figure out which one makes me happier- I've had good and bad experiences with both )

 

[Hobiecat1642]

Two years ago I was pre-med, and I had a great experience on a medical service trip down to Costa Rica, but I was not doing well on the practice mcats. I decided to switch directions to vet med knowing that I enjoyed working at a vet clinic in high school, lifestyle reasons, insurance bs, and also the poor mcat results.

Within that last year, I was able to gain more vet med experience totaling ~1200 hrs but much of the work felt like I was just trying to get hours because I knew how big of a deal experience is for vet school admissions. I did enjoy some parts of volunteering and I do love animals. I applied to veterinary schools this past September, and by November, I had convinced myself that I was not going to get in because everyone says how hard it is. Plus, I began an animal nutrition course online and I really didn't like learning about what to feed a chicken/cow/.. and why. I am a small animal person and really don't find learning about farm animals exciting in the least.

In December, I had decided to go back to the medical field- MD or perhaps Physician's Assistant because I like primary care and the lifestyle is more manageable, although you must give up your autonomy... To fill up the supposed gap in application time, I started this semester to take public health classes and applied to a public health school- I really like my environmental health sciences class

Congrats on getting in, some vet schools do have the combined MPH/DVM programs, so if you like that you might want to look into it. In terms of not liking animal nutrition/farm animal stuff, some pre-vet students that I know really don't have any interest in LA, i don't know that this means you won't like veterinary school. One part of what you've written that would make me think your heart is not in it is where you mention you felt like you were just collecting hours for vet med. I also felt pressured to obtain experience, but I did honestly enjoy working/volunteering. Did you work in a clinical setting? That's probably the best way to tell if you'll like vet med, especially since you wrote that you wanted to be a practioner and not a researcher.

 

[Hobiecat1642]

Oops, tried to quote you there, but it didn't quite work out. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Angelo84]

I too love the general field of medicine and currently have experience in both vet med and human med.

Two years ago I was pre-med, and I had a great experience on a medical service trip down to Costa Rica, but I was not doing well on the practice mcats. I decided to switch directions to vet med knowing that I enjoyed working at a vet clinic in high school, lifestyle reasons, insurance bs, and also the poor mcat results.

Within that last year, I was able to gain more vet med experience totaling ~1200 hrs but much of the work felt like I was just trying to get hours because I knew how big of a deal experience is for vet school admissions. I did enjoy some parts of volunteering and I do love animals. I applied to veterinary schools this past September, and by November, I had convinced myself that I was not going to get in because everyone says how hard it is. Plus, I began an animal nutrition course online and I really didn't like learning about what to feed a chicken/cow/.. and why. I am a small animal person and really don't find learning about farm animals exciting in the least.

In December, I had decided to go back to the medical field- MD or perhaps Physician's Assistant because I like primary care and the lifestyle is more manageable, although you must give up your autonomy... To fill up the supposed gap in application time, I started this semester to take public health classes and applied to a public health school- I really like my environmental health sciences class

January: I was accepted so far to 3 veterinary schools + 2 interviews in February, and I was shocked. Now I am so very confused and do not know what to do because I like/dislike aspects about both fields and each day the direction I think I'm leaning changes. I feel like I convinced myself out of vet med just based on the fear of rejection from veterinary schools.

Please help me! I do not know what to do and must come up with a decision by April!

(Other general characteristics about me that may help anyone who feels kind enough to submit an opinion regarding my sticky situation:
I am a laid back person, and I feel like I definitely fit in better with the vet kids crowd than the med kids. I am passionate about the science of how things work (got a BSE in biomedical engineering) but am not a fan of research because I love/need human interaction in my daily life. I simply love helping medically all beings, but cannot for the life of me decide which species I like helping more. Each field has issues: grumpy/stinky people <> mean/smelly dogs...

Also, while growing up, I never really "dreamed" of being this or that unlike other kids. I was very serious about classical music for a while and I liked biology and learning how things worked in the body. I just enjoyed my BSE degree and apparently didn't think/plan hard enough about my future options and now I'm paying for it. I honestly think I could do either vet med or human med and be pretty happy with it, but I can't figure out which one makes me happier- I've had good and bad experiences with both )

Solely from your post it sounds like you are not all that enthusiastic about vet school. It sounds like working as a vet is sort of a neutral position for you. If that is how you feel then I would go to med school (if you feel more enthusiastic about that). Although one option is to take the DVM/MPH option you still have to learn about all animals. There will be less of this at schools that track--ie allow you to focus your time on small animal/exotics/large animal etc. You still need to learn about farm animals though because they will be on your national boards. Personally I am interested in small animals but it is still interesting to learn how a cow works. Nutrition courses in my limited experience aren't that much fun though...

Good luck!

 

[pomchi1]

I too love the general field of medicine and currently have experience in both vet med and human med.

Two years ago I was pre-med, and I had a great experience on a medical service trip down to Costa Rica, but I was not doing well on the practice mcats. I decided to switch directions to vet med knowing that I enjoyed working at a vet clinic in high school, lifestyle reasons, insurance bs, and also the poor mcat results.

Within that last year, I was able to gain more vet med experience totaling ~1200 hrs but much of the work felt like I was just trying to get hours because I knew how big of a deal experience is for vet school admissions. I did enjoy some parts of volunteering and I do love animals. I applied to veterinary schools this past September, and by November, I had convinced myself that I was not going to get in because everyone says how hard it is. Plus, I began an animal nutrition course online and I really didn't like learning about what to feed a chicken/cow/.. and why. I am a small animal person and really don't find learning about farm animals exciting in the least.

In December, I had decided to go back to the medical field- MD or perhaps Physician's Assistant because I like primary care and the lifestyle is more manageable, although you must give up your autonomy... To fill up the supposed gap in application time, I started this semester to take public health classes and applied to a public health school- I really like my environmental health sciences class

January: I was accepted so far to 3 veterinary schools + 2 interviews in February, and I was shocked. Now I am so very confused and do not know what to do because I like/dislike aspects about both fields and each day the direction I think I'm leaning changes. I feel like I convinced myself out of vet med just based on the fear of rejection from veterinary schools.

Please help me! I do not know what to do and must come up with a decision by April!

(Other general characteristics about me that may help anyone who feels kind enough to submit an opinion regarding my sticky situation:
I am a laid back person, and I feel like I definitely fit in better with the vet kids crowd than the med kids. I am passionate about the science of how things work (got a BSE in biomedical engineering) but am not a fan of research because I love/need human interaction in my daily life. I simply love helping medically all beings, but cannot for the life of me decide which species I like helping more. Each field has issues: grumpy/stinky people <> mean/smelly dogs...

Also, while growing up, I never really "dreamed" of being this or that unlike other kids. I was very serious about classical music for a while and I liked biology and learning how things worked in the body. I just enjoyed my BSE degree and apparently didn't think/plan hard enough about my future options and now I'm paying for it. I honestly think I could do either vet med or human med and be pretty happy with it, but I can't figure out which one makes me happier- I've had good and bad experiences with both )

hey greenie53,
i had a somewhat similar experience. i seriously pursued classical music at a conservatory for a while. i never specifically planned for a future in anything, i just practiced a lot and took things as the came. then, one day i starting taking classes outside of the music school, and somhow did the pre-reqs for pre-med. my dad discouraged me from being a MD (being a doctor today can be messed up, depending on where you work, with insurance issues, double-booking of patients, malpractice, longgggg hours, etc). he said i would be happier as a DVM. so i got some hours for my vet application, applied, and got in. it feels weird, once this isn't the realization of some childhood dream like many of the pre-vets i know. anyhow, at first i wasn't 100% sure what i wanted to do, but i just picked an option, stuck with it, and now it's growing on me more and more everyday. i think if you love animals and are good at science, a vet is better than a doctor. they make less, but i think you will have a better quality of life.
here's a link to a new york times article from last month called "the falling down professions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/fashion/06professions.html?pagewanted=2

and here are some highlights:

"As of 2006, nearly 60 percent of doctors polled by the American College of Physician Executives said they had considered getting out of medicine because of low morale, and nearly 70 percent knew someone who already had."

"Doctors face similar pressure. Complaints about managed care crimping doctors’ income and authority over medical decisions are nothing new, but the problems are only getting worse, several doctors said."

"Increasing workloads and paperwork might be tolerable if the old feeling of authority were still the same, doctors said. But patients who once might have revered them for their knowledge and skill often arrive at the office armed with a sense of personal expertise, gleaned from a few hours on www.WebMD.com, doctors said, not to mention a disdain for the medical system in general.

“If the topic comes up in cocktail party talk, you’ll hear nightmare stories from people as they’ve gone through the system — ‘they gave me the wrong pill,’ et cetera,” said Dr. Gregg Broffman, 57, a former pediatrician who is now a medical director of a primary care group in Buffalo. “In terms of my own self-esteem, it feels like a personal attack.”

 

[david594]

Each field has issues: grumpy/stinky people <> mean/smelly dogs...

Working on the clinical side of things in vet medicine has both of those. People are not happy to be told that it will be $200 to neuter their cat, never mind >$1000 to remove that spoon their dog just swallowed. They will also be unhappy with you that their yearly exam with vaccines and a fecal are >$100. The only difference with vet med is that you are not doing the procedures on the grump stinky people.

 

[VAgirl]

There is, of course, always the option of taking time off. I think that can do wonders for knowing what you want to do. And given how hard both vet med and human med curricula are, I think it would be really hard to soldier through without knowing you really want it. Obviously, that's harder already being accepted. But some schools do allow deferments, though some require that you have extenuating circumstances. If I were you, I'd first check to see if any of the schools you applied to would let you defer for non-extenuating circumstances. Then I'd check to see if any of the schools would consider your issue an extenuating circumstance. Then I'd consider the option of going to vet school versus trying for human med versus the idea of taking a step back from all of it for a while.

I know it can look bad to decline admissions (and I'm sure it's unpleasant to think about possibly applying again), but I can't imagine it looks great to start one type of medical school, withdraw, and then shoot for another. I'm sure one could find ways to explain that and still end up able to gain admission to the other type of med school (vet or human) but it might add certain complications.

Just my thoughts.

 

[greenie53]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I really appreciate them, any opinions are really helpful.

I have worked in clinical settings (both sides) and I was always fascinated by the gory surgeries regardless of what species the surgery was performed on. It's just so frustrating right now because I often feel like the more experience I get, more I see the full picture of both sides: mean, at first, you usually see all the positive things about the profession, but now I go and I can see all of the problems that each side has. Now, I'm not at all saying that seeing these problems has turned me off from these professions, but it makes the decisions more complicated.

Money is a huge issue in veterinary medicine, people coming in with animals badly in need of medicine that they cannot afford to pay for, people being upset for what they think are high bills..etc.

And of course there's all the insurance bs in human med. Which is one reason why if I chose human medicine, I have been thinking about physicians assistants. I honestly do not know that much about them, except that they are essentially the new face of primary care- which is what I am interested in. They make about the same money (as vets), half the school, can prescribe, diagnose, better lifestyle than the physicians, but are missing the autonomy physicians have. My only big fear here is that I would be selling myself short... meaning, I know that I can handle medical school, I don't think I'd be that happy doing it, but not many are- it's mainly the lifestyle that bothers me. I eventually want a family and do not want to be married to my job.

VAgirl,
I have just started a masters in public health, and I have been out of undergrad since last may, so I am just getting very antsy to make a decision. I think if I want, I can finish the MPH in a year and maybe defer. I need to check with some of the schools for deferment options. Unfortunately, Colorado state does not allow deferments and that is the only one I have checked thus far.

Pomchi1,
Your post was really reassuring. I too agree that I think I could come to enjoy whatever I put my heart to. It's just so hard to make a blind leap right now. I really wish there was another way for me to know for sure which one would bring me more happiness, but the way I feel about each field literally changes each day...one day I'm thinking, vet med is a good way to go, and the other day, I think human med is it. It's all just based on my experiences day to day.