Hi there; Birdie here!
Particularly as I'm still in Intro to Vet Med, listening to different speakers talk about different areas you can go into with a DVM, I'm feeling like writing about the Blog Topic of the Week this week: what career path/specialty are you pursuing, and how did you become interested in it? All these talks in class and at the CDC about how you're so much more creative and better and more important if you work outside of private practice make me feel almost bad about wanting to go the "traditional" route, but I think I have some pretty good reasons for my decision.
Right after graduation, I really want to go into private practice. My undergrad major is psychology, and I want to be helping people too. Yes, I am going to deal with the crazy people and their pets. ;) Really, I want that doctor-client relationship. I am getting a DVM so that I can treat animals, not to go into research or government work or food inspection. I'm really glad people go into those other things, but that is not what I'm getting my degree for.
Years ago I thought I wanted to go into equine medicine, mostly because I've been riding since I was 7. When I spent a summer in Ireland at an equine clinic, though, I decided that isn't what I want to do. I would rather do spays and neuters every day than look down endoscopes at cricoaretynoideus dorsalis muscles every day. And in that experience I really missed the owner interaction. Kind of one of the reasons I don't want to go into food animal medicine, too--I want to work with owners who care about their individual animal's welfare more than the money they're bringing in, or the herd in general.
I also don't really want to work in a regulatory capacity, either; I want to practice medicine! I want to diagnose what's wrong with the animal and understand what went wrong so I can make it better (or probably sometimes the latter without necessarily the former). I want to palpate the animal and look at the radiographs and listen to the lung sounds and put it together.
I am worried about the job outlook, though. I don't want to do an internship unless I'm going to do a residency and I'm kind of worried that I won't be able to find a job, in which case I want to get an internship just so I can have some work. So I guess what I'm saying is I know what I want to do right after graduation, but I'm not sure at this point how feasible that is.
Years after graduation, there's a ton of things I am thinking about doing. I would consider going back for a PhD and looking for a position in an academic institution. I might be interested in specializing or even working in a more industrial capacity, but I definitely want to work directly with animals first. For a specialty, at this point I'm most interested in either radiology or clinical pathology (aka the two clubs I'm an officer in), which fulfill my passion for figuring out diagnostics but which don't so much involve the actual animals. I've also recently (since starting vet school) started to consider owning my own practice. I really never wanted to, but since I've been going to the VBMA meetings I've started thinking I might make a great practice.
So what do I want to do when I grow up? Be a veterinarian. Beyond that, I'll figure it out when I grow up. ;)
Showing posts with label job availability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job availability. Show all posts
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
I guess I'm officially oriented now
Hi there; Birdie here!
I've never felt so official as a vet student--we had our coating ceremony this afternoon. I got my blue coat and I'm ready to put it to use! The stage in the auditorium is apparently equipped to show cows--there's a drain in the middle--but none of us tripped on either that or the raised bits at either end by the stairs. Apparently at least one person does usually, so our coordinator was proud of us. Most of the girls wore dresses, but I was in slacks and a short-sleeved button up blouse I've worn to interviews. I felt very doctorly in it, especially with my security ID badge stating that I'm a vet student clipped to my belt loop. At the end of orientation, I fully feel like I'm going to be a doctor--and that, hard as it will be, it will be worth it.
Let me back up and start from the beginning.
Our first day of official orientation (as opposed to our fun leadership activities) consisted of a lot of sitting around and listening to people. First sitting in the auditorium and being introduced to people, then sitting in our classroom and listening to people talk about the army and SCAVMA. I seriously considered applying to the army scholarship, but more of my debt is from undergrad so I'd be better off in a post-graduation repayment program--not something I have to think about right now. I'd already joined SCAVMA as soon as the email went out about how to pay dues--I'm not sure I want to be part of our student chapter of the AVMA (American vet med association), but it's the umbrella for all of our clubs. Which means you can't join clubs without being in SCAVMA, and I definitely want to join clubs. We also got our ID badges for the vet school, but unfortunately those aren't actually student IDs and we still need the student IDs from main campus. Those were a pain to get--the office is only open 8-4:30, which means it's pretty hard for us to be free to go there when they're open.
Days two and three were more of the same, except that we sat in our classroom the whole day. There were a lot of talks about stress management, about how hard this will be, etc. We got tons of free stuff (backpacks, water bottles, even a set of scrubs!) from food companies and other sponsors. I'm going to miss the free food...although honestly I'll probably still be set for a while with club lunch meetings. Four pet food companies came and talked to us--I think they all have discount/free food programs for students, too. Luckily I took notes in case I acquire a pet and those become relevant. Okay, for when I acquire a pet. I got a tablet to take my notes on, and I've been using orientation to figure it out. OneNote seems to be what most people I know use for tablet notetaking, but in my experience, it sucked. I ended up downloading LectureNotes--I paid $5 for it, but it recognizes my keyboard, is searchable as long as I type, and lets me highlight and draw, so it's better than anything else I tried.
One major talk we got that's actually worth writing about was "Your Financial Future." I was totally expecting it to be doom and gloom--I know the state of the profession lately. But actually, despite being realistic, it left me feeling positive. The average starting salary was higher than we as a class had expected, and he ran a debt calculator that showed a reasonable debt load (15% debt:income ratio) that could be paid off on a new vet's starting salary was pretty close to the debt I'll have when I graduate. And that would be paid off in 10 years, without consolidation. It's the first time I've seen anything that made this seem manageable, rather than doable with great sacrifice, and it's made me feel a lot more positive about vet school.
That doesn't do much to reassure me on employment prospects of course. I'm still worried about that, despite the fact that approximately everyone tells me I don't need to yet. One of the alumni who came in (who works in private practice, a non-specialist) could only get part time work and had to fill in with relief work. She's very happy with it, but it wasn't originally by choice. There was something promising here, too, though: apparently, there's some guy who recruits heavily from my school for vets to work in Las Vegas. They were the highest paid new graduates last year, and they get tons of respect. It's hard hours and maybe it's not what I'd want to do for long, but it might mean I can have a job right out of vet school! And if not, well, maybe the army will take me.
That logical, cautious hope combined with the feeling of signing my oath and going up on stage in my new blue coat make me more excited than ever to start vet school. This isn't just a dream anymore--I'm doing it! I hope I can make it, but for now I'm going to assume I can. Classes start tomorrow--wish me luck!
I've never felt so official as a vet student--we had our coating ceremony this afternoon. I got my blue coat and I'm ready to put it to use! The stage in the auditorium is apparently equipped to show cows--there's a drain in the middle--but none of us tripped on either that or the raised bits at either end by the stairs. Apparently at least one person does usually, so our coordinator was proud of us. Most of the girls wore dresses, but I was in slacks and a short-sleeved button up blouse I've worn to interviews. I felt very doctorly in it, especially with my security ID badge stating that I'm a vet student clipped to my belt loop. At the end of orientation, I fully feel like I'm going to be a doctor--and that, hard as it will be, it will be worth it.
Let me back up and start from the beginning.
Our first day of official orientation (as opposed to our fun leadership activities) consisted of a lot of sitting around and listening to people. First sitting in the auditorium and being introduced to people, then sitting in our classroom and listening to people talk about the army and SCAVMA. I seriously considered applying to the army scholarship, but more of my debt is from undergrad so I'd be better off in a post-graduation repayment program--not something I have to think about right now. I'd already joined SCAVMA as soon as the email went out about how to pay dues--I'm not sure I want to be part of our student chapter of the AVMA (American vet med association), but it's the umbrella for all of our clubs. Which means you can't join clubs without being in SCAVMA, and I definitely want to join clubs. We also got our ID badges for the vet school, but unfortunately those aren't actually student IDs and we still need the student IDs from main campus. Those were a pain to get--the office is only open 8-4:30, which means it's pretty hard for us to be free to go there when they're open.
Days two and three were more of the same, except that we sat in our classroom the whole day. There were a lot of talks about stress management, about how hard this will be, etc. We got tons of free stuff (backpacks, water bottles, even a set of scrubs!) from food companies and other sponsors. I'm going to miss the free food...although honestly I'll probably still be set for a while with club lunch meetings. Four pet food companies came and talked to us--I think they all have discount/free food programs for students, too. Luckily I took notes in case I acquire a pet and those become relevant. Okay, for when I acquire a pet. I got a tablet to take my notes on, and I've been using orientation to figure it out. OneNote seems to be what most people I know use for tablet notetaking, but in my experience, it sucked. I ended up downloading LectureNotes--I paid $5 for it, but it recognizes my keyboard, is searchable as long as I type, and lets me highlight and draw, so it's better than anything else I tried.
One major talk we got that's actually worth writing about was "Your Financial Future." I was totally expecting it to be doom and gloom--I know the state of the profession lately. But actually, despite being realistic, it left me feeling positive. The average starting salary was higher than we as a class had expected, and he ran a debt calculator that showed a reasonable debt load (15% debt:income ratio) that could be paid off on a new vet's starting salary was pretty close to the debt I'll have when I graduate. And that would be paid off in 10 years, without consolidation. It's the first time I've seen anything that made this seem manageable, rather than doable with great sacrifice, and it's made me feel a lot more positive about vet school.
That doesn't do much to reassure me on employment prospects of course. I'm still worried about that, despite the fact that approximately everyone tells me I don't need to yet. One of the alumni who came in (who works in private practice, a non-specialist) could only get part time work and had to fill in with relief work. She's very happy with it, but it wasn't originally by choice. There was something promising here, too, though: apparently, there's some guy who recruits heavily from my school for vets to work in Las Vegas. They were the highest paid new graduates last year, and they get tons of respect. It's hard hours and maybe it's not what I'd want to do for long, but it might mean I can have a job right out of vet school! And if not, well, maybe the army will take me.
That logical, cautious hope combined with the feeling of signing my oath and going up on stage in my new blue coat make me more excited than ever to start vet school. This isn't just a dream anymore--I'm doing it! I hope I can make it, but for now I'm going to assume I can. Classes start tomorrow--wish me luck!
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