TEDx Talk: What Being a Veterinarian Really Takes

[lavishsqualor]

I stumbled on this YouTube video and it really is fantastic.

Absolutely every pet owner should watch it.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thank you for that.

Edit: I just have to add that sometimes people don't realize that a vet has it worse in many cases than a doctor serving human patients. These vets can't ask the pet to explain what they are feeling, they can only rely on their owners to tell them what they are seeing in their pets. And, too many times, as relayed in that video, people don't do routine vet visits and only take their pets (cats, in particular) when things are really wrong. A good solid history of your cat with the vet - long before things go awry - is worth all the money in the world, and can actually save some lives.

 

[lavishsqualor]

You're absolutely right.

 

[BlackCatOp]

The TedTalk highlighted some excellent points.

Some things she did not cover is that while she graduated with over $250k in student debt, average starting salary for a full time vet in 2016 was $73k. That’s a debt to income ratio of 3.4:1. Debt of that level places extreme financial stress and hard ship on a person. From daily living to obtain mortgage financing, the burden is constant and impactful. Many veterinarians do not make mega dollars as their career advances either. In most cases, to make over 100k, you need to be the practice owner or specialize (which requires EVEN more school!)

Any veterinary who has graduated within the last decade is experiencing this crushing amount of debt with mainly stagnate salaries. In 2000 in-state tuition for vet students at Kansas State University was $5,674 per year. Now in-state tuition at K-state is over $25,000. And K-state is not alone - this is occurring at every vet school in the nation.

Please, even when you disagree with your veterinarian, treat him or her with respect. They chose this profession to help animals. Unfortunately animals don’t take themselves to the clinic so vets also are required to assistance the animal’s owner in order the help the animal.

While I have not shared this on here, I am actually in my last year of veterinary school so I have experienced all of this first hand. I will have a similar debt load and expect to be burdened with it for the next 25 years. Luckily with income based repayment, I will be able to afford the payment. When I decided at 5 years old to become a veterinarian, I just wanted to help Fluffy feel better and while I enjoy educating owners (hence why I am on this site), I cringe at the thought when a client informs me that I am just in it for the money and don’t care to help their animal at all.

When did the concept of making money become so evil? Don’t you want to be paid for your job? When was the last time someone tried to belittle and condescend you into giving services away for free? While there are of course the occasional bad apples, please don’t berate your veterinarian for charging for services to make an honest living. I can guarantee you; if they graduated from school within the past 10 years then they are not living large due to their debt burden.

It takes a special kind of person to devote 8+ years of their young adult life to education. I am one of the "older" students in my class and have realized I probably wont have biological children due to my career choices. While having a family was never on the top of my list - just understand there are a lot of sacrifices undertaken to spending that long in school.

Kindness can go a long way and right now especially I think we all can use some!

 

[kittenmittens84]

Thank you for that.

Edit: I just have to add that sometimes people don't realize that a vet has it worse in many cases than a doctor serving human patients. These vets can't ask the pet to explain what they are feeling, they can only rely on their owners to tell them what they are seeing in their pets. And, too many times, as relayed in that video, people don't do routine vet visits and only take their pets (cats, in particular) when things are really wrong. A good solid history of your cat with the vet - long before things go awry - is worth all the money in the world, and can actually save some lives.

Plus, they have to kill a lot of their patients.

Obviously I think the availability of humane euthanasia is an important part of veterinary care but it definitely takes a a heavy mental toll after a while.

 

[lavishsqualor]

That's a fantastic post, BlackCatOp. I agree with everything you said. Best of luck in your studies. We need people like you!

Kittensmittens84, I agree with you too. If you have time you might enjoy THIS Ted Talk. It's a vet speaking on euthanasia.