Vet query

LegacyUser

Hi, I've applied to return to college as a mature student to study veterinary, with the aim of becoming a "country" vet versus a "small animal" one. I've been doing some work experience& it seems to be a fairly manic life(working every second weekend, when rostered; on call 24/7)....anyone out there work in this area? Is it fairly arduous on your personal life? (meeting people, new relationships, family, ect)

andreac

Im not a vet but i work with horses and would know a lot of vets and the type of work they do.

Our resident vet here on the stud would be on call a lot and could get called out during the night and still have to be up for morning rounds the next morning so it can be a very tough job with long hours and not much time off.

The country style vet with farms etc would be very, very manic esp during the lambing and calving season and with the foaling season with horses too so it would be a very tough life with little time off, not something i would go into unless you are really really committed to it.

Dont think all the money in the world would pay me to be a vet, and i adore animals and work with them.:o

Wisco

Yes, working in a rural area as a vet can be very difficult (I'm not one -yet- but have worked with a few). If you're working on your own or with 1 other person, you can pretty much kiss a personal life goodbye. Normal office hours don't apply and even your time off can get taken up with emergencies etc. And the money is not as good as everyone seems to think it is!!
I do know that there's no mature entry to vet medicine in Ireland, although you can get in as a graduate if you have an hons 2.2 or better.

pinkdaisy

I'm a vet. I work in a small animal environment however, not a large animal/mixed practice but I have many friends that are working in large animal jobs in rural setting. To be honest, it depends on the kind of rota you get when you go for your first large animal job in the countryside. In Ireland, yes it is often tough and long hours, esp around Spring/Summer where you will be getting out of bed quite often at ridiculous hours to do calvings/c-sections, other emergencies. However if you manage to get into a practice where there's 3 or 4 other vets, the workload can be alot lighter and the hours a bit nicer.

There are more opportunities for work in rural setting but with a good rota abroad, even in the UK, and especially in New Zealand if you have an interest in the dairy side of things. The practices are bigger, there's more vets and the hours aren't as long. There are large animal practices in Ireland that are like this but they are few and far between from what I've heard. Having said that I have known vets that have done 1 in 2 rotas, on call every second night and every second weekend and they manage relationships and friendships and it keeps them sane!! Your time off just becomes very important and your social life is paramount.

My advice would be to go for it if you're really dedicated to becoming a vet, cos the 5 years in college isn't a walk in the park either! and you'll have to learn all the small animal stuff as well so you need to be open to working in mixed practice, as alot of rural practices would still see the odd dog or cat, so you must be able to study these species in depth and have some interest.

When the time comes for you to look for your first job, find a practice with 3 or more other vets, don't go for a 1 in 2 rota if you can help it, be open to the idea of travelling to other countries for work as vet life can be much more relaxed elsewhere. You'll get a better idea of what you want as you go through college though.

Hope that helps, sorry if it's a bit waffley! Best of luck!!