I do know one veterinarian who later got his MD, and was my doctor for a short time. I am sure that scenario is highly unusual.
When one says apply to both, you think having an acceptance to one or the other is going to determine your career?
IMHO veterinarians have so much diversity and expertise to learn. Unless one is very passionate about being a vet.
One has to see where one’s passion is.
@SOSConcern Not necessarily (about the decision part), I was just wondering by the time it comes to apply to both if it would be normal/possible to apply to both.
I think if a blind can go to med school, you should be able to do what you wanted.
@artloversplus How funny.
Of course it is possible to apply to both, but can you do both well? Husband is a veterinarian. D2 just finished 2nd year of medical school. To apply, each had to spend years preparing, with little extra time to prepare equally well for a completely different professional school at the same time. In some significant areas the preparation does not overlap, so you would have a lot more to do to have great applications for both. MCAT for med school, GRE for vet school (though some take the MCAT), you’d have to have the time to study adequately for both tests to get a competitive score; plenty of relevant shadowing and work experience which of course would be different for vet & med school; letters of recommendation that aren’t generic, the writer would need to express how you would be a great candidate for vet/med school - would professors be comfortable making a strong case for both if your interests seem divided?
And doing all this while still trying to maintain a high GPA, volunteering, etc. Not impossible, but with your energies divided it will be harder to have applications that would be as strong as if you were to focus all your energy on either vet or med school. Only about 40% of students who apply to med school get accepted, and about 50% of students who apply to vet school are accepted, so you want to make sure you have as strong an application as possible. Time spent shadowing vets or studying for the GRE is time that could be spent shadowing human docs and studying for the MCAT - and vice versa.
“To apply, each had to spend years preparing, …”
Yes! Watching a pre-vet (formerly but I think no longer pre-med) student spending years preparing to apply to veterinary school, I see a LOT of classes and activities that are very specific to veterinary school.
For a university freshman to be undecided seems entirely reasonable. However, I don’t see how one can be undecided as an undergraduate senior and still be competitive for both majors, unless one is really a straight A+ student (so that A+'s in “Organic Chemistry” and in “Lameness in Horses” can offset the fact that you are applying to medical schools with lots of classes such as “Lameness in Horses”).
OP, at the risk of being a bit personal, have you yet had the opportunity to reach inside a cow’s stomach? Personally, that would be enough to talk me (and apparently one daughter) out of being a veterinarian. This sort of close relationship with animals seems like a very good idea if you are seriously considering veterinary school.
Thank you both for your responses.
@dheldreth This post was really helpful, so thank you for that. I don’t think I would have a problem studying for the MCAT and GRE, I think my issue would be devoting enough time to shadowing, volunteering, etc. for both, once junior year comes around. I definitely see where you are coming from.
@DadTwoGirls No, I have not. That is why I am going to shadow my mom’s friend this summer so I can see the large animal part of medicine. She deals with both large and small animals, but I have not yet had direct experience with a cow.