Repeat for veterinary medicine or study veterinary nursing

Savvy student

This year I was 40 points short of veterinary medicine and was offered my second choice of veterinary nursing in UCD. I honestly don't know what to do. I had my heart set on veterinary medicine and I feel that i didn't do my best during the exams due to family problems at the time.

Scenario 1: I repeat my leaving cert and get the points for veterinary medicine.

Scenario 2: I repeat my leaving cert and don't get the points for veterinary medicine. I'm disappointed once again. I persue a different course.

Scenario 3: I take the veterinary nursing course in UCD. The problems with this is that I'm afraid I won't like veterinary nursing. I'm currently doing research on this career and I've found a lot of negative opinions due to long hours, low pay and being treated as a cleaner/ receptionist in the workplace.

I would love to hear from people who repeated, their experiences, and veterinary nurses and their opinion of the profession, and anyone else who can help. Thanks.

Juicystar11

I am by no means an expert on this but I'm gonna offer you my advice.

I think you should repeat for veterinary medicine. If It was your first choice & what you have a passion for- you shouldn't settle for anything less. You weren't that far off & it will be much easier second time around, especially when you don't have family problems to affect your performance.

I have friends studying Veterinary Medicine & they absolutely love it. I
If it's your dream- don't quit until It's your reality!!

QCS123

I'm in veterinary medicine now and I'd say 25-50% didn't get in first time from the CAO. So many people repeated and some even repeated twice! Some also went up in rechecks etc.
Veterinary medicine is usually something you really want to do so I'd say repeating would definitely be worth it, it's only a year of your life and it's better than constantly wondering if you could have done it.

spurious

I don't think you'll escape long hours being a vet. The pay early on isn't fantastic either.

thegreatgonzo

Savvy student wrote: »

Sc due to long hours, low pay and being treated as a cleaner/ receptionist in the workplace.

I'm a veterinary nurse and well yes the above is true a lot of the time in Ireland but as Spurious says, for vets the hours are also long if not longer and the pay is not good at all. So I wouldn't let those reasons be the deciding factor.
You should base your decision on which role you prefer, that of a vet or a nurse.

A lot of people don't really know what nurses do and it varies from place to place anyway. One thing that annoys me about the multitude of vet programmes on TV is that the nurses are nearly always background figures carrying out unspecified tasks given to them by the vet. Nursing requires a lot of independent thought and knowledge. And the nice thing about it is that nurses spend longer with the patient as we do the monitoring and provide the comfort etc.
Most people are more familiar with what the vet does but there are other things that might get forgotten. Many vets have the added pressure of running a business that a good chunk of the clientele think should be a charity. Assistant vets don't make great money in this country and they work very very hard for what they get. There is also a startlingly high incidence of depression and suicide among vets too unfortunately.
Only you will know what is right for you. There are pros and cons for both professions, you are right to take the time to think it out:-)

Savvy student

Thanks everyone for all the helpful responses. I am going to repeat the Leaving Cert and try again for veterinary medicine. What's a year of my life compared to doing something that I really want to do. I've done plenty of work experience in a veterinary practice so I understand what both careers entail. Fingers crossed anyway as I face another difficult year in the leaving cert cycle. Thanks everyone.