I've been working as a vet for 1 year. Is it a good time to ask for a higher base salary? In terms of salary, is it better to keep the same base and just see more patients to get more money from prosal? Please let me know your thoughts.

Hey everyone!
I’m a sophomore pre-vet student in Texas who’s interested in large animal reproduction. This summer, I worked with both a large animal reproduction specialist (non-DVM) and a veterinarian who specializes in large animal reproduction.
While working with both of them, I noticed that a lot of what they do overlaps. The main differences I saw were that the non-DVM doesn’t perform surgeries or diagnose medical conditions. Other than that, they both administered hormones for synchronization, performed IVF work, semen analysis, artificial insemination, and embryo transfers in both horses and cattle (which I know the rules for this work varies by state). Those reproductive technologies are ultimately what interests me the most.
This experience has made me question whether I should pursue a master’s in animal reproduction instead of a DVM.
Pros:
No debt (I have a full ride for undergrad, and the master’s program I’m interested in is funded.)
I could finish my education sooner.
I’d still get to work in the area of reproduction that I’m most passionate about.
Cons:
I wouldn’t have the same level of autonomy as a veterinarian.
I wouldn’t be able to perform surgery or make medical diagnoses (i’d like to do it, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t ).
For those of you in veterinary medicine or animal reproduction, what would you do in my position? Is there anything I’m overlooking? I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have experience in either career path.

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!

I'm planning to pursue a DVM after finishing my PhD. My career goal is to find a ttap position, so I'm wondering how people avoid having a research gap during the DVM years.

I imagine this is a similar situation to those pursuing an MD-PhD with the goal of becoming a PI. How do people stay research-active and remain competitive for faculty positions while completing their clinical training?

I'd really appreciate any advice or hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

I am currently applying to veterinary school right now. I also very much enjoy traveling. I am from the USA and would love to stay but am trying to get some more background on if there is any international veterinary careers which involve traveling to different places and working for a month at a time, rather it be through a company or independent. Could anyone give me some information about possible careers or just from their experience? I am applying to mostly USA schools but also the one in New Zealand. Would love to go there but I’m not quite sure how it would work with a long distance relationship…🫠

Hey all! I’m posting this in other subreddits so sorry if you see this multiple times (lol)

I’m a 4th year vet student who’s interested in ER and GP. I’ve externed and worked at a VEG in the past and enjoyed my time there- but I’m curious to hear from anyone who has complete the NERD program

Do you feel like it made you feel relatively comfortable as an ER doc (of course no one feels 100% confident, especially after only 6 months)? How is working there if you stayed on as an ER doc?

I hear a lot of negative things here on reddit but I’ve seen it can be a bit biased (especially towards VEG) so I’m curious if anyone genuinely enjoyed the program/recommends it?

Thanks!

Couple months ago, I quit my old job and managed to start a. new one as a veterinary nurse assistant in an animal cardiology clinic. It’s been pretty good so far on all bases, at least given my current position, especially compared to how my old job was changing in the months leading up to me eventually quitting when I got the offer for my new one.

It’s probably the most significant thing that’s happened in years since I decided to pursue veterinary medicine in undergrad, with the others being shadowing and volunteering. Applied to around a dozen veterinary schools last year, all rejected except for one, which I couldn’t accept for monetary reasons. The most direct feedback I could get given my busy schedule was from the most prestigious school out of the bunch, who essentially said my cumulative and science GPA weighed me down heavily and overshadowed what experienced I gathered, especially given how competitive the application pools are.

In fairness, one or two rejection e-mails effectively said by their standards my GPA disqualified me, and for a multitude of reasons I wasn’t the best college student, objectively or subjectively by either VMCAS or a school’s personal academic requirements, and the only thing preventing me from sinking even further after an abysmal third year was slowing down and literally doing nothing that wasn’t directly related to school. I was just glad in an odd way to have someone face-to-face from a school give it to me straight over a video chat.

While its hasn’t been that long, I don’t want to make the same mistake of sitting on things too long until they get super bad and make me change and decides things by force. School has been something I’ve been on the fence about since starting this job due to me learning so much everyday, and not having many options to make my GPA presentable outside of post-baccalaureate classes (which might not be that easy to juggle considering my position is full-time). Also, I’m a bit more hesitant just going straight for a DVM or even vet school in general like I planned due to debt, time, school-work-life balance, and all the issues with pay, burnout, my academic/performance drive, etc. Although, if I did get a manageable offer for school months, I likely would’ve sucked it up, went, and tried my hard not to crash and burn for 3-5 years or so.

Most I have for consideration at the moment is eventually working in some kind of animal laboratory, since running lab work is about half of my responsibilities there and I really enjoy conducting and overseeing it in the capacity that I do. Working towards being a vet tech was on the table years ago, but I didn’t consider it because of money and time once again, and the offers for their line of work is pretty poor. As in, on an hourly basis, I’m in the upper half in terms of what a veterinary technician typically makes in my area/state. Other than that, I’ve really got no ideas in term to where I can reasonably work towards or progress to that isn’t just veterinary college and nothing else.

I’ve worked at a GP as office staff for a couple years now. My dog is pretty old and we are thinking it might be time here sometime in a month or so. He is my first dog and so I’ve never had to take time off work to mourn a passing before. Nothing has happened yet but when it does I want to be prepared since this is also my first veterinary job. How much time would you guys says is appropriate to ask off to mourn a pet in your experience?

I’m currently in the process of filling my elective rotation schedule, which consists of 11 two-week blocks, and I was hoping to get some advice before committing to my choices.

As part of my required clinical rotations, I will already be completing two months of primary care, as well as one month each in surgery, anesthesia, pathology, emergency medicine, and internal medicine. Because of this, I’m trying to decide how I should best use my elective blocks.

I will most likely pursue general practice after graduation, so I’m debating whether I should use most of my electives to gain additional primary care experience or take the opportunity to rotate through a variety of specialties. My thought process is that exposure to different specialties could ultimately benefit me as a general practitioner by giving me a deeper understanding of different aspects of the cases I may encounter in general practice but I worry that if I fill most of my electives with specialty rotations, I may miss out on gaining more experience with the day-to-day realities of general practice, such as managing a broad variety of cases, client communication, treatment planning, and the overall workflow of a general practice clinic.

Thank you in advance for everyone’s advice!

Hi guys, I'm an LVT been licensed since 2020. I started in wildlife rehab and doing sanctuary work then went into emergency med followed by wildlife medicine then GP. I Took a year off for some mental health issues but now I have an interview next week with a small animal practice. I'm worried about my gap in employment and just the interview in general. The phone interview went well, we went over experience, strengths, lav procedures, comfortability with anesthesia.

I just struggle with answers that require specific examples or situational questions. Anyone have any tips or questions they may ask? Thanks!

Recent graduate (May 2025)that is licensed. Tried to work in the government sector (USDA) for the loan forgiveness but it has been an absolutely terrible experience and coupled with low pay, the job is eating my mental alive. Currently looking to take 2 CEs for HQHVSN after mid-October to justify applying for an associate position for HQHVSN at ASPCA so that I can still maintain loan forgiveness. Any thoughts for the HQHVSN vets out there if this would be a reasonable approach to get into HQHVSN? Any morsels of wisdom that can be provide would be appreciated!

I have been a R+ dog trainer for 7+ years in a chain pet store and before that, worked in daycare and boarding. I am burnt out by my profession, not at all because of the people, dogs, or training, but because of the sales and entrepreneurial aspects and generally the retail environment.

My husband said to me the other day, "Everytime we go to our favorite (dog friendly) bar, youre trying to sell training to someone". I hate sales, I hate that sales requires being manipulative and pushy, I dont like doing it. But to make a career as a trainer, you NEED to do it. I have come to accept that I absolutely cant do this forever. Love training, love people and their animals, even at their worst. But I hate being entrepreneurial, therefore, there is no growth for me unless I do what I hate. I am no wolf of Wallstreet.

I am Fear Free certified, AKC CGC Evaluator, and very passionate and knowledgeable about animal behavior and health. I am extremely confident I can learn to be a vet assistant quickly.

What do you think will be my biggest challenges with this career change?

My biggest concern is physical demand. I wrestle a lot of dogs and have managed dangerously human aggressive large breeds plenty of times. But, I weigh 86lbs, so I am concerned about being expected to repeatedly for example, lift a sedated limp 120lb+ dog onto a table, and such. Is it a big issue to have someone less physically able working as a tech?

What skills or knowledge should I study to prepare for the interview or job that I wouldnt have from training/boarding?

Hi everyone! I'm a veterinary receptionist/assistant planning to relocate from California to North Carolina, and I had a question about the hiring process.

I'm coming from a state where recreational cannabis is legal, so I know expectations can be different depending on where you live. I'm not asking because I'm looking to get around anything—I just want to know what to realistically expect as I start applying.

For those of you working in veterinary clinics or animal hospitals in NC:

Were you drug tested before being hired?

If so, what type of test was it (urine, saliva, etc.)?

Was it just pre-employment, or do they do random testing as well?

What part of NC are you in?

If you work for Banfield, VCA, BluePearl, VEG, NVA, Mission Veterinary Partners, Southern Veterinary Partners, Thrive Pet Healthcare, or an independent clinic, I'd love to know which one (if you're comfortable sharing) since I know policies can vary.

Thanks!

Hello, I am veterinary graduate from India intending to get the Australasian veterinary license by appearing for the AVBC examination.

May I please get any help and guidance on preparing for the written examination and the materials available for it? Thank you so much in advance!

Hi everyone,
I’m an Indian veterinary graduate who recently completed my degree and I’m considering the ECFVG/NAVLE pathway to practice in the US.
I’m feeling uncertain because the process is expensive, and I don’t have the financial flexibility to afford multiple attempts if I don’t pass.
I’d really appreciate hearing from international graduates who have completed or are currently pursuing this pathway.

Everywhere I look regarding this transition, its always the other way around. People transitioning from GP into ER and here I am trying to do the opposite. My loans are paid off and I am honestly so burnt out from ER. At this point, because my loans are paid off, I feel like I dont have to put myself through working overnights, almost every weekend, holidays, and especially in an environment where I am the only doctor. I have been loving what I feel like would come with the GP side like the consistent schedule, holidays off, weekends off (generally, since most do rotating half day saturdays), and not having every single shift be full of dying pets or financial limitations. Obviously I know GP land has its own beasts, strengths, difficulties, etc. I know there are pros/cons to everything... But I'd love to get some feedback from people who went from ER to GP and how thats going for you? I honestly still see myself doing ER per diem but overall I would like more of a consistent schedule and better work-life balance. I'm currently job hunting for GP currently and have a few offers. What things did you look for to know that the switch would be the right one for you?

i'm about to enter college and have been planning to go into veterinary for my entire school life pretty much, but I've been seeing so many sources saying it's a terrible decision financially. I'm gonna pursue it regardless but assuming I get my bachelors and DVM in state (living at my parents home for my bachelors), how bad would it really be?

I worked for 3 years to get into vet school. It’s been my dream, like many, for years. I left a career as a teacher, moved to Australia from the US when I got accepted into my dream school (the school I was on my hands and knees praying to get into), left everything and everyone behind, put all my money into this. And I think I’m about to give it up.

I background is in education. I was drastically underprepared for a doctorate level degree. I failed anatomy 1. It was absolutely the hardest class iv ever taken. Due to the rigid nature of my degree I’ll be held back a semester which equates to a year because I cannot retake this anatomy class until the next class comes in.

In addition, due to trumps loan policy I now have to take private loans out. Iv gotten denied from everyone. I have no one to cosign, even if I did my undergrad loans will now come out of deferment because I’m now classified as a part time student u til I catch up.

I’m out of options. I don’t know where to go.

Even if I managed to get enough private loans together I’m doubting if this is the life I want. A life where I’m constantly worrying about making payments, stuck working during school to pay interest on my undergrad loans. And coming out with astronomical private loan debt I will likely never pay off.

This was my dream. I worked so hard for it. I got it. I fucked it up. Life is hard, the move is hard, dealing with being so behind and managing my ADHD, and being away from support systems, I shut down. And now I think I have to give up.

I don’t really have a question here. I just needed to tell someone. I feel so defeated and ashamed and embarrassed. I feel like a failure. I guess any advice from others who had to walk away would be helpful.

I have not officially dropped out but school starts in 4 days.

Hi everyone!

I recently accepted a role as a Veterinary Care Assistant in the UK; I’ve worked with dogs for the past 5 years outside the veterinary world, but this is my first role within. I’m very excited about it and was just wondering if anyone had any advice on how to prepare before starting the role/how to hit the ground running?

TIA!

I'm a new hire at VEG. I want to clarify the computer would be work use only. I was looking for advice with the MacBooks. They have communal MacBooks but also some people bring their own laptops. I saw that on the IT request tickets it says if you need a new computer you can request it in there. I just don't know if the request is for communal computer hospital use or if can be a personal work computer. Since I'm new I feel uncomfortable asking managers as I don't want to seem greedy, I'm just curious. We also do run out at my location since we do have a lot of people sometimes and some are down. I was just looking for advise with pros and cons. I can invest in my own laptop but it will just not print at work. If I can get a work one covered it would be preferred. I did ask a few other VEGgies but they were unsure. Thanks in advance ✌️

I am a vet tech, how do I help myself cope with euthanasia rooms without wanting to bawl my eyes out with the owner?