You’ve wanted to be a vet forever. That’s why you spent every last summer in memory working with animals. You made the grade in college by turning down party after party. You suffered the nailbitingly stressful application and acceptance process. You survived anatomy and physiology in year one and endless pathology coursework in year two only to wake up to a crisis of conscience in years three and four:
Am I doing the right thing? Is this what I want for my life?
DVM Newsmagazine addressed the issue this month with a splashy cover piece. The issue seems suddenly newsworthy. Here’s why:
Though it can come at any time in your career, the first hint of crisis inevitably occurs when your student loan correspondence begins to arrive with ever-gargantuan numbers attached. For some it’s no surprise. It’s what you expected when you entered the field. “Gotta pay to play,” as they say.
For others, it sounds the death knell of impending reality. Acute onset of awareness can be unexpectedly chilling—especially if you’re a risk averse individual.
Factor in the humanitarian coursework most vet schools offer to help you face that reality (scary stuff!) and the angst can become almost unbearable. It’s enough to make you long for a transfer to medical school (not an unreasonable leap after a vet student’s second year) or change course altogether.
Indeed, many a vet student re-evaluates his or her position after catching a breath before the third year and its relatively less strenuous work commences. Until then, it seems most vets-to-be don’t come up for air, caught up in the workload and the whirlwind of a novel scholastic experience as we are.
Eventually, however, reality does bite. When it does, it can grab hold with a vengeance, tearing your aspirations to shreds in its merciless maw.
I know what you’re thinking: “Dr. Khuly can be soooo dramatic when she wants to be.”
Nonetheless, it’s true that with each passing year more and more students opt out of their prospective careers in veterinary medicine mid-stream. More vets cross-train away from practice. Increasing numbers go back to school and get unrelated degrees. They realize this field just won’t meet their personal goals, much as they might cherish the vision of a life in veterinary medicine.
In some ways, that’s a good thing. We need a mechanism for “weedout” that goes beyond the academic rigor vet school provides. But it still hurts to know we may be losing some of our best and brightest over the “grass is greener” phenomenon. Is it really better to be a human doc? A lawyer? A banker?
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t denigrate the choices of those who veer awayafter working so hard to get into vet school. It’s not for everyone—especially not when vet indebtedness is increasing at a clip disproportionate to our salaries. Not when respect for veterinarians is on the decline.
In fact the trend indicates there will come a time when veterinary medicine is no longer a rational financial option for many would-be veterinarians. So why suffer the rest of the industry’s issues?
My take? I like to think vet medicine has been a less than rational choice for decades, what with all the irrational exuberance it takes to tackle the profession’s basic challenges. But it’s the oft-cited unfavorable debt to income ratio that seems to get to vet students most.
After all, many of us could have elected more lucrative paths. Yet we chose veterinary medicine for its inherent charms. That’s why I believe that money has less and less to do with why we vets choose this life for ourselves.
But let’s not kid ourselves. It’s not so bad. I live well. Embarrassingly, I do so paycheck to paycheck and not without the stress of my creditors raising their interest rates, fear of taking time off or falling ill, and worries about the inexorable increase in my property taxes. But I’m not really suffering—not while I can still pay for my kid’s braces and a pair of new running shoes when I want them.
For the sacrifice and expense of a veterinary education (OK, tack on the MBA while you’re at it) I could’ve been soaring well above a $300K salary by now in a reasonably conservative career track. But no, I chose lifestyle over money. And maybe that’s not so rational by US standards of success but it’s what vet students elect to do daily.
Giving it all up is not the worst thing someone could do. I wouldn’t blame them if the field didn’t offer enough of a draw. But for my money (opportunity cost counts) I’ll keep on losing big in the long run—and I’ll continue to do so happily...as long as my writing career takes off!
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Sure Doc, but look on the bright side. You get good tables at restaurants, park anywhere you want, and bolt from parties for made-up emergencies.
And even better your mid-life crisis is buying a goat. Much cheaper than a sports car. :-)
Larry March 25th, 2008 04:42:00 PM
No, Larry. My mid-life crisis was starting a blog.
Dr. Patty Khuly March 25th, 2008 05:29:00 PM
I feel plain sad for any young person financially responsible for their education (and parents as well, taking out second mortgages, sacrificing retirement plans, etc.) I don't think it really matters what profession your talking about.
I have one niece soon to complete her master's, and will enter the job market at a starting salary of $30k + - ; another-- a first year undergrad, her tuition is $40k+/yr (I sure hope she picks her major wisely!); and yet another waiting upon acceptance/financial packages offered to make her decision.
I forget where I read that the competition for vet school is stiffer than any other medical field (Dr. Khuly---you probably know those statistics??) I can see some advantages as a new vet graduate, flexibility entering the field, no horrendous "startup practice" costs on top if desired, and no huge malpractice insurance premiums.
Education and Medical care costs are just way out of control !!
Barb Albright March 25th, 2008 05:44:00 PM
This is exactly the reason I've been veering from "I want to work in a zoo!" to "I want to be a flashy board-certified surgeon" even to "I want to own a specialty practice". I don't need or even want to be wealthy, but I want that student loan monkey off my back - and it's going to be one of those $200k monkeys. Add to that a desire to travel and a couple of expensive hobbies, and I feel like I have no choice but to angle for the more lucrative areas of the profession, even if I'd be happy driving my beat-up 1994 Mitsubishi for the rest of my life.
There's no way I'd quit tho. This IS my second career after giving up on other choices, more like a "three times the charm" choice. I can't fault people for their frustrations, but I'm definitely out of options myself.
Julia March 25th, 2008 06:48:00 PM
According to UC Davis the average indebtedness of 2007 grads is $96,701 (http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/studentprograms/subp...). Average starting salary for a veterinarian (BLS/AVMA) was around $55,000 to 60,000 for small animal DVMs.
I cannot fathom how starting veterinarians can service their debt. The repayments over 20 years on this average debt are around $800/mo @ 8.00%. After-tax income on $55,000/yr is around $3,000 to $3,600/mo, depending where you live and what have you. So roughly 20 to 25% of after-tax income goes to service a loan that will take decades to pay off. Factor in other expenses such as rent/mortgage, car, having kids, etc, and I find it hard to see how anyone could say your typical veterinarian is a moneygrubber.
I have friends who are just now finishing their internships in all sorts of weird and wonderful things on the human side and they may have $200k in debt but once they are board certified their salaries jump from $40k to $250 - 300k/yr, making debt service that much easier. Veterinarians have a tougher climb.
Alex Krooglik March 25th, 2008 07:15:00 PM
Man Alex, if Dr. Khuly's piece didn't depress me, your stats sure did! Not that I haven't thought this all through and how much I will owe (which will be as much as the house we bought), but there are definitely days when I wonder if I will ever live any way other than paycheck to paycheck. Which is really sad all by itself considering what you have to go through to get a veterinary degree. Thankfully I'm going into this with eyes wide open and with one career behind me...
Ingrid March 25th, 2008 07:46:00 PM
As a student just finishing my first year of vet school and already about 45K in the hole from this year and undergrad, I'm doing my best imitation of an ostrich. Knowing I'll be paying back more than 200K by the time all the interest has added up is enough for my brain to shut down- the only way to deal is to ignore it since that's a higher number than I can conceive of!
That number is one reason I'm trying to join the Army vet corps. They guarantee me a decent starting wage and job, as well as money while I'm in school. It also makes Banfield and other corporate jobs look pretty damn good since they've got the money and give decent benefits, even if it's not the job I've envisioned since I was a kid. I don't know that any of my classmates want to have their own practice. Maybe that was a common goal in the past, but now most of us will be happy to get our loans paid off before we retire, especially for those that decided to go to vet school as a second career.
lindabcs March 25th, 2008 09:00:00 PM
Another vet student here who will be about $100,000 in debt by the time I'm done :( It is a good time to be a borrower, though, as inflation will eat up a good bit of the interest rate on my student loans. I also had the good fortune of getting into my in-state school- I almost feel like I don't have the right to complain about how much I'm paying when I know my out-of-state classmates pay nearly twice as much.
Not only do we keep having professional skills courses about our indebtedness, but recently we've had talks about animal abuse, recognizing when children or women in the home are being abused (since animal abuse is often linked to other types of abuse), compassion fatigue, and reasons why a vet might lose his/her license or get sued.
Why do I want to do this again?
Megan March 26th, 2008 07:31:00 AM
It's the same thing, if not worse, for my profession (def. lower starting salaries!). Also - becoming the equivalent for "board certified" in my profession does nothing to increase your salary. This day and age, the only professions to go into for money are Law or Human medicine (neither of which should be in the highest earer category when you think about it ethically). Or, you can gamble for a living in the trading world. So depressing...........
Creature of Habit March 26th, 2008 07:33:00 AM
Maybe it's just my upbringing, learning to do without money or material things and, instead, getting outside to do things requiring minimal financial outlay. Later, that manifested itsel in volunterring and leaning to play an instrument or three and getting a library card. Anyway, this will sound harsh, but too many in this country boo hoo about more than aqequate amounts of money not being enough and even more ridiculous amounts of money being even better. I would think that, given the average DVM salary, a few years of frugal living would decrease the debt almost to nill and then should provide more than enough to live on comfortably. Often woes about money revolve around wants, rather than needs and I think that's a sad thing in this country. While I don't begrudge anyone being paid for their harrd work, there are less expensive vehicles, houses with less square feet and clothing, food, etc, that cost less.
I guess to put it in perspective, when I was looking into going into school to be a respiratory therapist and I saw someone actually say "how can you be expected to live on, at the most, $70,000 a year?", I wanted to find their house and piss in their cheerios, lol.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but this subject always seemes to amuse and annoy me.
Brian Hewitt March 26th, 2008 08:14:00 AM
Lindabos, one of the most pre-eminent ferret vets (well, technically exotics vet, but he's specialized within that) in the entire world is with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. That's Dr. Bruce Williams. The military path looks like it could be a really interesting route to take.
regina March 26th, 2008 10:56:00 AM
Brian: A fine point. We buy too much s---! I'm guilty as charged. I've been living frugally now for three years now out of necessity (HUGE increases in the basic cost of living for me) but before that I spent big on pedicures and manicures and waxing and personal trainers, etc. and am still paying off debts for the stupid things I thought I needed. I even drove a BMW for awhile. Can you believe that? I was well beyond my means but I do consider such lapses a learning experience and I try not to be too harsh on those who haven't learned things the hard way--yet.
Dr. Patty Khuly March 26th, 2008 11:07:00 AM
Well, if it makes anyone here feel any better, th hugest category of discretionary expenditure (after housing, utilities, and car payment on my 2003 corolla) for me is veterinary expenditures over the past few years. I have spent about $26,000 in pet related health expenses for my mom's pets and mine since 2004. Out of my pockets, into the pockets of vets . . :)
Stefani March 26th, 2008 11:13:00 AM
As someone who's worked on the vet side and the human side of medicine, I think that vet med is the kinder, more caring place to be because few make the money they do on the human side. People are in the vet profession because they love it. Many are in human medicine because they make good money...and it shows! Sigh...I hope one of these days I can find my way back to vet med.
Sarah March 26th, 2008 02:42:00 PM
I'm not aware of too many people living more frugally than my husband and me in this city....lol..... But we are happy and that prevails for us. But, I would like to be not perpetually stressed about money.
I think the hard part for many young professionals, as Dr. Patty noted, is that you grow up accustomed to a certain standard of living. Mine was not frugal, it was more of the 'whatever you want' variety. And the transition to a very different lifestyle can be a little bumpy. It's not really a matter of "boo hoo", I'm not crying because I don't have Chanel sunglasses, I'm crying because I have no ability to save money without giving up basic necessities (like food! or healthcare! or dental care! or my mortgage!) unless I uproot my life and move to.....I dunno.....some place a lot less expensive. Wherever that is. At the same time I am guilty because I didn't think long and hard about the realities of my chosen profession's earning scale coupled with massive student loans (and ours are only for graduate educations). In hindsight, I would not repeat the direction I've taken. At the same time, it's a pretty great direction, so I'm not complaining. At least not ALL the time! ;)
Creature of Habit March 26th, 2008 04:28:00 PM
I agree with you wholeheartedly Creature of Habit!
I was raised in a far too luxurious lifestyle and my parents spent far too much money on me and my sister than was rational. The only thing I got out of it was becoming a spoiled brat who upon moving out become severely depressed at the gigantic drop in living standards. Even my parents couldn't afford the way they raised me and are having trouble finding money for their retirement. After all of that, I consider it a luxury to enjoy your job, be able to pay your bills and sleep soundly at night.
happychick March 26th, 2008 06:58:00 PM
Dr Khuly, today the DVM I work for was reading an article in one of the veterinary journals that was addressing the debt issue. I had no idea how badly the cost of vet school was skyrocketing and he even seemed surprised, even hinting at whether or not he would be able to afford to go in this day and age.
Like Stefani, my major expenditures are for my pets. A lot of people look at me funny when I say I'll eat Ramen noodles before I'll lower the quality of food to that of Purina or 'Ol Roy and skimp on things like dentals, annual PE, etc.
Brian Hewitt March 26th, 2008 09:51:00 PM
*Sigh*...my dog ate my Chanel sunglasses.
Dr. Patty Khuly March 27th, 2008 09:45:00 AM
The price of getting an education in any field is ridiculous, I know for myself while I did not go to university but to a two year college course due to finances (I had no financial help from my parent) it is still estimated to take me 10 years to pay it off. And that is through a goverment program! So frugal living is my friend as well as the second job I work at, where at the dead of night I sneak online and read this blog!
Erin RVT March 28th, 2008 10:17:00 PM
How about this very depressing survey on the Student Doctor pre-vet forum?
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=5...
30% of respondents expect to be $200,000+ in debt when they finish... ouch.
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