<p>I am currently a sophmore at community college. I am facing a dilemma. Since I started college, I have been pre-med. My intentions so far have been to go to medical school. I would like to do research someday.</p>
<p>My dilemma is that for years I have struggled with whether I should try going into veterinary medicine or "human" medicine. There are many pros and cons of each.</p>
<p>Veterinarian: Work with animals (and people indirectly). I would LOVE this. I have Loved animals since the day I was born, and nearly every photo from my childhood is with an animal. I have been riding horses since I could sit up, and I am passionately consumed by them. I also passionately love cats, as well as all other animals. If I went this route, I would like to focus on equine medicine and small pets. I would also like to engage in research.</p>
<p>Physician: Work with people. I also think that I would like this type of work. But, I still think it will take a lot for me to learn to how to be comftorable here. In general, I have never been very comftorable with touching people, and being touched. I have always found a simple hug to be an arduous task. Also, for some reason, I find the aspect of human "blood and guts" much harder than that of animals. I love both humans and animals, but for some reason I don't have a problem with that of animals while I get a little nautious around the blood n' guts of humans. However, I think this is a natural response and I could learn to tolerate it. If I went this route, I would like to specialize and go into oncology or dermatology. I also would like to engage in research.</p>
<p>*The thought of saving animal lives is thrilling to me. However, I do think that I could cope with their death a little better than that of humans. The thought of the life/death situation of humans scares the crap out of me.
*There seems to be a lot more "red tape" for physicians than veterinarians. Veterianraisn have some, but not quite as much as physicians.
*Veterinarians seem to have slightly more balanced lives. Physicians typically 12+ hour days. I thnk that this owuld be very tiring for me, and I am not sure that I am that energetic. I am not lazy, however such a schedule also is daunting for me. There seems to be more of a range in the type of days a veterinarian would work. Also, (again, for some unexplainable reason) the thought of a 12+ hour day as a veterinarian doesn't seem so stressful for me (in comparison to that of a physician).</p>
<p>*Opportunities: There seems to bemore opportunities for physicians to branch out in their careers. They can do clinical, research, administrative, and other types of jobs. Veterinarians may be able to branch out, but do not seem as flexible in the options.</p>
<p>*Salary: This is NOT why I want to practise medicine! I love medicine, biology, animals and people so much that I would work for room and board LOL! Nonetheless, for a large portion of my life I have lived in lower-income conditions (sometimes we went days living on rice, mac n cheese, and whatever was left in the cupboards). So, I still would like to make a sustainable living someday. The veterinarian I shadowed said if I was comftorable being a physician then I should go that route because veterinarians do not get paid very well. According to the statistics online this seems to be slightly true. The median average for a veterinarian in my area is $50-80K and the median average of a general physician is 80-110K. Either case (in my mind) it seems to be a very good living.</p>
<p>I really need to make a decision soon, and find a way to be comftorable with my decision. Any and ALL thought are welcomed, anticipated, and greatly appreciated!</p>