Human Medical School vs Veterinary Medical School? (Emergency Medicine Interest Specifically)
As the title suggest I have recently been debating applying for veterinary school or human medical school. For either I will not be traditional applicant but I already have quite a leg up in veterinary medicine. Let me explain my situation.
I am currently 28 years old and turn 29 in October. I graduated High School in 2016 and went to FIU, I did very well my first two semesters and even ended up on the deans list, 3.92GPA at the time. After that I started to struggle with a lot of out of school life things like breakups, losing friends, depression and overall started to spiral and not even go to class anymore, I just had no motivation to do anything the best way I can describe it is a deep depression. I attended FIU on and off semesters between 2017-2019 before ultimately just stopping altogether and having a gpa of 1.8. I would sign up for classes and then kind of give up and not show up after 3-4 weeks into the course, I wouldn't even withdraw so I would end with a flat out F in all these courses. In short, I messed up horribly in my youth and kinda considered that it for me when it came to academics.
I didn't really have a long term plan but since 2016 I was working as a veterinary assistant in a general practice veterinary hospital. In pursuit of more money and "advancing my career" as school did not really seem like an option, in 2020 I left general practice and began working as a veterinary emergency and critical care nurse at a specialty hospital. I worked there for about 2 years before leaving to work for Veterinary Emergency Group, now VEG ER for pets in 2022 where I have worked since. VEG offers to pay for a CVT degree/license, so I began pursuing that to again further my career and income. As I approached the end of the program I began asking myself what next? Do I pursue a VTS? Management? Educator? After talking with a lot of other veterinary professionals I concluded why not go back to school? I am more than capable and just because I messed up in my youth doesn't mean I cant come back from that.
So then the plan of action became finishing my CVT and associate in science degree, then starting an associates of arts with local community college before transferring to UCF to finish a bachelors in biology with a pre-vet focus. Since restarting at a community college I have not done perfect but I've done quite well. Got an A in Orgo chem lecture and lab, as well as in Bio 1 & 2 lecture and lab, I got a B on a silly general computer education course due to lack of effort, etc. But overall competitive enough for sure that its brought up my GPA to 3.2 from 1.8. I have become less worried academically because regardless of my route I still have a lot of classes in front of me like genetics, microbiology, biochem and I know I can do well and show that I am not the same bad student I was in 2017-2019.
Where my question and I guess obstacle comes in is. I am heavily set up for success if I was to continue to pursue a DVM. I already have years of clinical experience, I work for a company that not only has a new grad program but that I also have established years of a relationship with, I have strong letters of recommendations ready to go from various current DVMs and overall I have a lot more confidence in veterinary medicine as is. I have saved countless animals and I have no doubt I can continue to do so as a DVM.
However, I worry about regretting not pursuing human medicine. Human medicine is far more advanced and as such feels more "real". Obviously shows are dramatized but I saw the use of a LUCAS and ECMO machine on The Pitt and thought surely that must be fake and for tv? Then I looked it up and no, these are real machines and real techniques that are used to save people. The truth of the matter is regardless of how I feel about it, the world does not respect veterinary medicine as much as human medicine. There never has been and probably never will be as much research, funding and advanced technology and practices in veterinary medicine as in human medicine. Human medicine is also a lot more structured and has a much higher standard of care. Imagine a non-licensed nurse placing a central line on a human patient? Absurd right? Yet I have placed several without being licensed in animals. They are just two very different fields that share a lot of similarities but are in no way the same.
So whats the concern? The concerns is I would essentially have to restart, get human clinical experience, re-plan my academic plan, build relationships with MDs to get letters, etc. It would be the same four years of medical school and then I would HAVE to do a residency for lets say approximately 4 years. I would not truly be an attending human physician till minimum 40, assuming retirement at 65, is a 25 year career worth it? When I say worth it I mean, will I be 38 drowning in debt unable to fathom owning property or being a father because I wont be able to afford it until my early to mid 40s? Can I handle 80 hour residency weeks in my late 30s? In short, am I "too" old?
Versus veterinary medicine by 35-36 I'd be a regular full blown ER doctor with no 4 year residency with 80 hour work weeks required etc. So, it seems kinda silly when I write it all out but lately I genuinely dont know if I should pursue an MD or a DVM, thoughts?