RESPONSE TO: I paid off my student loans in five years

I was at work when a colleague asked me if I had seen a new article that was floating around the internet about a newish veterinary grad who paid off her student loans in five years. I had not. The colleague who inquired had been out of vet school for over a decade and knew very Read More …

First Day (and Year) as a Vet Doing High Volume Spay & Neuter Surgery

Upon graduating from veterinary school I started working as a high volume spay & neuter (S/N) surgeon one day per week. This was probably one of the best (and yet scariest) first steps I could have made. When I graduated from veterinary school, I likely had more surgical experience than all of my classmates and Read More …

Public Sector Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Changes That Should Scare You

There are some proposed changes to the law as part of the new budget that have the potential to save many tax dollars while at the same time crippling students who have been counting on loan forgiveness through public service. While most articles that I’ve read do not address the direct impact on the veterinary Read More …

2013 California Veterinary Economic Issues Survey

The CVMA has published the 2013 Economic Issues Survey, a report compiling statistics that they gathered from veterinarians throughout California to provide a perspective of how much money veterinarians in California are earning, benefits received, and what factors seem to affect the amount of money veterinarians earn. You can see the report here: http://www.cvma.net/userfiles/uploads/CVMAEconomicIssuesSurveyReport.pdf Given that Read More …

First Job Offer for New Vet Grads – Take It Or Leave It

It’s been over six months since I graduated from vet school and though I’ve been working ever since I received my license, some of my classmates have not worked a single day since graduating. It’s not that they’re not trying. It’s just that the market is so saturated — there are too few jobs and Read More …

How To Keep Track of Experience Hours

Keeping track of your veterinary and animal experience is easier than you think! You just need to be diligent about maintaining a log. I recommend that you: Use an excel spreadsheet to record your hours — dates, times, etc. Don’t worry about getting signatures as proof. Record which species you worked Record what your duties/responsibilities Read More …

How To Start Getting Veterinary Experience

The age-old question is: how to start getting veterinary experience if you have no experience or skills to qualify you for a job or even a volunteer opportunity. Just about every vet student nowadays has tackled this conundrum, so you are not alone. Though some vet students are fortunate enough to have a family member Read More …

You Can’t Get Experience Without Someone Giving You A Chance

It’s a problem in the veterinary field as well as many other fields – we need experience to get experience. Whether it is a job or simply time spent shadowing a veterinarian, people are reluctant to take a chance on people who haven’t proven themselves in that specific niche before. It’s understandable, after all, given Read More …

The Many Career Paths in Veterinary Medicine

There are many paths that you can take with a doctoral degree in Veterinary Medicine, though most people think of veterinarians as people who work as dog & cat vets in a hospital setting. While that is what a lot of veterinarians do, it is only one of many different paths that you can choose. Read More …

My New Job – Helping Pets Live Longer!

That’s right — I am working to help pets live longer! You may be thinking, as a veterinarian, that should be obvious. But what is my job exactly? I’m currently a spay & neuter surgeon working for a highly reputed animal shelter! So what’s the correlation between my job and helping pets live longer, you Read More …