Becoming a veterinarian?

[cjsmith]

"Veterinarian" is one of those "maybe-somedays" I've had in the back of my head for a long time -- probably ever since I've considered changing careers out of high tech, and that's been well over a decade.

It will take an awful lot of work to get there. Students admitted to the veterinary medicine program in Fort Collins have at least 1000 hours of working with animals in a veterinary setting and at least 1000 more hours of working with animals in some other setting (humane society, perhaps?). That adds up to a full-time year of work right there. They've got excellent foundations in chemistry and biology; I'd probably be looking at two years to beef up my science background (and not so incidentally my GPA). Then the vet program itself is four years and not exactly a cakewalk.

It's now or never. The oldest student ever admitted there was 45. If we don't move from here for at least a year I'll be a minimum of 44 when I attempt to apply. Admission to these programs is very competitive and schools would be completely reasonable to want to give the slot to someone who will likely be in practice for longer. In fact, after those three years of prep, it's quite possible I won't get admitted at all, and I don't have years to re-apply.

Am I trading one high-stress job for another? At least for the first seven years, probably I am. The academic workload will be a lot of buckling down and not much time to relax or goof off. Is it worth that much time spent, now that I'm middle-aged and a little spoiled? What about afterward? How stressful IS the job? Will I be able to go home and forget, or will I pour too much of my heart into it? Will I constantly want to stay late because it might make the difference for THIS one? Will there always be another THIS one?

Could I handle all of it emotionally? Would it rip me up to perform euthanasia when the options are running out? (Actually, probably not; I'd dislike it, but I've been there with my own and I do believe in quality of life.) How often will I face giving only the care a family can afford to an animal they honestly don't have the money to keep healthy?

Would I just start to hate neglectful pet owners? Just as some teachers will say the worst thing about their job is the parents, some veterinarians out there must be saying the worst thing about the job is the owners. Can I patch up some dog or cat One More Time and let him go home with the family that will only let him get hurt again or eat chocolate again? Would it rip me up to perform euthanasia when the family just doesn't feel like keeping the pet any more? Can I, God forgive me, do a declawing operation -- even the one I'd maybe need to do in my third year in surgery class just so I'd seen one?

Am I doing it for the right reasons? The first thing that always, always, always comes to mind is the number of animals at shelters who can't get good care because it's costly. I could volunteer for low-cost spay and neuter programs. I could work with animals the shelter feels could be adoptable with just a little bit of medical attention. These are great motives. (But, tellingly, I haven't been down there to volunteer in years. I've been insanely busy and haven't made time for it. What IS my motivation level here?) I've also always been fascinated by medical schtuff. That's a fine thing and a great indicator that maybe this is a good fit for me. But am I also doing it for approval? Do I fear losing whatever social status or family approval comes with my current salary? Does my ego want to hear someone say "Doctor CJ"? Am I scared of being the receptionist in a family of lawyers... or even in a clinic where everyone else outranks me? Am I doing this because when I was in high school I thought I wanted to be a doctor (for humans) and got intimidated and turned away from the idea?

Lots to think about.

I think it's time to take a local vet to lunch.

Comments

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I was in fact setting up to apply to UC Davis vet school, but I hit this combination of circumstances:

1) The tech side picked up and I got a job I actually like, and
2) In order to spend 6 months or so assisting a vet full time, I would have to lease (or, more likely, sell) my horses and quite possibly my house.

Faced with a plunge of that depth, I backed off. But I still have everything I'd need to apply, given that six months of assist time and taking the GREs.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ouch. I didn't know you'd have to let go of your horses to do this. If I had to give away my cats I'd be waiting until they croaked...

Do you have some assist time under your belt already, or were you going to go with six months? I don't know whether Colorado's 2000 hours is a bit more than some places want to see. I also don't know whether owning and breeding horses would count. (I'm not sure WHAT counts.)

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Writing your "animal resume" is a really good exercise for this. The UCD application is all online -- you can go poke at it without hitting submit :) and see what they're asking for.

It's been a couple years since I did this, but basically everything counts. My years in 4H, my summers with the horse trainer, all my cat and horse breeding experience, all that counts as hours spent with animals.

Veterinary assistance hours are called out separately, and I have nothing there.

Re: giving up horses -- partly it's just TIME, mostly it's financial. Even if I took a job as a vet tech, I would be hard put to it to pay the mortgage and buy hay on that kind of an hourly wage (btdt at the airport). And I'm an hour's drive or more from Davis, which is just a little far to commute for a program as demanding as vet school.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll go take a look. My guess is that I don't have a lot. I've owned cats, I've fostered kittens, I say hi to just about any animal I see on the street, and that's basically it.

TIME is a big piece isn't it? I hadn't thought of that part, but of course it's there. Including the commute. Yeesh.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

I know you've mentioned it, but if you're going to do this, run over the academic requirements NOW. You MUST have a year of o-chem (2 semesters or 3 quarters), and it's a right copper-plated bitch to schedule if you don't start in the fall. I recommend you look at SJSU, or Foothill or DeAnza, for their fall schedule, RIGHT NOW.

(I started in winter quarter. so, oh so, not recommended.)

I have no doubt whatsoever that you can handle the class work in style. But find out soon just how much pre-vet prep you're in for, because there is NO hurrying up a university. :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I ran over Colorado's requirements; if I go there I'll need two years of coursework before applying. Chem with a lab, o-chem, bio with a lab, biochem, genetics, physics WITH LAB (not sure I ever had a lab), statistics. Picking out the prereqs I could do it in two years but not in one.

Here is a possible timeline:

Fall 2008 - Quit high-tech forever, move to state with my target vet school in it. I will be about to turn 41.

2008-09 School Year - Begin volunteering at humane societies and working in vet clinic to build up experience. Gain residency in state. Take a basic chem course. Twice if I need to. Begin studying for GRE.

2009-10 School Year - Bio with lab, o-chem. Try to fit statistics or genetics or physics-with-lab in the schedule. Go summer semester for one if that works.

2010-11 School Year - biochem having o-chem as its prereq. Fit whatever didn't fit last year into the schedule, or go summer semester for it. Take the GRE.

Fall of 2011 - Apply to veterinary school. I will be about to turn 44. Oldest student ever admitted in Colorado was 45; that's probably similar elsewhere.

So, yeah, gotta decide now.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

Well, as I have demonstrated, you don't have to move and commit your life to the project in order to get the prereqs in. :) And you probably won't have any trouble convincing any school that 8.01/8.02 constitute "physics with lab" (have you looked at a MIT transcript? They call out the class and lab hours separately)

Stats is only one quarter/semester.

UC Vet also wanted physiology and embryology. (Now I look at their stuff, they didn't care if your physics was "with lab", and they also allowed a 2-quarter o-chem sequence rather than the 3-quarter "for premeds" sequence.)

Look up WICHE; it gives you in-state rights to a bunch of vet schools in the western US, if you are a resident of any of the WICHE states (EXCEPT CA!!)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

That's a good point about the move. I'm tying that to ditching the high-tech income, is all. If I go full-time as some kind of vet assistant for a year, but keep paying the mortgage on this grandiose home, my bank account is going to deflate like whoa. And if I keep working at a startup I won't taking anything else on, sadly, even a class. So hopping into Colorado (or FITB) to get started seemed like a good way to navigate all that.

Oh wow, 8.01 and 8.02 counted as having a lab? Cool! That's one down. I don't feel I have to retake physics to have the necessary fundamentals, although I do feel that way about chem.

I should look up other schools' pre-admission reqs. They probably all vary slightly, and I may as well get a handwavey plan that satisfies many, because it'd be foolish to presume I'll be admitted to the first one I think of!

I looked up WICHE for U.Colorado. Their reason for in-state rights to a big pile of places was that those places had no veterinary programs at all. That'd explain why California's out, at least for them.