I’m a DVM for both a wildlife center and an aquarium. I went to a zoo today and they said they had a discount for healthcare professionals but vets weren’t on the list?! I don’t really care about a stupid $2 discount but really? Why doesn‘t anyone acknowledge us as doctors? And at a zoo, no joke.

What apps/websites do yall use for job hunting. I’m a DVM who just wants to explore her options. I had a contract lined up straight out of school with a clinic I had worked at during vet school and didn’t have to job hunt. I’m not hell-bent on leaving, but I would like to explore other options since I feel like my expectations about mentorship have not been met. Any advice appreciated!

There are many things i love about my internship, but the long long hours are so draining. 60+ hour weeks are starting to take a toll on me and I don't know what to do. I don't know how I'll last for the next 11 months.

I don't want to lose myself in this year. Any advice is appreciated

I was just hoping to get some encouraging advice as I’m starting a new (and my second) specialty internship in neurology. I finished my first specialty internship at a very busy private practice the past month. Although I felt ready for a residency, I did not match into one. Starting this new specialty internship at a practice that hasn’t had interns before has had me feel very discouraged that I wasn’t as ready as I initially thought. I feel like I’m starting from the beginning again, and I’m not sure if that’s just me adjusting to a new attending. Any words of advice or encouragement would be appreciated - especially if anyone went through this before.

So I'm a new grad vet at a gp vet office that does spays/neuters as far as surgery goes. I have minimal practical experience so 99% of the stuff I'm doing there is a first, including the spays.

I'm watching and assisting my senior vets and they already let me do parts of spays and neuters on cats with their assistance. Today I tried to spay a cat from start to finish by myself (with the vet watching me) but even little things like opening the cat up or the order of things like what ligament to clamp first or how, where or when to put what ligature was really difficult for me. I do everything so awkwardly and especially when it comes to using the scalpel to open the abdomen I used way to little pressure because I was scared I cut something I don't want.

And then I fucked up the suture. In general when it comes to stitching the patient up my brain loses all knowledge. The way I'm inserting the needle, the suture itself, etc. feel like a newborn trying to do stuff.

The other vet helping me ended up doing the suture and he was really patient with me, something I really appreciated. But knowing I took more than an hour for a feline spay makes me feel like I'll never be suited for even simple surgeries like this, let alone something bigger like an ovarhysterectomy on a female dog. Plus on top of that I am extremely nervous and anxious while operating, which definitely is part of the reason why I get brain fog.

Did anyone else have similar experiences? I know nervousness will get better with practice but I wonder if I'm already doomed from the start with how little confidence I have in my surgical skills

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. I am a 4th year student who will be graduating in January. I mention this because I don’t have a lot of time to decide because option 1 needs an answer soon.
I have two paths available for me to take and I’m unsure which way to go.

Option 1: general practice with great mentorship. I did an externship there during 2nd year and had a great experience. They are now offering me a job. I really enjoyed the culture, mentorship, and case load. If I take this route, I plan to become ABVP boarded eventually. They have also offered me the opportunity to do urgent care and continuing education in ultrasound which is really important to me.

Option 2: doing a rotating internship with the goal of MAYBE going into internal medicine

My issue is I honestly do not think vaccine appointments are for me. This is my only reservation towards pursuing the general practice route. I really enjoy internal medicine and handling more complex cases. I’m just scared that if I don’t do an internship now I’ll close the door on the possibility of pursuing internal medicine in the future.

I guess I’m just looking for some insight and pros and cons. Thoughts on ABVP? Thoughts on internships vs mentorship?

Hello, i am a GP vet from an EU country and i am considering relocating to Sweden, i am curious if there is a want in the field for immigrants and if the language is mandatory, at what level? And well how is clinic work/life there? How much is the average salary and such? I would love some insight ❤️

It’s a no brainer that’s it become common knowledge that vetmed is notorious for a toxic work environment and a lot of it has to to do with the people. I’ve worked in shelter work and prior to that was a trainer, when working at the shelter I assisted with medical restraint and observation and care and loved it hence why I’ve continued down the medical path. I got my first job as a vet assistant finally at this small clinic, one month in and the people there are not great, I kind of expected it with being a small bougie clinic but they talk so much crap about clients, about one of the DVM’s, and now it includes me especially when I make mistakes as the new girl. It’s starting to affect me and normally stuff like that doesn’t but it really does suck when I walk into the OR area and hear them stop their whispers followed with “she’s here.” I don’t do much, I keep my head down and do my job and ask questions when I can to learn since I’m also in LVT school and hope to be a DVM someday, and I try to offer help when I can and spend my day just flipping the tables, restocking items, TPR’s, cleaning and assisting with restraint, I literally don’t do anything else and yet there’s always shared glances and snickers and slick comments under the breathe that just leaves me defeated because I’m really trying and I try to be nice. I don’t want to leave because it’s a nice gig with the perfect schedule plus I’d have to pay back my sign on bonus if I leave under a certain period which I don’t wanna do but I’ll take the L if I have to. I guess what I’m asking is what do you guys do to deal with this? I can’t be the only one who struggles with this

Hello guys. This post is going to be long but please bear with me. I'm a new grad vet. I'm 6 months out of Uni (december) and officially graduated with my degree 3 months (may). I grew up in a very unsafe environment and kept promising myself as soon I will be able to survive alone and be independent I will leave my hometown since whenever Im here all the trauma and pain I experience is just too much to handle. I'm also suffering from severe anxiety and possibly depression but I'm too trained to show that everything is fine etc and pretty scared to see a psychiatrist. (Worked with psychologist, didn't work.) Anyway, I had a plan to find a job abroad and start a new beginning there slowly. I did find a job, signed a contract and I'm basically starting there in 10 days. I'm still in my hometown, I struggled a lot to find housing and on top of that today I found out my license there was going to delay so I won't have it on time.. something my employer made clear I can't work without it (obviously.). So I panicked, had my first panic attack, till know had only anxiety attacks. Still waiting from my clinic how we will proceed if I can't start right away..and then..it happened...I was home all day crying myself out and left for 30 min. I have 2 cats. 2 Scottish folds. (Please dont judge me, I took the responsibility, I didn't know better at the time..). I returned to my room after my one baby was crying constantly very loud. My baby boy was dead. I found him dead. Literally 30min ago was with me full of joy, playing, eating. I never experienced so much pain and grief and empty in my whole life. He was my everything and this was so random and unexpected. I'm writing this while Im waiting to take him and do necropsy and find out what happened. I feel terrible, I should have known better. I'm worried I made something wrong. I'm worried if he was blocked? But wouldn't I notice? Bc I did find some urine on my bed but I have a camera and it was my girl who has a history doing it whenever I miss for some days from them. And since I didn't see him through my camera and also with no other signs I removed the thought of him being blocked. But what if I did wrong. I'm horrible. I'm a terrible vet and I didn't even start working. I don't feel I'm going to survive this field. It is too stressful. It was always been. I'm doing my best, graduated with honors, dedicated fully focused but still I feel like a fraud. I can't work as a vet. Not after experience my own baby going away this way. I don't know what I'm expecting to read and listen from you. I guess I just wanted to take it all out. I don't know how I'm going to live like this. I can't understand or believe it. I'm in shock and I'm petrified for life right now.. I can't carry it anymore.. If my employer will at any reason don't want to proceed I'm thinking of working something out of clinic..but what options do I have as a new grad with no experience..

Hi all, I posted a story time back in january about a situation with an RVT..but now i’m a VA!!! so woo more stories and more experiences

About me : I’m 19F, Currently have been at a very well known GP animal center for a little over a year now. I was originally hired as a CSR but have moved up as a VA for my RVT program (Penn Foster). Back in september I had an appendectomy gone wrong and now my whole hip and pelvis are destroyed making this career a little harder. These will make sense when I tell my story.

When i started at this clinic everything was well, and everyone was very positive in helping me learn the new software just overall really peachy! after my surgery alot of people already knew i wanted to be an RVT in which seeing a crippled 19yo CSR limp around the hospital 3-4 days a week made everyone think i was incompetent at doing my job. A couple of months ago I was offered the VA position and when my co workers heard..they weren’t happy. My training/shadowing has been subpar, if i do something wrong i get passive aggressive energy or the “what are you gonna do when your by yourself?”. A lot of my “OG” co workers now have strange animosity towards me every morning and I can’t figure it out. My hip/pelvic injury are/is controlled with medications however I still limp..It’s not really something I can control. It’s almost everyday I turn my back and hear the RVT’s and Senior VA’s talk about me and trust me i’ve gone to my manager and nothing has been fixed nor as anyone been reprimanded. I feel insecure and inferior some days when I walk into work even though i’m not incompetent. I can do blood draws, vaccines , restrain , x rays, euths..you name it but still I feel bc i’m young and slightly handicapped i’m deemed incompetent.

Should I leave this clinic and start new?

Am I being discriminated against?

Or am I just being dramatic…and i feel like i may be too sensitive for this field.

I know this is now a common topic, and I know there’s no easy solution, but I’m looking for ideas and to exchange views with other vets around the world.
I’ve been working as a vet in Italy for 10 years now; I specialise in the medicine of exotic animals, but I also deal with all the basic care for dogs and cats, as well as the emergency field (where I sometimes work non-stop for 48 consecutive hours). The clinic where I work was bought by a well-known corporate group; in short, the working conditions and pay for those who work there (as self-employed professionals here in Italy) haven’t improved, but the costs for the owners and the number of consultations I have to carry out during my working hours have.
I’ve had enough of the nature of the work, the costs, the pay, the stress, the clients, excessive working hours and this whole world.

After 10 years, apart from resilience, I have no skills I can apply in other fields.

I have a master’s degree (in exotic animal medicine), but I have no other qualifications. I couldn’t work in a slaughterhouse or in animal production for ethical reasons. What can I do to change my life for the better? What sort of job can I look forward to? Can I still make use of my degree, or do I have to throw away my years of study and sacrifice and choose a job as if I’d just left secondary school?

Thank you in advance for your attention

Does anyone else experience anxiety or a lack of objectivity about your own pet‘s health? If so, how do you manage it?

I will be starting my VM3 year this fall and my dog is scheduled to be spayed tomorrow by her regular vet. I’m very nervous about her spay and all I can think about is everything that could go wrong both during and after the procedure.

Intellectually I know that the risks are relatively low, and if it was someone else’s pet I’d be able to reassure them, but I can’t seem to reassure myself.

I'm from Brazil, I'm in the best university in Latin America, but even so, positions like clinical are very poorly paid. I'm thinking about going into the field of bovine/livestock genetics. How do these fields of work function? Is the pay good? Is it possible to go to another country in this area? Is it more focused on research and practical application? (This is still my first semester at university.)

Howdy! I'm an incoming first year vet student who is interested in direct commissioning after graduation into the Army Veterinary Corps. Would anyone who's currently in or recently retired be willing to chat with me about that process? I also have eligibility and career specs questions. I'd be really grateful for your time and insight! Thanks for considering.

Hi all,

I am an incoming second year vet student. I am wanting to go into shelter medicine immediately after graduation. I just can't decide if I should try for a shelter med internship, a small animal rotating internship, or try finding mentorship at a shelter. I have a shelter that I've been regularly working at since high school who offered me a job after graduation as they're drowning with just one doctor. I am very close to this doctor and he's a great mentor, I just worry that it would be too much for him to mentor me straight out of school (I already know I'm going to need a lot of hand holding because I struggle with confidence) and deal with his regular duties as the only vet on staff. Plus I think it would be valuable for me to see other shelters and how they run and practice medicine. Since shelter med is a relatively new path for vets, a lot of the shelter vets I know worked in some kind of GP or ER prior to switching. But tbh I have no desire to work GP, and although I'm not opposed to ER, I would much rather go straight into shelter med. But if it would be beneficial to have some sort of GP/ER foundation prior to doing that, I would consider. I guess I'm searching for some other input from other people in shelter med. I've connected with the shelter vets at my school and got some useful advice but I still find myself wanting more opinions. I know I have some time but if I'm going to be going through the match process for internships I need to start getting involved more to build an application.

can anybody from the UK please give some insight on potential career options! I’d be interested to hear people’s experiences.
I am a vet student from the UK, and I am at the stage where I need to start thinking about what I want to do long-term. My general goal in my veterinary career is to enjoy my job, make as much money as I can (ideally 60-70k+ long term), and attempt to have a (decent) work-life balance.

I have a few interests/options,

I’ve considered specialising.
I really really enjoy veterinary oncology, I have done some experience and it seems very suited for me. Long-term, as a specialist oncologist (from what I’ve heard) the pay seems VERY rewarding. Although I get concerned about the quality of life of being a resident; I went to one hospital where vets did 12+hour shifts five days a week, including being on call etc,but studying enough to pass board exams around that work schedule sounds terrible. Also im assuming the residency pay is not good for how much you are working.
I could also consider doing residencies and specialising in internal med and imaging.

Another option for me would be to become a veterinary pathologist. I really enjoy pathology, and I would love a job that gives me the option to work remotely especially with nicer hours than other jobs. Although, I get a bit afraid of the scarcity of availability to train as a veterinary pathologist in the UK, and I’m not actually sure what the pay is like.

Another option I have (that is a bit more vague) is to do a masters/PhD in something. I have always loved learning, and I do very well academically, this is mainly an option for me as my tutors at uni have recommended paid and fully funded veterinary PhD programmes to me. Of course this is very dependent on what the PhD would be, but this seems like a good option for work-life balance and as I would probably work in pharmaceutical’s/ the veterinary medicine Corporate industry after, it sounds like this would make me the most money long-term. Again, I’m just commenting on what I have heard, correct me if I’m wrong!

I would maybe consider staying as a GP vet and doing certificates, although, to be honest I think I would get a bit bored with standard GP practice after a while, and even with extra certificates I am not sure how good the pay is.

Whatever I do when I graduate, I will still try and prioritise working in clinical practice as a GP for a year or two, as I feel like new-grad experience is invaluable to learning and development.

Thank you for any advice!

Hi everybody.
I’m looking to take a break from clinic work. I always hear that our degree is so versatile, but I’m having trouble actually finding viable options. Does anyone have suggestions?

Ideally I would want a remote job that’s not client facing.

Here’s some stuff I looked into:
- insurance jobs- cannot actually find any active listings for DVMs

- Big Corp jobs (like BI)- usually requires travel 50-70% of the time. Sounds like you manage territories and educate about/ sell products. I don’t want to travel this much.

- shelter jobs- considering this. Does anyone have shelter experience they’d like to share?

- Palliative care- considering, but the salary is less than half what I would get in clinic.

- Telemedicine- lots of job available. I just can’t justify it, I think a physical exam is essential and feel like I would be doing pet owners a disservice.

- research position- usually require a lab animal residency or 2 yr research experience as a DVM

- poison control- jobs available, but not sure if I want to go that route. I would be working more hours with less pay and have to deal with stressed out clients on the phone. In my experience people tend to behave worse on the phone.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you my colleagues and friends.

Hi all!

In a bit of a pickle and want to reach out to the community. I work basically as a CVT now, but making less money. I am thinking about going back to school for my CVT, but is it worth it? I currently make about 23 an hour but at a job that’s killing me (not a clinic setting). I already have a bachelors in Animal Science livestock management with a relatively low amount of student debt (30k). Would it be worth it to effectively double that for a degree that could potentially boost my salary slightly and upgrade my happiness significantly but not be a huge pay boost…

Looking to hear any and all feedback

hi!! i want to preface with i’m NOT complaining! I really enjoy my job so far and i knew it was going to be hard work before i started.

i recently started a vet assistant job at a beautiful and well known emergency hospital in my city. i’m so grateful and happy i got this position as i’m pre-vet and being a va is basically a requirement for applications from what i’ve seen. i wasn’t hired as an overnight va but when my schedule was being made they asked if that was ok so i said sure! i figured i might as well try it.

i had 2 weeks of training from 7pm-6am sunday, monday, and tuesday, and now my regular hours are
10pm-7am thursday
8pm-7am friday
6:30pm-7am saturday

I make $16/hr in NYS so minimum wage, and i get an hour break for each shift.

i’m wondering if these are normal va hours, because they feel quite extensive. there are some other girls i work with that are prevet students and they work 7-9 hour shifts, but it’s far too late for my schedule to change so i’m ok with it until i go back to school. next summer, i will probably ask to switch to daytime or shorter shifts because my body hates overnights. let me hear your thoughts!! thank you!

In US. I'm about to graduate next year and planning to do a rotating internship. I'm debating if I should practice a few year in GP/ER after internship to pay off my debt first or go straight into residency. I've seen old post about ophtho vet making 300-350k+ but I'm not sure if its still realistic now.

Hi. I was wondering if anyone knows the pass rate for the exam or how difficult it is. I'm thinking about working as a veterinarian in the UK after I graduate.

I'll be graduating next year from an unaccredited veterinary school in Thailand, so I understand that I'll need to take the registration exam. Does anyone have any information or personal experience how hard it is?

Hi everyone, I’m a rising 2nd-year vet student. This might sound very stupid, but I’ve been struggling with the reality of being a vet student in the U.S. while my grandmother who practically raised me is back in my home country.

​As I look ahead to my career, I’m terrified that I won't have the time to see her as she ages. I’m trying to plan my future with her in mind, and I was hoping for some honest advice:

​Taking 3 weeks off: Once I’m a practicing vet, is it realistic to take 3 weeks off to visit family? I’m happy to use 2 weeks of PTO and 1 week of unpaid leave, but I’m worried if this is standard or if it's considered too much for a clinic to accommodate.

​Relief Vet timeline: I’m interested in relief work for the flexibility, but I know it requires clinical confidence. How many years of experience would you recommend before jumping into relief work? Is it feasible to consider this a few years after graduation?

​I know it’s a long way off, but knowing that there’s a path to spend meaningful time with my family would give me so much peace of mind. I’d really appreciate any insight or personal experiences you could share. Thank you!