Anybody doing/ done Veterinary?

Vyse

Working in the biotech industry at the moment (have been for the past 8 years) and I'm thinking of a change. I did my primary degree in Biotechnology and am thinking of going back to do veterinary medicine. Anybody here do the course? What are your experiences of it? I got the points so I'd prefer to apply straight through the CAO as opposed to going in as a mature student.

roccabella

you need to be really sure about it as its 5 tough years. id recommend seeing practice with a few vets before starting veterinary. i know in my class a few peolple finished the course but then after working a while have gone back to college to do something different, veterinary isnt for everybody. farm practice has long hours, being on call is a pain in the ass. i really loved my time as a veterinary student and do love my work but its worth giving it lots of thought and definitely do see practice. good luck

Vyse

Thanks rocabella. I suppose my main problem with the biotech industry is that it is extremely boring and I get absolutely no sense of achievement out of it. Would you feel differently working as a vet?

Ado86

Im currently studying veterinary and absolutely love it. I find it very challenging and at times I wonder why I do it, but then you have moments when you know exactly why you're putting all the effort in . There is alot of satisfaction. I would advise you to see both large and small animal practice before you make the decision, there is a very big difference. On call, long hours, hard work and sometimes very unappreciative clients can make our job harder than it has to be, mental strength is paramount. You need to be very committed to the course and the work, a lot of after hours studying is involved and even on your holidays you have to get experience, all over the country.
But overall if you have a love of medicine/science, like working with animals and people and want to help people - more of our work is helping people rather than the animals, we can deal with most of them very easily, its the clients that are harder work !
If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

roccabella

yeah i suppose i do feel differently about my job. its never boring, everyday is very different (unless you end up TB testing for a few days on end). its also very satisfying seeing animals recover especially ones that are in a real bad way. you also get to meet a lot of people, pet owners, farmers....it can also be stressful when very busy or things don't go so well with an animal and i sometimes think gosh wouldn't i love a boring stressfree job but to be honest i wouldnt change a thing. i really love my job (except the out of hours). definitely see some practice with a few vets. there is also a book that was published in the last 2 years by a young irish female vet working in ireland and that will give you a good insight into things. can't think of her name but heard its good and realistic. your lucky you have to points and won't need to apply by CAO until next spring/ summer so you've lots of time to simmer over it.

Vyse

Thanks guys. The hardest thing for me will be giving up the money. Despite the fact that validation is very boring it pays extremely well (money isn't everything though right).

One of my friends from pfizer is thinking of going back as well. She did Chem Eng in UCD. It'd be great to have somebody else there that I know, would stop me feeling soooo old.

I'll definitely spend some time on vet practices, both large and small.

Cheers:D