Vet School or Med School?

[ml222]

I need to decide between vet school and med school. I have been accepted into both and don't know what I want to do. I have 2 days to decide and I am completely neutral. Has anyone had the same issue? How did you decide?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JaynaAli]

if you’re not 100% sold on vet med, choose med school. At least you’ll get better pay out of it in the end. You can volunteer or do something with animals with your free time and extra income if you choose to later on.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

I agree alot with JaynaAli but I'm sure med school people will tell you the same thing and to choose vet med. Pro and cons lists really help me, maybe it'll help you. Do some soul searching about what you really want to do. Like does knowing topics really in depth (med) something you like or does knowing alot of things at the surface level intrigue you more (vet med). Are you ok with knowing you'll have to do internship and residency after med school or do you want to just do 4 years of school and be done (most likely end up in small animal gp). Just some food for fodder-really depends on your goals and wants in life which might be a better suit. If you're truly neutral go to med school so you can make extra money to have animals as your hobby. Fwiw many people equate vets to pediatricians so if becoming a pediatrician (minus the human child aspect) seems appealing maybe vet med is for you vs human med

 

[battie]

'm sure med school people will tell you the same thing and to choose vet me

Brb as I go check if this was also posted there 🤣

 

[finnickthedog]

If you have a decent understanding of both professions (which I hope you do if you're at the stage of handling acceptances) and you're still torn then I can't see any reason not to go with the option that pays better which is human medicine.

But what do YOU see as the pros and cons of each? Why did you apply to both?

 

[Georgethecat]

It looks like you were in this same position last year. Were you able to defer your acceptances or did you reapply this cycle?

 

[battie]

I saw you posted that you would be happy as long as you were able to go into your chosen specialty. That is by far not guaranteed in either profession. However, you will still specialize in something in human med. However, in vet med you could never specialize as a GP in vet med is much more general than in human med.

 

[supershorty]

I saw you posted that you would be happy as long as you were able to go into your chosen specialty. That is by far not guaranteed in either profession. However, you will still specialize in something in human med. However, in vet med you could never specialize as a GP in vet med is much more general than in human med.

This answer they got over there is making me giggle, so I'm bringing it over here to share with everyone:

If you like money: med school.
If you like not money: vet school.

 

[genny]

This answer they got over there is making me giggle, so I'm bringing it over here to share with everyone:

Accurate though

 

[DVMDream]

Looked at this post on the pre-med side. Typed up giant response to the poster who was complaining about vet med being "for profit" and running "unnecessary tests" then deleted it all because it isn't worth my time posting it there because someone with that attitude who constantly calls up and complains to a corporate just to get money back is an entitled jerk face. These corporate places will refund anyone just to get them to go away and leave them alone, regardless if said refund was deserved or not. The corporates rarely back up the vet and defend them, which is a huge problem if you are electing vet medicine, be prepared to be thrown under the bus and for corporates to bow to pet owners at any tiny complaint they make even if their complaint is entirely unfounded and crap.

Vet med does have a lot of corporations coming in and taking over a good portion of veterinary medicine. For me, the biggest issue is the management from these companies. Everything is about doing it faster, more and more and more. They focus on how many animals you have seen and enforce this idea that seeing more is better. More is always better, do more, more, more. When, in reality, quality and building a repore with the client is better, but when you have a corporate employer who has never actually worked a day in medicine and is just a business suit, they don't get it. All they can see is that more should be better. I just ignore them honestly and make sure I provide quality to my patients and cases.

BUT, going human medicine won't get you away from that mentality. At all. I have had MDs tell me that they are evaluated on the number of patients they see as well, they are given so much time to see each patient. My mom once had a timer go off while she was at a Dr office and the Dr told her that they were "getting onto her" for spending too much time with each patient and started setting her a timer for 7 minutes. Seven minutes. The Dr ignored that timer, of course.

Unlike what that poster in the pre-med forum stated, corporation does not force you to offer "unnecessary tests". I can't think of a single test that is "unnecessary" unless I start radiographing limbs on a patient that doesnt' have a limb problem. What people perceive as "unnecessary" is "I don't want to pay for that so I have decided it is not needed". People also don't understand that vets are required to offer gold standard care, if I don't offer blooodwork and radiographs for your vomiting dog and your dog's intestines perforate from a foreign body and the dog dies, I am responsible and if a board complaint is made I will be held accountable via a fine and likely required to obtain additional CE +/- have license on probation status or something like that. There is a huge uptick in people filing board complaints and lawsuits against vets (founded and unfounded), so it is important you offer gold standard care. If the owner wants to start with symptomatic treatment, that is their decision to make. Just because symptomatic care works, doesn't make the offered testing "unnecessary".

As far as picking human or vet med-- they both have negatives and postitives. At least in human medicine you will make more money while putting up with the crap. Also if you do decide you need to exit stage left because the career isn't what you thought it would be, you can do that much more quickly in human medicine. The low salary and high debt in vet med literally chains you to the career.

 

[ml222]

Sounds like everyone is suggesting medical school so I guess that's what I will do. Thank you.

 

[FarmGirl2]

Sounds like everyone is suggesting medical school so I guess that's what I will do. Thank you.

Good luck! I did med school and am now in vet school. They are extremely different in both school and career. I hope that you made the right decision for you.

 

[twelvetigers]

This answer they got over there is making me giggle, so I'm bringing it over here to share with everyone:

I went all the way over there specifically to reply to that comment with a chef's kiss, but they closed the damn thread because it was a 'duplicate thread.' Damn moderators actually doing their job over there.

Damn, who even moderates in here these days? I don't even know! I don't pay attention!

 

[supershorty]

I went all the way over there specifically to reply to that comment with a chef's kiss, but they closed the damn thread because it was a 'duplicate thread.' Damn moderators actually doing their job over there.

Damn, who even moderates in here these days? I don't even know! I don't pay attention!

Me and Dubz and dyachei lol

 

[sheltermed]

I did med school and am now in vet school.

Would love to hear more about your background and experience! Did you get entirely through med school? If so, did you work as a medical doctor for a period of time? What made you go the vet route?

 

[FarmGirl2]

I worked as a medical doctor for many years. However, the medical system has become very corporate and insurance driven. I also was just ready for a big change. I am now working towards becoming a large animal vet.

 

[Skimble]

I worked as a medical doctor for many years. However, the medical system has become very corporate and insurance driven. I also was just ready for a big change. I am now working towards becoming a large animal vet.

I hope you made/saved enough as an MD to pay for vet school! I was thinking about that recently and thought it would be a good plan, except for the huge time commitment.

 

[wildpuppy]

I’ve considered Med school in the past but I really don’t want to do a residency

 

[battie]

I’ve considered Med school in the past but I really don’t want to do a residency

I don't blame you. I didn't do an internship or residency either. With that being said, my cousin who will be going through match for human medicine this next cycle and my friends in vet med residencies have said that residency is much better than internship year and ove all leads to better long term finances. So it comes down to if the time/effort is worth the money 3-5 years later.

 

[FarmGirl2]

I hope you made/saved enough as an MD to pay for vet school! I was thinking about that recently and thought it would be a good plan, except for the huge time commitment.

I have been working as an MD part time during vet school in order to pay for it. It took me over 16 years to pay off my Med School debt. I am definitely not going through that again.

 

[Skimble]

I have been working as an MD part time during vet school in order to pay for it. It took me over 16 years to pay off my Med School debt. I am definitely not going through that again.

I wish it would only take me 16y to pay off my student loans! 😂

 

[honeypot999]

Hello, I’m on the waitlist for two schools and I am currently Existential crisis and panic attack. My plan was to always become a veterinarian, so I never had a back up plan. It was all I have ever wanted to do, but what If I am not fortunate enough to get pulled from either waitlist. What then? Do I reapply for a third time and hope that I will be selected? For reference I have a 3.55 gpa, 3.67 last 48 hour gpa, 3000+ shadowing hours, worked at vet offices ranging from small animal to live stock for 9 years, actively helping with rescuing and rehoming animals, and even did an internship at a local animal sanctuary….. I don’t know what else I can do to improve my application when applicants with 3.8 GPAs are being rejected too. I am currently a vet tech, but vet techs barely make $17 which isn’t livable. Do I chose a different career path? Someone please give me some guidance as to what to do in the event that I’m not accepted. Please help me

Please make a WAMC post in the correct forum instead of commenting on other people’s post.

 

[twelvetigers]

Me and Dubz and dyachei lol

Volunteer staff, eh? I guess that's accurate enough. I don't notice without actual badges.