I work 10-11 hour shifts and I am on my feet all day, walking around a pretty good sized hospital. I’ve been wearing the same sketchers for the last 2 years and I’m looking to invest in some pretty good work shoes to help my feet feel better after these shifts. I do wear compression socks as well. Looking to spend 150-200$. Preferably something water proof and wide toe box. Looking for recommendations!
My little girl is already fostering animals and dreams of becoming a vet. She wants to begin learning animal anatomy now. Are there textbooks you guys recommend I purchase to get her started?
I wanted to gain some insight as I am looking to make a career change. I have my Bachelor's degree, but the job market... well, I'm sure you know. I've been running my own business as a Home & Pet Care Specialist for around 3 years now and I absolutely love it. Have experience in medication administration, senior pet care, home checks, and even farm care.
Unfortunately, it's too inconsistent to make an appropriate living. Between my professional background in marketing & customer success, and my love for animals... I think this route could be perfect for me. I'm considering getting a Veterinary Practice Management Certificate. I think I'd really enjoy running a veterinary practice, and I believe it aligns with my current skillset. I was hoping to get your honest perspective before I commit.
If anyone would be willing to answer the following questions, I would be so incredibly appreciate.
-If you were hiring a veterinary practice manager today, would someone with my background—a bachelor's degree, several years of animal care experience, and a veterinary practice management certificate—be a strong candidate?
-What experience would you want someone to have before trusting them to manage your practice?
-What's something about being a veterinary practice manager that most people don't realize until they're actually doing the job.
-Are there any avoidable mistakes you made during your journey? Or is there anything specific you wish you knew sooner?
Thank you so so much!
Hello. Last week, I had an a sit down interview in person at a hospital to be a vet assistant. They invited me back this upcoming Tuesday for what the practice manager called a “observational interview”. Backstory, I currently work full-time as a doctors assistant at a GP. The current environment is pretty toxic and I’m afraid to get fired for speaking up but main reason i’m finding a new job is because there’s not a lot of opportunity for growth and eventually I would love to become an RVT.
Anyways, I’m going to this observational interview on Tuesday, which will be two hours and they told me to wear scrubs. I’m assuming I’m going to be helping restrain and things of that matter, but also watch surgery. I’m very nervous because this clinic doesn’t just take dogs and cats like my current one. They also have exotics. even though I do have experience hands on at my current job. I don’t know how to do blood draws or catheters or surgery, but I do know how it’s administer vaccines and restrain, cytologies and rads.
Basically, just asking some advice on how I could stand out to the clinic but also not seeing like I’m useless lol. I really love the hospital that I am interviewing at. It’s super big, prime location, there’s so much opportunity to learn and learn exotics, etc. and they have lots of nice staff and they’re always fully booked. I don’t want to mess it up. lol help!!
Sorry this was so long lol. Thanks in advance!!
Hi everyone,
I'm currently a veterinary medicine student in Europe, and I still have three years left before graduating.
One of the things that has been weighing on my mind is the salary outlook in my country. As a newly graduated veterinarian, I would probably earn around €1,200–1,300 gross per month. With experience, that could eventually increase to around €2,000+, unless I pursue an academic career and become a university professor, where the salary prospects are different.
To be honest, I find this very discouraging. After so many years of studying, stress, and responsibility, it's difficult to accept earning roughly the same as many retail jobs.
Because of that, my dream is to build my career in the United States, where veterinarians seem to be more valued and the salary reflects the level of education and responsibility the profession requires.
I know this won't be easy. My veterinary school is not AVMA-accredited, so I would have to complete the ECFVG certification process. Fortunately, that part doesn't intimidate me.
My current plan is to apply for an internship and eventually a residency in the US after graduation while completing the ECFVG process at the same time.
However, I'm unsure how realistic this actually is. After finishing a residency, would I realistically have a chance of finding an employer willing to sponsor a work visa? I speak Portuguese, Spanish, and some German, but I don't know whether that would make me a more attractive candidate or whether employers would simply prefer hiring an American veterinarian instead of dealing with visa sponsorship.
Another concern is the internship/residency Match process. The idea of not being able to choose where I train is a bit intimidating. I'd really appreciate any advice from people who have successfully matched. Are there things I can do during veterinary school to improve my chances?
I've also considered another route: completing an internship and residency in the UK, possibly through the Royal Veterinary College. However, I'm wondering whether going directly to the US afterward would actually be more difficult since I wouldn't have trained within the American system.
Finally, I've heard that there may be more opportunities for international veterinarians in large animal or equine medicine because of workforce shortages, compared with small animal practice. Is there any truth to this, or is it mostly anecdotal?
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through the ECFVG process, matched into a US internship or residency, or obtained visa sponsorship as an international veterinarian.
Any advice or realistic expectations would mean a lot.
Thank you!
Hi everyone,
I’m a veterinarian, and I’ve been working for the past year in a small animal clinic, where I’ve been gaining hands-on clinical experience and building my confidence as a young vet.
My long-term goal, though, has always been to work with wildlife. I’m especially interested in wildlife medicine and conservation in Africa, and I’m trying to figure out the best path forward.
I’ve come across several internships and volunteer programs, but it’s hard to know which ones are actually respected and can help open doors in the field.
For those of you with experience:
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences or any advice. Wildlife medicine is the career I want to build, and I’m trying to make smart decisions about my next steps.
Thank you!
I’ve been with my clinic for about 5 years now. I am the only male receptionist, and 1 of 3 men on our 30 person team. The other two are Drs, with one also being the practice owner. In my 5 years, very few men have even applied, especially not for a receptionist role.
Absolutely nothing wrong with this of course. I love my clinic and all the people I work with. I am compensated well for the lifestyle I currently live. I just think it’s an interesting ratio, especially considering we aren’t too far from the days where practicing medicine of any kind was extremely difficult for women or outright forbidden.
How many men work at y’all’s clinics, and what do you think contributes to the overall low number of men in this industry (especially outside of Dr roles)?
Interested to hear y’all’s thoughts!
Anyone working on restricted vet in canada and can tell me avergae salary to expect!! Also procedure to apply in BC..As I am looking to move on LMIA so asking what to expect..(
A quick summary of my experience is that I had trauma as a veterinary nurse at a small animal clinic around 5 years ago. Ever since then I swore I wouldn't come back to the practice, and I spent the next couple of years in corporate, even when I got my license around 3 years ago. Then I broke my promise and tried doing locum duties while I'm still in corporate. It made me realize that I just didn't like the practice I was in back 5 years ago.
Fast forward to now, I've resigned from corporate and I applied as a junior vet in a small animal clinic. I'm excited because it feels like a new beginning and I feel like I've learned from my past and am now passionate about the practice.
I just want some advice though because I'm also afraid of messing up. Although I have confidence in my skills as a vet since I've done a lot of duties, I still can't help but feel like my skills are raw and lacking.
Any advice on what I should probably read on, or how not to be burned out immediately?
Hi everyone. I’ve been practicing for about one month(!) in a small animal GP setting. In vet school we were told to pick jobs that had good mentorship, but no one told us the nuts and bolts of what good mentorship looks like. I chose this job because during the interview the clinic owner seemed very gung-ho about providing mentorship and support for a new grad. Initially I was told I would be starting slow, working with experienced doctors available to be my mentors, and getting surgery and dental time in order to develop those skills along with appointments.
My first day of work I shadowed appointments and dentals with another vet for about 1/2 a day and then jumped right into my own appointment schedule.
I’m currently operating on a “slow” schedule involving approx 20 minute wellness and 40 minute sick appointments. I am doing okay on this timetable right now but eventually I am supposed to be getting down to 20 minute sick appointments and 15 minute wellness. I’m pretty nervous about the 20 minute sick prospect as when we do diagnostics for sick patients I’m having to take the full 40 minutes! The other vets are nice but they are sometimes too busy with their own cases to be available for me if I have questions. It’s also become clear that they have limited ability to help supervise me when I want to try new procedures (thoracocentesis for example). I use a lot of VIN, course notes, and textbooks suffice it to say. My clinic does pay for a consultation service with a remote vet who is a wonderful remote mentor, but the clinic is charged per case consult so obviously I try not to abuse that service and save it only for cases where I am truly floundering.
But the main issue i have is that so far there has been not a peep about me having any surgery or dental time. I have been told I am to be doing mainly sick and well appointments for the time being. I want to continue to develop my surgical skills in particular, but I feel like it’s hard to justify asking my boss for surgery time when I would be doing 40 minute spays instead of 10 minute spays like the other vets and therefore losing the clinic money.
My boss/clinic owner is not a vet or vet tech and has not worked with a new grad before so I don’t think they completely understand what a new grad vet needs.
Is this a normal or typical experience? Normal growing pains? Or is this less support than I should have expected jumping right into practice out of vet school (ie not doing a structured internship program?). Is this just how it is for most people? I know how to “fake it till I make it” in front of clients and my clients seem to like me, but inside I’m terrified that I’m secretly making mistake after mistake with their pets and no-one is there to catch my errors. Should I ask for some surgery time? If you had a GOOD mentorship experience at a private clinic what exactly did that look like? I guess I’m just looking for some outside perspective here… TIA
I'm looking for honest feedback from other veterinarians, especially those in ER or leadership positions.
I've been practicing ER medicine for about five years, but I'm relatively new at my current hospital. Recently, I've received feedback that my communication style has been an issue, and I'm having a hard time understanding what I'm missing.
I don't think of myself as someone who is rude or disrespectful. I'm definitely not the bubbly, outgoing type, but I try to be kind, professional, and respectful. When I become more direct, it's usually because something important hasn't been done yet or I'm concerned about patient care.
After receiving the initial feedback, I made a conscious effort to change how I communicate. I explain why I'm asking for things, I'm more mindful of my wording, and honestly, I've started holding back more because I don't want to come across the wrong way.
The problem is that now I feel like I'm constantly second-guessing myself. Instead of just practicing medicine, I find myself wondering whether everything I say will be interpreted negatively. I'm now scheduled for another feedback meeting, which surprised me because I genuinely thought I had been improving.
This has been difficult because I've worked in the ER for years and have never had communication become such a recurring issue. It makes me wonder whether there's something about my communication that I'm genuinely blind to, or whether this may simply be a poor culture fit.
I'm trying to approach this with an open mind because if there's something I'm doing that I'm unaware of, I genuinely want to improve.
For those of you with more experience, especially medical directors or hospital owners:
I'm honestly looking for objective feedback. If you think I'm missing something, I'd like to hear it. If you've experienced something similar and it turned out to be a culture-fit issue, I'd also appreciate hearing about it.
Currently looking into switching DVM positions. I work 5 days a week currently and make 115 flat salary. I have another offer for 3d/week with 150 + production but the position has a little commute. I cannot stand my current position and am miserable going to work. Im scared to get stuck in a new position where its no better but now theres also a commute. The money is a major factor for me as I feel in 2026, 115 is very low for an emergency DVM. I feel like its worth it to work less and make significantly more even if I end up disliking this new position as well but I guess I just need some motivation to make a change. Any advice?
I’m a recently graduated pre-vet student, who’s had dreams of being a vet since elementary school (literally written in the yearbook). I’m done. For four consecutive years, I’ve applied to and cold called every single clinic and entry level position offered in a 40 mile radius, never to any luck. In light of being rejected every summer, I instead worked 2-3 jobs every summer as a pet resort kennel tech + shelter volunteer + disease lab assistant + and medical school receptionist to rack up experience. But upon being graduated and now having all this experience, strong communication skills, and an incredible work ethic - still nothing. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong, what more can they want from me, especially when I see that these positions have been taken by 16 y/o kids who just happen to know someone working there already.
I’m frustrated that even getting an entry level job is impossible, and my hard work has been unhelpful in finding an opportunity. How can these places expect 1+ years of previous experience for jobs that don’t even require a high school diploma? Why are they so against giving someone new a chance, despite everything I’ve done to enrich myself with knowledge and hands on experience?
I know I’m overqualified already, and I’m tired of prostrating myself to just be constantly rejected for no obvious reason. So I’m done. I will excel at anything I try at, and this industry is so soul sucking it’s just not worth it anymore.
UPDATE: I thank everyone who’s responded to this encouragingly, it’s much appreciated! But many people have replied and given advice to gain more experience in fields I already have hundreds of hours in - which just further proves my point that this hardship is a little absurd for unpaid and entry level positions. I’ll probably take some time and rethink my career options, consider some other paths, as much as it breaks my heart. Who knows, maybe by some miracle I’ll finally get a yes somewhere.
Tale as old as time, I know, but I’m tired. It could be literally any ailment, but for example, we saw a dog for an ear infection like a month ago. The owner reluctantly pays for an ear swab. The dog has historically had terrible skin and a chronic ear infections, you could smell the yeast from across the room. He claims to regularly clean this dog’s ears at home, but clearly not well, and he’s using some BS scented wipes off Amazon so it’s probably been making it worse anyways. He says he wants to know what we can do to get rid of these recurring ear infections. Won’t pre-approve anything because “the doctor hasn’t even seen him yet” (even though the doctor hasn’t been seeing him for years and has seen probably 100 dogs with ear infections this month alone).
I end up having to call him with results (I’m a VA) and I go through the works: ear cleaning, ear flush, posatex, allergy injection, medicated shampoo, conditioner, derm diet, cone, apoquel, prednisone, the fucking works (very politely and thoroughly mind you). I get him to take the ear flush and the posatex, but he won’t even let us clean the dogs ears in clinic because he says he’ll just do it at home. This is the type of ear cleaning that would take 30 minutes and a whole pack of gauze, I tell him it’s going to be difficult for him to clean the ears as thoroughly as necessary. I tell him that if he doesn’t want to keep dealing with recurring ear infections then he needs to be doing more to treat and prevent them. He wasn’t rude about it, but he clearly thought I was just trying to upsell him. So this poor, sweet dog goes home just as itchy as he walked in the door.
Flash forward to this month, the dog is back for vaccines and he’s pissed that the dog still has an ear infection even though he already spent “so much” money on it (~ $140 for ear swab, flush, and posatex). And yet he claims he still has plenty of the ear flush so clearly he hasn’t been fucking using it. OBVIOUSLY IT’S NOT FUCKING BETTER!!!!! Like am I speaking fucking English?!!! We have been TRYING TO HELP YOU.
Im in my undergraduate year biological sciences at ontario tech. I'm just so worried i made a huge mistake choosing this. I come from a low income household and both my options (Sgu and guelphs dvm program) are very expensive and with OSAP chsnging I dont think I can continue with this. I'm very passionate about this field, I've loved animals ever since I was little, I've volunteered at animal hospitals for years, I really do love this field.
However, it is extremely difficult to get into the dvm program. I have so much worries and I dont think the salary of this job is worth it. Are their any other options for me with the biological science program that pay fairly well, should I switch my major? Or is there a way I could ease the costs.
I’ve recently been trying to get a job as a vet assistant and I have been to in-person interviews at 3 different locations where my ”interview“ is basically me shadowing the staff and helping with animal restraint. Would this count towards vet clinic hours seeing as I am completing hands on care or shadowing medical procedures? And if so, would it be weird to apply these interviews to my vet school application as veterinary experience?
I am currently not in high school, but I do know and have known that I want to pursue Veterinary work. I had originally wanted to become a surgeon but I've heard the hours are not great and that it is a restless job. I've heard good things about radiology but I do enjoy having more of a direct help with animals. Assuming grades are perfect, what would be a good job?
Extra details about me:
- Could get squeamish but very rare
- Can get irritable
- I want a very high paying job (who doesn't)
- Don't mind too much work as long as it's manageable
So yeah, if you have any suggestions, thoughts, etc. please help!
hello!
i’m an incoming animal science major student wanting to become a veterinarian. it’s been my dream.
however, the new student loan requirements make it impossible for me to afford vet school.
i really want to work with animals and wildlife and all of the above, but i just can’t afford to become a vet. i’ll still try, but i want an alternate path.
does anyone have any suggestions or careers they looked into? should i major in something different than animal science? i expect to graduate with my bachelors in two years and my undergrad is fully paid for, so i can change, but i really love the pre-vet track…. though it is kind of exclusive for any other career.
or.. more preferably.. does anyone have any advice on how to afford vet school now?
I want to become a vet that specializes in birds, but I genuinely don’t know any of the steps I need to take to get degrees and licensing! I just graduated high school so I’d like to start asap, but I’m unsure what I’m supposed to enroll in…? I know, it’s really dumb, but could you explain it to me like I’m stupid or in small steps?
For reference I live in America, and any explanation on what certain degrees do would also be helpful! Also how many years each step will take would also be nice, I’ve tried looking things up online and it’s giving mixed answers!