<p>I am currently a senior in high school and have committed to UT Austin to study neuroscience in the fall. I am really torn as to whether to become a vet (probably large or exotic animal) or an MD (probably anesthesiology). </p>
<p>If money was NO OBJECT I would be a vet, but the fact of the matter is that vet and med school cost the same, but doctors earn at least twice as much vets do. And I don't know if I want to be in debt for such a large portion of my life. Though I would enjoy both careers.</p>
<p>Another factor, as much as I hate to admit it, is my gender. I know that I'll want kids in the future, and such a demanding career as a surgeon or anesthesiologist might mean that I have to make a decision between my family and career. I guess there is private practice, but there's also high insurance for MDs, and I haven't heard great things about Obamacare's impact on (human) health professions.</p>
<p>I don't know. It's all a little much for me to absorb. Any advice or opinion is welcome. I'm desperate.</p>
<p>Worldtraveler,</p>
<p>If you chose the veterinary profession, you should also factor in the current weak job market for vets. And I’m not certain it is any easier for DVM’s to balance family and career. If anything, it may be more difficult as large animal vets work long hours and are on call for emergencies even on holidays and weekends. Plus, if you plan to specialize you’re looking at an additional two years of tuition beyond the 4 years vet school.</p>
<p>Talk to women professionals in both fields, talk to a career counselor at UT Austin (congrats!) and make sure your major is broad enough to allow for either option down the road - biology or another science would be a good base. If you are leaning toward veterinary school you need to start putting in volunteer and paid work hours for animal experience now. Viable candidates are expected to have many, many hours logged.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision and enjoy college next fall.</p>
<p>Congrats On AT Austin! 
I personally want to be a vet, even in the face of all thses profession problems, but who would you like to work with more often? In human, it’s mainly human,but if you go into research, you can work with animals, but I prefer not to torture animals for the sake of research. In vet, it’s mainly animals,duh,but the humans r of cousre there too. Many vets complain about the patients though.</p>
<p>It’s about who you’d like to work with more on a daily basis.</p>
<p>I think it’s too early to worry about a career choice. With a neuroscience major, you could even end up going into a field such as medical chemistry and do research on cancer drugs.</p>
<p>But for the sake of argument, IF you get into medical school, how do you know you’ll become a surgeon anyway? I have a cousin who is a radiologist. She works regular hours and for a while even had an in-home office where she viewed x-rays online. </p>
<p>You have a while before you have to make choices among animals/humans/children/sick people/broken bones/lab research!</p>
<p>I think you have some time to think about this and need to focus on the prep classes to get into either prof school Most students don’t make that cut. In the meantime, collect info, internships, volunteer work for both. Look up the requirements for entry, career possibilities, etc. If there are parts of the training you really don’t want to do, like large or certain type of animal contact, for instance, you might rethink one or the other path. Most people I know who take the vet route, do so out of their passion for the field, and don’t really have to ask. </p>
<p>Hi there! I’m also a HS senior and I was thinking about going pre-vet in college as well. So this post is going to be a little veterinary-centric, but bear with me! Unfortunately, vet school is pretty darn expensive, and the starting salaries are low for the amount of schooling done (around 60k if even that). I was looking into specializing as a poultry vet, but any sort of specialization will require a couple more years of schooling and another certificate to acquire, and in this economy I think the costs sadly outweigh the benefits. </p>
<p>I love animals, especially birds, but I had a lot of the same concerns you have about becoming a vet and am currently looking into other career avenues involving wildlife. I think I’m going to major in Animal Science before getting my MS in Environmental Science or Management so that I can work with the US Dept. of Fish and Wildlife someday. If you’re interested in going pre-vet or pre-med, you don’t have to major in a hard science, but you do have to take the required classes (eg: orgo, biochem, etc.), so just keep that in mind when scheduling classes (definitely don’t take these freshman year though!) </p>
<p>Hopefully I don’t sound too negative about the veterinary path–it’s such an awesome and rewarding career, and if you want to do it then you definitely should. But keep your options open! Here’s a link to another CC-esque forum–it’s where I got most of my information: <a href=“Veterinary Communities (DVM) | Student Doctor Network”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/categories/veterinary-forums-dvm.163/</a></p>
<p>Best of luck! 
</p>