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Do you regret becoming a vet?
I don't want to waste my time starting to become a vet just to regret trying to become one.
#veterinary-technician #veterinary-medicine #veterinarian #animals
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Roseanne’s Answer
What are you passionate about? Does it have anything to do with being a vet?
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Michael’s Answer
My answer is no. I graduated over twenty years ago so I have been in this career for quite some time. I think Julie's answer is spot-on; let me talk about some additional things. Regret is something that takes time; you look back on something you did in the past and you feel that if you had to do it over again, you might do it differently. Regret is often associated with sadness, as per definition I found on the internet. Before I give a more complete answer than 'No," let me say that, when I look more closely at your question, I think your own experience is exactly that; your own. If you get started in vet school and after a year or two you see that you don't like it, it's really only a year or two you invested. That may seem very long, and might even represent a sizable monetary investment, but when you compare it to a career that should last, say 40 or even more years, it's not really long enough to allow you to form anything more deep-seated than frustration or exhaustion or lack of motivation. I remember the dean of our vet school spoke on our first day and told us we deserved to be there and that the school was invested (meaning they also invest in you) in our success. Additionally, the first year or two of vet school especially are very much full with still general medical science courses like histology, anatomy, physiology, pathology; again, as I said something similar in an answer to another question, the curriculum is broad and comprehensive and, because it is rigorous, yes, there is always a chance you might feel like your time would have been well spent elsewhere, but no, you definitively will not feel like you wasted your time. I feel that one should distinguish between true regrets and choices one makes for a school or later in a career that takes them down a certain path. At one point, I had to choose between human and veterinary medicine. My father being a vet I felt I had gotten to be exposed more to what a veterinarian does and hence there was a more meaningful connection to this career. I think Roseanne's answer points towards knowing if you have had contact with animals and have liked it. What I like about this career is that I could integrate my language skills into the more scientific aspects of pharmaceuticals assessment: I was active in France for over 15 years in a 100% French-speaking work environment, but regularly went to the European Medicines Agency in London where English was spoken, but also many other languages. So think about your other talents, too, because they should not be sacrificed either in pursuit of a DVM. There were often discussions with my colleagues that were very complex, but at the end of the day our teams also worked hard to communicate our knowledge about medicines in an as clear way as possible that was understandable by the public at large. Veterinarian is consistently amongst the most trusted professions. Farmers rely on our skills; zoos do. The general public does when it comes to animal and public health. And families entrust us with their loved ones. It makes me think of that Spiderman film: Great powers come with great responsibilities. It's a noble profession to treat those that cannot tell us what's wrong. And as we see in the time of a global pandemic, animals continue to need our care; it is also essential.