When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian!

How many of you have said this or have heard one of your kids, nieces, nephews say this?

If I had to guess, I would say… a lot of you!

Funny thing is, I don’t know if I was ever that kid.

I was the kid that loved animals and tried to bring them all home, but I think I actually wanted to be a teacher! YIKES! Trust me when I say, I am no teacher! Yet, here I am writing for the purpose of educating fellow animal lovers and pet parents?

Anyways, as I got older, I knew I liked medicine. Well, it was between medicine and computers – two completely different careers! And to add to the ‘important life decision’ problem, I am the worst for making decisions! Indecisiveness at it’s best right here!

I thought the most logical thing to do was actually get a job at a vet clinic just to see first hand what it was all about. You see, back then social media was not really a thing. I didn’t have all the information and the personal experiences from others that had gone through this process at the tip of my fingers like we do today.

Looking back, I guess you could say the job was a good plan of action and it made me fall in love with the profession, but even still I was going into it a little blindly.

I knew very little about veterinary wages, overtime pay, schedules, and probably the most important aspect – schooling! I didn’t have very many details available to me and even though I don’t think it would have changed my end game, I still wonder if I would have done things differently.

Let’s get to the juicy details.

Veterinary wages.

Veterinarians do not make a lot of money for the schooling and work that they do. There I said it. And even though some of you realize this, there are still those people that make comments like – ‘Vets are a big rip off, they just want my money.’ Hmmmmm okay.

So just in case it is not clear yet, if you are going into the profession for the money you will be very disappointed, frustrated, and maybe feel some resentment towards it. I know I have felt all of the above at some point in my career.

If you google starting wages for a veterinarian they are a bit all over the place. It does depend on location and type of practice, but in Canada I think a fair average would be $75,000CAD starting out. So let that sink in for a minute. If you really want to cry convert that into USD.

Overtime pay. What even is that?

Apparently veterinarians are exempt from overtime pay. Wow.

Yeah you heard that right. Sure, work 60, 70, 80 hours a week, but you won’t be compensated for it. The thing is, most veterinarians want to save the world so they will put in the time for their patients regardless of what it takes and how little they will get in return financially, and that my friends is what I like to call the start of the perfect storm for burnout. It ain’t pretty, but on the upside it is completely preventable!

What about the typical day to day schedules? What hours am I expected to work? Weekends? Night shifts? On-call shifts?

That all depends. The location where you are practicing (big city, suburb, rural) and what type of practice you want to work at will determine the type of schedule you may be expected to work. You can find general practices that are open just for day time hours, but more and more we are seeing practices extending hours to accommodate more pets and more pet parents. If you are an adrenaline junky or night owl then then maybe emergency is the thing for you. These hospitals are open 24/7 and will have different shifts to work to have coverage at all hours of the day and night.

What about on-call shifts? These are also a thing, maybe not as common where I am as it was before, but if you don’t care for being called in at all hours of the night then maybe look for a hospital where on-call is not a thing.

As new grads, don’t be afraid to shop around for a job that suits your needs. Trust me when I say veterinarians are a hot commodity these days and the profession is changing. We are becoming more aware of what is acceptable and what we no longer have to continue to tolerate from our place of employment or our clients for that matter.

Work life balance is something I encourage all veterinarians and future veterinarians to strive for. Not only does this decrease the likelihood of burnout, compassion fatigue, and dislike for the profession, but it is something that will make you a better veterinarian and a better person all around.

So now, how the hell do I become a veterinarian?

I probably should have started with schooling, but hopefully you read through just to get to this part.

Well, let me tell you – It is quite the journey!

I’ll share my process with you below which was not the easy, straightforward track, but regardless it got me to where I am today.

1. I attended university and graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree (4 years)
2. I applied to vet school in the States and was not accepted my first year
3. I applied to vet school in the States and off shore (St. Kitts and Grand Cayman) the following year and got accepted to the off shore schools.
4. I attended St. Matthew’s University School of Veterinary Medicine, charter class baby! woopwoop!
5. My fourth year of vet school was completed at North Carolina State University
6. I applied to take the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Exam) and passed
7. I enrolled in the ECFVG certification program (The Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates – basically additional boards examinations to prove I have the appropriate education to practice as a veterinarian in North America), and also passed this two part, expensive, nerve racking and frustrating process.

I also completed a rotating small animal internship but this is optional. You can completely skip this step and go straight into practice, which is typically what most graduates do because by the time you get to 4th year, you are so done with school and being extra poor!

If you do all of the above and pass all of your exams you are pretty much good to practice veterinary medicine in North America. You will need additional licensing in the state or province you will be practicing in but that varies from state to state.

In a nutshell, you are looking at a minimum of 8 years of schooling and a starting salary around $75,000. Insert eye roll. Just being honest.

I know this doesn’t paint the prettiest picture of the process for the profession but it is the information that needs to be out there. The people that are doing it are not doing it for the glitz and glam or the money for that matter, and that needs to be shared with the world!

It’s true passion for the animals and the profession!

If you want to know more drop a comment below or send me a message and I will do my best to reply as best as I can.