No one likes change – it’s a scary thing. And there’s perhaps nothing scarier than spending five long years on the course of your childhood dreams, graduating and emerging into general practice, only to find that this might not be for you after all.
Obviously, I’m not speaking from personal experience, but, according to a two-hour seminar my year received from people who really have experienced this, it’s a lot more common than people might think.
But it doesn’t have to be scary at all…
No fear
I think it’s fair to say no one really knows what to expect from vet school until they’re there, and I imagine it’s much the same in the transition from degree to profession.
So far, I have loved every bit of my journey towards becoming a vet, and I’m still really looking forward to everything that’s yet to come. I hope, when I find myself in the real world, I’ll love it every bit as much as I think I will – but if that’s not the case, it’s nice to know so many other options are out there.
After hearing from speakers from large veterinary conglomerates, pharmaceutical representatives and civil service workers, it became apparent that our degree can steer us in so many different directions.
Different strokes
Just because you don’t go in that same direction as most of your cohort, it doesn’t mean those five years of hard work were in vain; veterinarians make very strong candidates in a variety of job markets, and your experience will immediately help you stand out from the sea of other applicants.
No one was lying to you when they said the vet course would teach you transferable skills. Vets are trained to work under pressure, both independently and as a unit, to problem solve and go the extra mile, as well as having a firm knowledge of biology, pharmacology, cytology… the list is nearly endless. Not to mention the extensive interpersonal communication skills that are drilled into us from day one.
The take-home message from the seminar was this: do what makes you happy. Don’t let yourself be bullied by the majority or be swayed by the views of family, friends or cohorts.
(im)Perfect fit
Only you know if something is a perfect fit or if it’s just not working, and the latter is not a failure; it takes a lot of courage to go against the flow and make such a big life-changing decision, but it turns out the rewards can certainly be worth the risks.
There are obviously benefits of having what some of our guest speakers referred to as a “real job”: regular hours, a more predictable work day and a more manageable work-life balance – although they all admitted they did miss working so closely with animals.
I’m still not sure exactly which line of work I’ll settle into in the end. When I was first applying to vet school, I always saw myself as a farm vet, but over the past few years I’ve developed a large interest in exotic species and wildlife. But as long as I find myself in a job I can come home from at the end of the day feeling both happy and fulfilled, there’s nothing else I could really ask for.
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