vet=tough career?

defadman

hi everyone, im a student and over the last year iv been considering veterinary. My father is a bit iffy on the idea, he reckons its to hard of a life and that i wouldn't have alot of time to run the farm aswell. I love working on the farm though and would hate to have to give it up. on the other side would love to do veterinary, is it possible to do the two? and is veterinary tough?

huey1975

i try to do both and its not easy. i work in a three man practice and also try to keep about seventy bullocks. tbh it doesnt leave much time for a social life. reallistically i think that you couldnt really keep cows or sheep and work full time as a vet.
at times veterinary is very fulfilling but at times the tb testing gets a bit monotonous and when the calls are building on a saturday afternoon and you are on your own for the weekend you often wish you did something else like teaching or dentistry!!
i definitely wouldnt recommend it to my own son but i dont hate it myself, its just that there are easier ways to make a living and jobs that are more compatible with part time farming. i am lucky enough that my old man still does all the foddering and herding for me, sometimes 10 days pass i dont see my cattle- especially at this time of the year

Birdnuts

defadman wrote: »

hi everyone, im a student and over the last year iv been considering veterinary. My father is a bit iffy on the idea, he reckons its to hard of a life and that i wouldn't have alot of time to run the farm aswell. I love working on the farm though and would hate to have to give it up. on the other side would love to do veterinary, is it possible to do the two? and is veterinary tough?

You must be a bright lad;):) - what was the points for it last year??

pajero12

Birdnuts wrote: »

You must be a bright lad;):) - what was the points for it last year??

There the same every year, 555-575. Im going for it too, Got 510 in the mocks so Im still hopeful :P

defadman

Birdnuts wrote: »

You must be a bright lad;):) - what was the points for it last year??

points were 560 last year! there expected to come down a little

defadman

huey1975 wrote: »

i try to do both and its not easy. i work in a three man practice and also try to keep about seventy bullocks. tbh it doesnt leave much time for a social life. reallistically i think that you couldnt really keep cows or sheep and work full time as a vet.
at times veterinary is very fulfilling but at times the tb testing gets a bit monotonous and when the calls are building on a saturday afternoon and you are on your own for the weekend you often wish you did something else like teaching or dentistry!!
i definitely wouldnt recommend it to my own son but i dont hate it myself, its just that there are easier ways to make a living and jobs that are more compatible with part time farming. i am lucky enough that my old man still does all the foddering and herding for me, sometimes 10 days pass i dont see my cattle- especially at this time of the year

like id only be considering having a herd of 10 suckler cows.My mother is a principal and my father was sort of anxious that i would go down the same route.However i have always had a real love for animals and enjoyed working with farm animals. I was just wondering do the financial rewards match the amount of work you have to put in? i really appreciate your contribution by the way!

Birdnuts

pajero12 wrote: »

Got 510 in the mocks so Im still hopeful :P

Fair play - Though things were harder in my day(thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!):D;)

bob charles

I would consider the job a bit of a dead end nowadays.Without TB testing private vet practices would be finished. the vet has been on our farm once in the last 3 years for treatment of an animal (all beef herd) and we are slaughtering allot of animals. Most beef finishers are self treating and if there isnt a economical benefit in treating its a bullet unfortunately, not nice I know but thats reality. I do have a few consultations with a couple of my vets talking about preventions and also answering any questions I have regarding dealing with animals. I see a vets job moving more and more to a consultant role unless you want to work for the Dept of agriculture and if so, thats a horse of a different colour. The Vet students arent the most sociable in college either

pajero12

defadman wrote: »

points were 560 last year! there expected to come down a little

Unfortunately,no they're not..One of few courses that has consistent points! 400 applications for 80 places so there not stuck for numbers!

Birdnuts wrote: »

Fair play - Though things were harder in my day(thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!):D;)

Thanks, As much as i HATE to admit it, past papers from 20 years ago are on a whole different level :P

Birdnuts

bob charles wrote: »

I would consider the job a bit of a dead end nowadays.

How about a small animal practice?? - Going on the fees they charge it must be a goldmine!!:(;)

pajero12

bob charles wrote: »

I would consider the job a bit of a dead end nowadays.W

Funny, I'd disagree, Just about to bring in our 2nd heifer for a section today, The vets 12th altogether today, Doubt he'd tell you its a dead end

bob charles

pajero12 wrote: »

Funny, I'd disagree, Just about to bring in our 2nd heifer for a section today, The vets 12th altogether today, Doubt he'd tell you its a dead end

I would question the feasibility of breeding an animal or with an animal that would require a section. they must be costing up to €200 a pop, my lady vet was saying she can do them in 40 mins in good conditions after spending a good few years working in holland. €€€€€€€€€€

The small animals practice is over saturated at the moment and when the yummie mummies dont have money falling out of the juicy couture, poor old rover the dog wont be getting the treatment fit for a king, to my vets dismay.


All above is just my view, but i also ecco my own vets taughts who is a outstanding vet working 70hrs as a partner in a large practice trying to make a modest living

Birdnuts

bob charles wrote: »

The small animals practice is over saturated at the moment and when the yummie mummies dont have money falling out of the juicy couture, poor old rover the dog wont be getting the treatment fit for a king my to vets dismay.


All above is just my view, but i also ecco my own vets taughts who is a outstanding vet working 70hrs as a partner in a large practice trying to make a modest living

How about opportunities abroad in places like the Gulf, Canada, Australia, UK etc.???

whelan1

how about getting work experience with a vet for a week or 2 over the summer , just to see what it is like , i am sure after you hear some of the abuse they get from farmers etc it will open your eyes...

snowman707

whelan1 wrote: »

how about getting work experience with a vet for a week or 2 over the summer , just to see what it is like , i am sure after you hear some of the abuse they get from farmers etc it will open your eyes...

in fairness you won't get a true picture of the work during the summer, one of my daughters went for 2 weeks a couple of years ago and was bored to death, in contrast if she had gone Feb to Apr it would have been a different story,

Had one of the vets to a sick calf the other and she had got 4 hours sleep in 3 days ....and she was only the back up vet ,

whelan1

snowman707 wrote: »

in fairness you won't get a true picture of the work during the summer, one of my daughters went for 2 weeks a couple of years ago and was bored to death, in contrast if she had gone Feb to Apr it would have been a different story,

Had one of the vets to a sick calf the other and she had got 4 hours sleep in 3 days ....and she was only the back up vet ,

was saying the summer as the op is doing the lc this year , i know what you mean though...

vanderbadger

defadman wrote: »

points were 560 last year! there expected to come down a little

how many points is it to do it in Budapest?

defadman

not one hundred precent sure, but you can go with a science degree and thats around 470 or 480

vanderbadger

defadman wrote: »

not one hundred precent sure, but you can go with a science degree and thats around 470 or 480

you might be able to do ag science so in ucd and hop over that way?

pajero12

whelan1 wrote: »

i am sure after you hear some of the abuse they get from farmers etc it will open your eyes...

What kind of abuse Whelan? Between transition year and 5th Year i've done 6 weeks work experience and never once came across any of the sort.

whelan1

just some of the things our vet has told me, really shocked me ... there is also an obligation to treat animals even if the owner owes you a small fortune under a cruelty issue....

whelan1

pajero12 wrote: »

What kind of abuse Whelan? Between transition year and 5th Year i've done 6 weeks work experience and never once came across any of the sort. Maybe It just reflects on the quality of the vet or the ignorance of the farmer though.

if that is the atitiude you have going in to veternary tbh i cant see you getting far

pajero12

whelan1 wrote: »

if that is the atitiude you have going in to veternary tbh i cant see you getting far

Ive edited that post because I realise it sounded very condescending, But can you explain the above post please?
I just meant Ive never came across this "abuse", but then again our vets have treated us very well so we have no reason to give them any hassle,

Again, sorry for the tone of the other post!

johngalway

To do my RTE bit about balance now

In fairness both vets and farmers at the heel of the hunt are all people. Both have genuine polite good sorts and both have members resembling the immediate area of an animal dung emerges into the world.

Our vet, I find great. Bit far away for calling out, so more often not, when necessary I've to travel with the animal, but that's our choice not his fault. We had a vet testing one time, he didn't think the cattle were progressing through the crush quickly enough for him, so was at them constantly prodding with the scissors. Don't quite know how I didn't lose the plot with that fella, no need for stuff like that IMO.

I've put wild cattle out of fields on my own where three other "farmers" failed, as they were too excited. And I've seen lads hit cattle with sticks covered in black water pipe.

Mixed bunch. But an orifice will be an orifice despite his or her job.

moy83

johngalway wrote: »

To do my RTE bit about balance now

In fairness both vets and farmers at the heel of the hunt are all people. Both have genuine polite good sorts and both have members resembling the immediate area of an animal dung emerges into the world.

Our vet, I find great. Bit far away for calling out, so more often not, when necessary I've to travel with the animal, but that's our choice not his fault. We had a vet testing one time, he didn't think the cattle were progressing through the crush quickly enough for him, so was at them constantly prodding with the scissors. Don't quite know how I didn't lose the plot with that fella, no need for stuff like that IMO.

I've put wild cattle out of fields on my own where three other "farmers" failed, as they were too excited. And I've seen lads hit cattle with sticks covered in black water pipe.

Mixed bunch. But an orifice will be an orifice despite his or her job.

I think i know the vet with the scissors . I let a box of bloods fall one time and he jabbed me with the needle (they weren't even broken):D I took it in good spirits though and we still use him for testing

johngalway

moy83 wrote: »

I think i know the vet with the scissors . I let a box of bloods fall one time and he jabbed me with the needle (they weren't even broken):D I took it in good spirits though and we still use him for testing

He'd be nearer me than you Moy, and he's not the one we've talked about in PM

Sounds like you deserved the jab anyway, butter fingers :P :pac:

moy83

johngalway wrote: »

He'd be nearer me than you Moy, and he's not the one we've talked about in PM

Sounds like you deserved the jab anyway, butter fingers :P :pac:

Ya he is ancient now . I probably did deserve it I never let another one fall:D

Jed_Bartlet

Traonach wrote: »

Brucellosis testing is now females over 48 months and herds test only every second year in their round test. That a big hit to the wages.

Don't know if that was a typo or not but just thought I'd clarify - Brucellosis testing is on females over 18 months and Bulls over 24 months.

I know a hell of a lot of vets and some of them say that, if you have a decent enough client list, it can be very rewarding, financially and personally, but it can come with an awful lot of pitfalls. The Department now have literature on their website for Vets which gives advice on stress in the workplace and other aspects such as suicide among vets (as a profession, vets have the highest rate of suicides in the country.)

I don't want to deter you, you may flourish in the sector, but do take the advice about working for a practice if you can - it can be a real eye-opener (If you do, don't let them relegate you to doing administrative work in the office - trust me, it happens to work placement people all the time.)

whelan1

pajero,the vet practice we are with are great , have no problems with them , but we had to go through a few before we settled on our current one , as someone else said you have good and bad in every sector.... i am trying to say to you its not all sweetness and roses and also thanks for editing the earlier post

stanflt

whelan1 wrote: »

pajero,the vet practice we are with are great , have no problems with them , but we had to go through a few before we settled on our current one , as someone else said you have good and bad in every sector.... i am trying to say to you its not all sweetness and roses and also thanks for editing the earlier post

we are a bit like you whelan-our vet died in the 90"s and went through a few since then-a couple of practices in drogheda but found they were only really interested in the small animal and recieving a call from us at night wasjust hassle. after three practices a new one opened up beside us-a young local lad who has been fantastic, luckily he took on another young vet who specialises in cows(he was yma president of ihfa a few years back) its great when someone really cares about the animal and not just looking for the money

Birdnuts

If I were a young fella with a shot at joining this profession, I'd get out of this banana republic to pursue an exciting career as a big game vet in SA:D;)

stanflt

Birdnuts wrote: »

If I were a young fella with a shot at joining this profession, I'd get out of this banana republic to pursue an exciting career as a big game vet in SA:D;)

my father used to know a lad beside you- i think he had the lake resort- is he still farming

Birdnuts

stanflt wrote: »

my father used to know a lad beside you- i think he had the lake resort- is he still farming

Which one??

stanflt

Birdnuts wrote: »

Which one??

he would of been involved in the old milk board-maybe fred but im not sure