r/Veterinary

TLDR: medicine and surgery costs what it does for a reason and if you give a client an inch, they will take a mile. Your time, emotional, and mental energy is worth a pretty penny; charge for it.

My experience today radicalized (and probably jaded me). I am about one year into practice and consider myself to be a generous doctor. I’ve always been willing to cut corners where I can on pricing to help clients and patients and have generally walked away feeling good about these interactions.

Then I had this case. A new client senior dog came in with a giant hind limb SQ mass, thought to be a STS based on FNA by a previous clinic. One of my assistants, who is very good at her job but also human, mis-quoted a surgery price by about $500. When I came in with an exact line item estimate with the surgery, anesthesia package, and specific drugs, the owner became very angry. I tried to explain that no estimate is “final” until a physical is performed and written up by a doctor. She argued that that should have been made clear by the assistant. My assistant says she did say this so it turned into a she-said/she-said argument that nobody was going to win.

The owner had a very small budget, and I felt bad, so I tweaked the survey in very odd ways to become a debulking surgery with a dental cleaning (because anesthesia was cheaper this way) to get closer to their $1500 budget (this included a biopsy). They agreed to the estimate.

Oh my GOD this has been nothing but a pain in my ass since. They didn’t fast the dog before surgery so we had to reschedule it. There was a communication breakdown on our end so they wanted MORE DISCOUNTS. Mind you, this surgery was already half the price it should have been. I did put my foot down and deny further discounts. We do the surgery today and it goes fine… until the dog’s leg BLOWS UP and gets really swollen. So now I’m having to manage post-op complications for an owner who couldn’t even afford the initial surgery to begin with. Meanwhile (while I’m freaking out and talking to multiple veterinary surgeons to figure out best next steps) the owner’s girlfriend calls demanding to speak to me about the dog’s leg and why surgery was initially postponed. She gets pissy when I say I can’t talk to her right that second and that the actual owner can give her this information because I’ve already conveyed everything I know. They both end up yelling at my receptionist saying we’re being ridiculous. Could I have sat down and talked to the girlfriend? Yeah, but at this point I was stressed out and she was being rude to my staff so she got put in timeout.

So the dog went home with a MRJ bandage to be rechecked on Saturday and I guess I’m just doing free bandage changes until it gets sorted because they can’t afford anything else and I won’t be able to sleep at night. I don’t always believe “if you can’t afford the vet you can’t afford the pet” but I never should have agreed to this surgery. All it has done is stressed me out and put me in really uncomfortable positions to accommodate while not being a doormat.

Update: I contacted the owner as well as her friend today to get an update on the dog and to also discuss their behavior toward my CSR yesterday. What I got for my troubles was being accused of discrimination and having no empathy ✌🏻 people are trash

I haven't yet graduated high school, but I am very interested in animals, especially exotics. I've been looking for a future career to work toward. Veterinarian seems to suit a lot of what I'm looking for, but I've stumbled across a couple things that make me second guess that. One reason being the fact that veterinaries online seem to hate the job. I've seen a handful of posts sharing their negative experience in the field, with desire to leave. The fact that I would need to do 8 years of post secondary schooling was already asking a lot, plus the fact that I could potentially be unable to get into the veterinary school. However, the amount of negativity online is what has really been getting to me.

Is the job really that bad, or is there some other factor at play that may cause people to dislike working in a veterinary clinic? Is there a way to avoid these issues, or would I likely just become miserable if I ever chose the veterinarian path? If so, what alternative careers would you recommend?

Hi y’all, so I’ve really wanted to get into vet medicine and I figured with me being as young as I am this would be a good time to start and get hours in for my resume. I’ve been here about a month and a half now I’m not a dummy and I realize in all medical fields there is toxicity but I wasn’t expecting the toxicity I’ve been met with. One of the older TAs who I’m paired with makes me do all the opening and midday duties by myself, will tell me everything needs to be cleaned and spotless, and get upset with me for following instructions I’ve been given from other more senior workers. I got told to leave a blanket on a stretcher just in case we have another emergency come in, she gets upset with me saying you always have it cleared. I’m asked to help hold with in an xray in the middle of cleaning, excellent, I wanna learn. We need a third she comes in, mind you she’s not doing anything other then clean already clean razors, and tells me to wipe down xray. Then as I’m wiping down xray and looking at the schedule before I go back to cleaning I get told not to be on the computer all day and stuff still needs to be done on the list. I’m aware?? She gets in a half an hour later and tasks that are completed by two TAs during the day are only completed by me. She barely helps with shipments and putting those away. I was sent to lunch in the middle of these tasks. I take hour long lunches. I come back, she hasn’t done anything. Closing time comes around, I get my tasks completed and as Im still learning I ask for help with certain items. She grabs the lists asks why I marked off closing blinds, I tell her no one’s initials were on there when I checked blinds and I’m going to close room when this next patient leaves, she’s says don’t mark off tasks not completed by me, which fair enough. Mind you she’s very chipper and happy with everyone else, with me, stone cold, no help, won’t let me sit down for a second. Overall rude. Is this normal cause I don’t want to work this field is this is all it’ll be, I’m better than to be disrespected by an bolder lady for just wanting to learn and gain experience. Everyone else has warms up to me or has taken the time to work with me, not her, and I’m dreading working with her tomorrow even though she’s one of like four individuals set to check off my tasks while I’m training. Am I delusional? Idk ig it’s more of a vent then anything still though.

Has anyone had to repay a sign on bonus? Curious because the amount that got deposited in to my bank account was significantly less than the bonus due to taxes.

My understanding is that you pay the amount back, and then file some sort of paperwork with your taxes the year you pay it back to get a credit or something like that.

My bonus is prorated so I’m almost at a point I can afford to get out of this contract and want to know what that would look like, even if another company buys me out.

Hello all, I am a current nursing student in the US and have some curiosities about veterinary anesthesia. My current career plan is to become a CRNA, but I also am a horse person and have always been interested in the veterinary side of things.

Other than obvious things like prerequisites for vet school, what should I know about the path to equine anesthesia? Is it realistic to hope to focus on equine or large animal anesthesia?

What is the typical work life/salary situation?

For context, I chose CRNA because it combines my love for medicine with the ability to have a great work life balance and income to spend plenty of time on my horse farm with family. But I can’t help but wonder if i’d be a little more satisfied doing the veterinary anesthesia thing.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has answers!

Thanks!

TLDR: 23F, always wanted to be a vet. Finally got a clinic job and love the work, but the pay is low, we’re understaffed, and I’m starting to feel burned out. Coworkers with 10–20+ years experience say it doesn’t get much better financially or mentally. Now I’m questioning if vet med is worth the debt/stress and wondering about alternative careers with a pre-vet degree. Not motivated with going to school.

I’ve wanted to become a veterinarian for as long as I can remember. I never really explored other career options because this is the only thing I’ve ever been interested in. Up until recently, I didn’t have much hands on experience besides pet sitting and helping friends/family with their animals. It took me almost a year after graduating college to finally get hired at a clinic (everywhere else turned me down because i didn’t have the experience).

I decided not to go straight into tech or vet school because I wanted real experience first. I learn better hands on, and I wanted to make sure I actually understood the field before committing to more school and debt.

So i’ve been working here for 8, going on 9, months and i LOVEEEEE the job. At times it is stressful, and because we are understaffed i feel a bit of burn out, but I love learning, i love seeing animals, working on them, doing hands on work, love the business and seeing something new everyday… But i hate the pay.. Especially since we’re understaffed, and im doing multiple jobs, I do not get paid enough. I would understand if i was in high school or stating off in college, but im out of college, living on my own, and i have lots of bills and college debt that needs to be paid. I use quite literally all of my paycheck on bills and managing my life.

I am more than grateful for the opportunity this clinic has given me and i love the people im surrounded with everyday (with the exception of one doctor lol) but im thinking of looking at other options that i can do with my major at this point. (Agricultural Sciences, Concentration in Animal and Food Sciences (Pre-Vet Track) If you know anything, pls help me out). And i say this because, my coworkers are heavily persuading me to not go into VetMed. They say the pay doesn’t get better, the stress gets worse, and burnout is extremely common. I know not to let other people’s opinions influence mine, and i hadn’t for the longest, but i’m starting to get burned out myself and i’m seeing a lot of the negatives they (and people online) talk about. Even if I move to a city that has better pay, is the stress and burn out worth it? Is the college debt worth it?

The techs and doctors that have been certified for 10-20 YEARS say they don’t get paid enough.. and they don’t. I also think it’s so unfair that I’m basically able to learn and do everything that a tech can do with no certification, just with lower pay.. I never take offense to my coworkers venting to me about it because i completely understand.. Why should they have had to go through so much schooling, and debt, if someone like me can walk in and do the same things they do? Just at a lower pay? That’s very unfair. It also doesn’t motivate me more to go to school.

I guess this is more of a vent but i would also like advice or just to hear some other opinions as well. I love the career, just not sure if the stress of the job and barely being able to survive off table scraps, while paying for life and college bills, is really worth it.

Full disclosure-I work in the OR at hospital and we throw out a TON of single use supplies for surgery. Things like towels, fabric wrapping, surgical sponges, plastic basins, and other random single use materials. I hate throwing these clean items out but since they are no longer sterile we have no choice but to throw them away. The hospital can’t put this stuff back on the shelves so my coworkers and I take home what we want and throw the rest away but it’s still so much getting thrown out is there anything my local vet might want to take as donation? I know they work with a lot of local shelters as well as having their own OR in office which is why I’m asking if it’s worth it to bring stuff over to them

Not naming names to avoid triggering rule 4, but clinic owners/corps often push an online store that profit-shares with the clinic. And it absolutely cracks me up because it's such a complete lack of a solution to any problem.

Clients want to get medications directly from us; they usually come to our clinic because we're nearby and they like us. They want their money to go to a local practice. But then they see how expensive our prescriptions are compared to places like Chewy or Costco, and go there. Sometimes they even apologize to me, which is hilarious because even as the veterinarian I go to CostCo for my dog's pilils, because it's cheaper than the rate my practice gives me.

So then some suit was like "hmmm... they're using online pharmacies. They must want to use the internet!" So they create a new online pharmacy that works a bit like the others, with the only major difference being that they absolutely screw them over with a bunch of double-digit fees so that the cost for a month's supply of common medications is often doubled by fees.

I get that there's a tiny subset of people who want to get medications online and want to supports us, or who want to get medications online and are unaware of the alternatives, but I've never worked anywhere where more than a tiny trickle of people went that route. And when they do, I feel so bad for them. I can't tell if they just only look at the per-pill cost and miss the fees, or if they really are okay paying that much just to go online because they care about supporting us and about convenience.

Anyway. I think it's funny. Maybe someone has a positive experience with it or a really good reason clients use it that I'm missing, who knows.

When trying to distill down the ridiculous info dumps we get given in lectures into something vaguely manageable - I'm always told the same thing - "use the learning objectives, provided you can answer them you won't get any surprises in the exams". Does anyone have an experience of this working for them?

My main problem with this advice is two-fold. Firstly, over the course of the year we are given something along the lines of 1500-2000 LOs so focussing on them doesn't seem overly to reduce the workload, but mostly it's that they can be interpreted multiple different ways and so "how much is enough"? Most of the LOs we are given could be answered with 2 sentences or 20 pages depending upon how you interpret them.

For example: "Describe the blood supply to the abdominal wall" or "Explain how deficits in motor function can be used to estimate the location of damage to the motor system"

If you find that using the LOs actually works - can you explain your process and how you choose to interpret them? Sorry if this seems like an obvious question - thanks guys!

Hey everyone! Making this on a throw away account and trying to be vague as possible because I do fear retaliation from either admin or other students.

Seeking honesty. I am about to graduate and I can’t help but feel, empty? I had a pretty rough time in vet school with some stuff that happened in my personal life, vet school friendships and had to revamp everything. Fourth year was disappointing with the lack of respect for students, and lack of care on a lot of rotations to support student learning. We have these awards that get given to students and seeing who has won them it makes me feel a bit angry? Some of the people who won were extremely toxic within the class towards others. I tried to do a lot during vet school and just don’t feel accomplished or celebrated when there’s a weird award system like that. Sorry I can’t get more specific without revealing things.

We are graduating very soon and I can’t help but feel empty. I don’t feel ready to practice at all, and I feel like the extra curriculars I did during vet school were pointless. I’m just feeling so depressed as we approach graduation, and I wanted to know if anyone else felt this way too. I also just feel like my institution failed me. How did you get out of that funk if you did feel that way? Are there any other students who feel similarly?

Convince me not to work there.

Kinda sick of podunk medicine in a clinic that's so severely mismanaged that every day is a crisis and I'm thinking it's time for some corporate rigidity and protocols.

I don't know about you, but when I was little, something like 12-13 years old, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Once I finished High School in Italy, back in 2017, I didn't wanted to pursue this career, but my parents, my family and my professors said it was a good opportunity, a good job and everything, well paid. I wanted to do theatre and literature, but I was insecure, everyone told me I could not make it and I would have been in trouble with money. I come from a low class family and the only reason I got in university was because I studied so much that I obtained a scholarship. I pursued this career with everything that I had, in university as in ER as in the clinic now, but I am not happy. This work is gross, doesn't pay well, leaves you drained physically and emotionally and I would really like to leave, but it's the only thing that sustains me right now. I wake up everyday and I feel like I've wasted my life, every good opportunity that I gained through my efforts as a teen went into a life that belongs to someone else. I can't go on like this, but I don't know ho to switch career. I feel like everything's falling apart. I don't even know why I'm writing this on Reddit, but If someone has some advice to give me I would be forever grateful. I feel stuck, what should I do? Did you got out of veterinary med and find a new career? If yes, how?

Hi y'all, I need some thoughts on this new "bonus layout" that my company is doing. (Just some background: its a corporate ER with only a few locations spread throughout rural nebraska into iowa. They give all their DVM's a base salary, no production..) So they recently proposed this layout which is rooted in incentivizing a better work culture/working harder and in return, at the end of the year, you get a portion of the "extra" revenue that comes in. BUT the portion is split between all the DVMs at that particular location and it depends on how many call backs you've done, how many extra shifts you've picked up, how many good reviews you've gotten. Also, they can deduct money based on if your records are late (to be finalized), if you show up late, if you call off, etc. They're basically telling us that this is better than making production like a normal clinic. Is it just me, or is this weird? Like just give us the normal 20-22% production lol....

I tried. I really did. But I took the final I was the most worried about on Friday and grades are back. I was a single point away from getting the grade I needed to pass the course. I haven't gotten the official email yet, but its coming. I'm lost, horrified, and disappointed in myself. I'm knee deep in debt with no other skills besides vet med and a relatively new dislike for school. I dedicated so much of my life to this and now I'm in my late twenties with nothing to show for it. I think I might need advice because there's really nowhere to go from here for me.

Edit: Thank you all for your advice. To clarify, I've already reached the maximum amount of resit examinations and class retakes that my school allows. So unless I can appeal, there's nothing I can do. My school if very picky with appeals and usually only approve them if there is a medical issue going on or if the student is in their final year. Yes, I've been struggling with what I'm now suspecting is depression since I started school but I never told any of my advisors. I'd feel fine after making changes, but with my self-worth being so closely tied with how I do in school for so long, it was pretty easy to slip back into it and not even realize. With me probably being in the bottom of my class, no close friends, no close advisors, and having failed every second chance given to me, I wouldn't be a good candidate for an approved appeal.

CVT here. I’ve been in the field for nearly 20 years and the sheer level of toxicity has me dreading my alarm clock ever. single. day. (Well, the days I work). I’ve worked shelter, GP, and specialty/emergency with an emphasis on anesthesia. I never pursued my VTS in AA, and don’t think I would at this point, but I need a change and am contemplating leaving the field altogether.

I have young kids, so I need to continue to make decent money, but also want more time at home- in this field, it’s a pipe dream to have both. Amirite??

Advice? I only know this field and have extensive knowledge and experience with surgery and anesthesia, but within the hospital setting, I am over all the toxic bull from fellow techs, management, and doctors. It’s a constant pissing contest while simultaneously nobody wants to work. I know you’ve all heard this before; I just need to vent and get advice from complete strangers who will have more insight than my family will lol

Hi, I have been working in vm for about 8 years. Recently, I have moved to a new practice. I have been having issues since ive started with one coworker. We have been sat down and talked to and we can't seem to find resolution. Any advice is appreciated. Qe have determined that said coworker and I are too similar, causing us to butt heads frequently. We were both brought in knowing that the staff is not as well rounded as we are with skills. Consistently, we seem to undermine eachother and avoid. Example: calling about blood machine. Had to leave a message. I tell coworker that im going to call them back, she says she's gonna do it. I said no, I already talked to them and know whats going on and I really dont mind. She again says that she'll take care of it and just does. I left a kennel dirty for 5 minutes to discharge a room, I come back and I get "just so you know, you didnt clean that kennel". I said I would and she told me not to worry about it, she's got it. I talked to my supervisor who is going to think on it over the weekend. I want this place to work out for me, so im all ears. Thank you if you got this far :)

Hi all, unfortunately another burned out veterinarian here looking for some career advice. I graduated in 2023 and went in to mixed animal practice. Loved the cases and the farmers, but got chewed up and spit out after a year. Transitioned to small animal and have just realized that I am having that crisis of putting this time, effort, and dedication into getting this degree and hating where I’m at and another 30 years of practicing sounds impossible. I love public health, epidemiology, and disease transmission stuff. Though am having trouble finding how to break into that part of the field. I’ve applied for FSIS and have a job alert for APHIS. I’ve also looked at the states local to me for state vet options but feel obviously under qualified for anything of that nature. I’d be open to teaching at a vet tech program or undergrad but being only 3 years out don’t make a good candidate for that either. Industry with the large travel component is not an option for personal life reasons (no kids but aging family) but could see a diagnostic services veterinarian at IDEXX being an option eventually. Does anyone have any advice on career directions I could look into? Open to getting an MPH if that would help with career options as it legitimately sounds interesting to me. Thanks for listening.

- A veterinarian who wants to enjoy and be passionate about their job again

Hey there everyone!

I was wondering if anyone is familiar with getting a veterinarian degree from a foreign country (Chile) reviewed in California?

I have called and emailed the California Veterinarian Medical Board, but they couldn’t really provide too much guidance.

Thank you!

I am at my wit's end. And trust me, I am the kind of person who DROPS something if it's not working for me. But I can't stop being a vet. I came to the UK and I want to get UK residency, but with the changes the government wants to implement, I am either 1, 3 or 6 years away, depending on what they decide. And they wont say anything until october. It is excruciating.

Before they announced the possibility of longer routes to settlement, I was already burnt out. A year ago, whenever I had a bad day, I thought ''no worries! Just two more years, you can get settlement and then find another job, or have a break''. Now I can't say that. I don't see the end to this.

I am so tired of working sole charge, of the entitled clients, of the long fully booked days and, when you think you can't do it anymore, someone books an emergency on your admin time. Because fuck the vet, right ? how could I not want to save this animal. What good am I going to do to this poor animal if I am completely exhausted, thinking I'm going to, after I'm done, be shouted at by clients who have been left waiting for 25 minutes?

I have a cat dental scheduled and the owner called asking if they could see the x-rays before the extractions happen, because their husband is a human radiologyst. This dental will happen IN TWO WEEKS, it is currently my day off and I am overthinking it. I do not have anyone in house who is good at dental x-rays and I only had 30min training, so god forbids they are not perfect.

I just don't know how to not overthink, how to claim my own days off as mine, like honestly, THIS DENTAL WILL HAPPEN IN TWO WEEKS AND I'M STRESSING. I don't know what to do. I am literally loosing sleep over how much everything about this job stresses me out and about the immigration situation. I already made a big mistake at work because of the lack of sleep, luckily everything was fine but it could've been worse. And I don't know if I should let my team know, because on one hand I don't want to harm an animal, and on the other hand I don't want them to feel like they can't trust me.

Every comment is appreciated, however please bear in mind:

1. I can't take a break from the profession. I'm on a visa. If I stop working and leave the country to go home and rest, I will break my continuous residence. So the four years I've been here will be for ''nothing''.

2. I could change employers - but I have been in this job for 2 years now which gives me a lot of protection against unjustified/unfair firing, which wont happen if I go somewhere new. And my team is excellent, we are just very understaffed. The problems with clients, etc will follow me everywhere - but I will say my team is great at handling those and supporting the vet.

3. I can't change fields as I wont find a sponsored job. The immigration situation in the UK is very shit right now.

If you read all of this, thank you so much. I don't really know my intentions behind this post, I guess everything is appreciated it.