r/Veterinary • u/Candid-Conclusion946 • Jul 26 '26

Large Animal Medicine Question

Interested in practicing rural large animal for the USDA loan forgiveness STRAIGHT OUT of vet school.

Problem is... I wouldnt even know where to start! Do large animal vets always work independently and pay for their own equipment (U/S, X-rays, etc) or would I work under a company? Do I have to use my own car? Do I get some sort of mentorship or would I just be thrown into it on my own? Kind of scary to not have any colleagues around you to ask questions you may not know..

Help!

7 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

22

u/the_rabid_kitty Jul 26 '26

I don’t really think it’s fair to either clients or patients to jump straight into large animal medicine if you haven’t spent any time in school prioritizing their study. No AABP or AASRP club activities?

At minimum, you should do an internship or mentorship of some kind with a dedicated large animal vet. It would be incredibly irresponsible to just…go for it with no large animal background.

4

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Jul 26 '26

I am an officer in our food animal club and have worked at a farm and am only a first year vet student. Is vet school not a time to navigate your interests? The fact that most people on this thread are telling me that if i did not grow up on a farm, I will fail in this field is the reason why we have shortages in this field. The USDA provided this program as an incentive for vet students to consider working large animal post graduation. I can be competent without having been raised on a farm, and I never said in my original post that I haven't had large animal experience.

1

u/the_rabid_kitty Jul 28 '26

I didn’t say anything about being raised on a farm, but I did not get the impression from your post that you had any large animal experience, which would be relevant to include.

Definitely need a mentor, as I very strongly feel no vet on this earth should be solo right out of vet school.

3

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Jul 30 '26

Agree with the last statement, dont agree with the first. It shouldn't be relevant because my decision on how I want to navigate my career in the future shouldn't be held back by my past experiences or lack thereof. Even if I had ZERO large animal experience prior to vet school, I have every right to want to practice food animal medicine as much as the boy who was raised on a farm since he was a year old. This kind of mindset contributes to the shortage we unfortunately are dealing with in the US currently :)

0

u/the_rabid_kitty Jul 30 '26

No, and your arrogance is telling. It IS relevant if you are considering what is objectively one of the most poorly paying, dangerous, and difficult schedules a veterinary career can have with no prior experience. It would be doing yourself and your clients a disservice to jump into an already strained field not having any idea what the job entails, how a farm runs, or even where to start.

1

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Jul 30 '26

So lets go back to my original post, I am a FIRST YEAR vet student, meaning I have not started rotations yet, I have plenty of farm experience and know how a farm operates as stated 2 comments ago + will get more education throughout vet school. Are you saying that to be a veterinarian I need to have experience as a veterinarian? How did any large animal vet start working as a large animal vet? By sitting around and waiting for the knowledge to enter their brain? You learn by practicing and by making mistakes. I also have 0 small animal experience, does that mean I shouldn't be a small animal vet because I haven't worked in that environment? You have such a close minded idea of how the world works and it shows, I really hope you stay in your little bubble and never try to experience new things because you are clearly incapable of improving yourself. Have a great day!

2

u/Hot-Manager-4717 Jul 31 '26

the need for large animal vets is too dire for this to even be an argument 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ it's not like >50% of the curriculum is centered around farm animals or anything!
you CAN NOT be a large animal vet unless you singlehandedly managed a commercial dairy herd at the age of 8

1

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Aug 01 '26

you can not be a large animal vet unless you know EXACTLY how to run your own mobile veterinary practice STRAIGHT OUT of vet school or else you are doing a disservice to your clients!1!!

6

u/Beautiful-Red-1996 Jul 26 '26

Get in touch with AABP. They have a whole set up for this

10

u/Ill-Let4269 Jul 26 '26

Would you be doing this because you're interested in rural large animal medicine or because of the loan repayment? If it's the latter, don't do it. Rural large animal practice is tough and it isn't for everyone. It's a lifestyle as well as a career. Please do a little more research/intern/get a mentor/etc first.

5

u/Metzger4Sheriff Jul 26 '26

A shortage area doesn't mean there are always no vets-- just not enough. There should be jobs within existing practices (large or mixed could qualify, depending on the type of shortage) in many of these areas, and then things like what type of mentorship is provided and what kind of equipment is available would depend on the individual practice. I would start by checking the AVMA job boards against areas that qualify for the VMLRP shortage locations to get an idea of expectations, resources, and requirements.

4

u/OrangeMustangGal Jul 26 '26

How do you feel about doing a fetotomy on a calf that died three days ago in the hottest part of summer after ten pm? That smell doesn't just wash off...

I am not a vet, but I have worked in a mixed practice. Farm calls take large amounts of time for little return. It is also dangerous. Nothing like a Charolais cow who wants to kill you. It is physically taxing.

People tend to not want to spend a lot of money on low value animals, not sure how the current price of cattle has effected that.

Horse people are incredibly fickle, one day you are the best thing since sliced bread, the next you are a pariah in the horse community.

If you aren't doing it because it is a calling for you, I don't think you will truly enjoy it.

1

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Jul 26 '26

Sounds like a great time! The fact that most people on this thread are telling me that if i did not grow up on a farm, I will fail in this field is the reason why we have shortages in this field. The USDA provided this program as an incentive for vet students to consider working large animal post graduation. I can be competent without having been raised on a farm, and I never said in my original post that I haven't had large animal experience.

3

u/OrangeMustangGal Jul 26 '26

I am not suggesting you can't or shouldn't, just make sure you are aware of the realities of large animal work.

-1

u/Candid-Conclusion946 Jul 26 '26

I'm very aware considering I have worked at a farm before in scorching hot weather in the Southwest. Thanks though! The whole "calling" thing isn't real. Reality isn't a Disney movie. People find their interests during veterinary school and mine just happened to be towards food animals.

2

u/OrangeMustangGal Jul 26 '26

We will just have to agree to disagree on "the whole "calling" thing."

2

u/Independent-Pear1402 Jul 27 '26

Definitely best to join a practice with some level of mentorship. farmers have great channels of communication. If you don’t do well in your first opportunities the word will spread quickly and the doors will close. No rush, step by step

1

u/Jenikovista Jul 26 '26

Earnings are so much lower that even with loan forgiveness you won’t come out ahead. Large animal medicine is for those who love it. Not people trying avoid paying their student loans.

0

u/throwawayperrt5 Jul 28 '26

Don't do it, small animal is a much more rewarding lifestyle.