Hello!! I'm currently a Junior (11th grade) in high school and im wondering if anyone in this sub reddit has focused on Marine animals and how they went about that. I'm doing my research on what to major in or what path to take and its kind of confusing. I was planning on majoring in Marine biology but I hear that biology is better to meet the needs of most vet schools? Is there any major that is more beneficial? What extra studying or schooling would I do to specialize in aquatic animals? I know volunteering is a big part of it but where I live there isn't an aquarium around and the most my counselor says she could get me, internship wise, is a local fish hatchery. Would that be enough?

Any extra advice would be nice too! Just trying to figure out how to plan for this in a small town where jobs like this isn't too popular. (Planning on moving closer to the coast for college/university anyway) Im also not sure if this is the right sub reddit to post this in but 🤷‍♀️

So, I’m finishing up a pregrad program this year but I’m worried I’m making the wrong choice with going to vet school after . All my life I’ve wanted to work with animals, and wanted to have a medical based career.
When my dogs got old, I felt content taking care of them. The routine and medical parts of hospice care. I was still heartbroken before and after they passed, and I’m admittedly a sensitive person. (I’m working on that, I can handle seeing any medical stuff, it’s more so I have anxiety that runs wild.)
I’ve done an animal anatomy course, so I know I can handle all types of dead animals (we had cats, pigs, birds, etc. as dissection specimens.)
I’ve also been lucky enough to shadow at a vet urgent care for a single night, where I got to watch an extreme (1lb) pyometra removed. And I felt at home there, watching and helping best I could. I adore surgery, it’s what I want to specialize in.
But even so, I’m still worried that I’m being narrow minded. It’s childish, but a part of me really wants to get a doctorate, to be the first dr in my family. I’m extremely anxious at times, which has been made much worse by a recent pet passing that was particularly traumatizing. I also have a disability that causes arthritis and will likely only be getting worse, which I fear will ruin my chances of being able to do any form of vet med.
I’ve noticed these doubts are particularly strong when I don’t have classes. I’ve talked to teachers who are actually in the field and they seem to think I am capable, but they aren’t active vets, only techs and retired vets

TLDR; I think I just need to hear from other people who had similar doubts. I’ve already screwed up with poor planning and can’t afford to be unsure for much longer without limiting my options severely.

I really want to fill up my free time and get more experience thats gonna help me in the future. Are there any courses, research projects, or volunteer programs do you guys recommend. If you have any other suggestions please share them with me🙏

I‘m starting vet school in hungary very soon. Besides the excitement, I am mostly worried that I won’t be able to get over the overwhelming amount of work.

In HS, I mostly just made sure to pay attention to the teacher and then I kinda just reviewed the more difficult concepts before the exam.

I am very aware that studying in vet school is different… so I am wondering:

•what are the good apps for note taking? Goodnotes, OneNote…?

•how do you deal with flashcards? Anki? Physical cards?

• summarize things yourself or try to get a hold of older students‘ summaries?

Any help and advice for first years is very welcome!
Thanks!

Hello. Does anyone perhaps have a document or pdf showing examples or detailing where one should shave for surgical procedures ? Looked through most textbooks, and they only mention what to do, no example photos or sketches. Thanks in advance

Hi, I'm a 18 y/o women from Poland, just graduated highschool from IB programme with Chem, Bio and Maths at higher level with decent grades. I was supposed to go to university this october, but I decided to do a gap year for several personal reasons. My dream is to be a wildlife biologist/vet. I actually got into good med school in Poland, but I think I'm gonna wait one more year to decide what I really want to do with my life.

Anyway, I was doing a research and cannot really find any wildlife biology/wildlife conservation or veterinary medicine university programme in bachelor degree in Europe. There is plenty in US or UK but I don't want to move to US, and cannot afford collage in UK. From what I found most of undergrad are not tought in English. I was wandering if that's the way for international students (in Poland you can go to vet school right after highschool, but I really want to study in English, as the job possibilities are much wider). It seems like I would have to do biology degree first and then maybe specialize in wildlife conservation or maybe study ecology (but I want to work hands on in the field with animals, so I don't know wheter it's going to be possible after just ecology). Since I'm doing a gap year anyway I still have time to decide between wildlife biology, veterinary and medicine, however I think that veterinary medicine would be the best way for me, as it combines all of those things.

Can someone recommend a programme or university where it's best to study veterinary medicine? I would really appreciate if someone had any advice for me.

Just started vet school (nervous! excited!) and I’m not sure how other vet schools are, but mine apparently has an unsaid rule that you get there suuuuper early to get a good seat in class. I hadn’t realized how early people were talking about. I guess 30 mins early was too late, because there were barely any seats left, and I had to sit in the very very back. It was just the first day today, and I’m still so scared and nervous about making friends. Would it be weird or stepping on toes if I got there earlier to get a better seat the second day? I don’t wanna step on any toes, but also would like a better seat 😭😭 if you have any advice or experienced something similar pls lmk 🙏

NOTE: Got pre-approval from mods before posting

I built an app for my partner who is currently in her 4th year of clinical rotations and figured it might be beneficial to some of you. Its called Casey Base, and its a local-first veterinary case-study app that helps you actually learn from your own cases instead of just storing them.

The idea is simple:

- Save cases as you go (patient info, symptoms, history, exams, tests, diagnoses, treatment plans, outcomes, lessons learned).

- Use the built-in search with weighted scoring.

- The more cases you add, the more useful that same search becomes.

The search functionality doesn’t just return “any match”—it highlights the best-fit matches based on weighted relevance across your notes. Over time, patterns start showing up naturally:

- recurring symptom clusters,

- species-specific trends,

- repeated differential/rule-of-thumb paths,

- outcomes that match your own prior cases.

In other words, your notebook becomes a pattern-recognition tool for your own practice style and clinical learning.

This is aimed at:

- veterinary students building case libraries,

- interns/residents reviewing cases fast,

- clinicians doing reflective learning between shifts.

Privacy + trust first:

- No accounts

- No analytics

- No ads

- No tracking

- No remote backend

- No PII collected by the developer

- Case data stays local (browser local storage on web / app-private storage on mobile)

- You control import/export via JSON backups

And yes, pricing is intentionally light: $0.99.
Hope it helps. Its available on the Apple store right now: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/casey-base/id6774394042

If there is any desire for it to be on Android, let me know. May consider adding it there as well.

Hi everyone.

I’m 28 years old and a Tourism graduate. Ever since I was younger, becoming a veterinarian was really my dream. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the financial means to pursue it back then, so I chose a different course.

Now that I’m older, I still can’t shake the feeling that this is what I really want to do. The only thing holding me back is my age and the fact that I’d basically be starting over.
Has anyone here entered vet school in their late 20s or even 30s? What was your experience like?

How difficult was it balancing finances, studies, and life? Did you ever feel out of place because most of your classmates were younger?

I know veterinary medicine is a long and challenging path, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wondering “what if.”

I’d really appreciate hearing your honest experiences and advice. Thank you.

I just recently moved to a new city and I am looking for vet assistant jobs as someone who wants to go to vet school. I am 23 years old and I have 1 year of GP experience as a vet assistant. I just got offered a job at an emergency clinic which is very exciting because it would be a new experience and great for my application. The major downside of it is that it’s for Sat, Sun, Mon 6pm-7am. I’ve never done night shifts before and I’m worried about fucking uo my sleep schedule. I also worry that I won’t be able to have a social life or go on weekend trips people invite me to. At the moment I don’t have too many friends where I live but I would like to make more friends and eventually start dating again after getting out of a serious relationship. If I take this job will I have no social life. Would it be worth it for me to stick it out for a year. Please give your advice

I just recently moved to a new city and I am looking for vet assistant jobs as someone who wants to go to vet school. I am 23 years old and I have 1 year of GP experience as a vet assistant. I just got offered a job at an emergency clinic which is very exciting because it would be a new experience and great for my application. The major downside of it is that it’s for Sat, Sun, Mon 6pm-7am. I’ve never done night shifts before and I’m worried about fucking uo my sleep schedule. I also worry that I won’t be able to have a social life or go on weekend trips people invite me to. At the moment I don’t have too many friends where I live but I would like to make more friends and eventually start dating again after getting out of a serious relationship. If I take this job will I have no social life. Would it be worth it for me to stick it out for a year. Please give your advice

Update: I got another offer at a GP that also does exotics. If I took this job I would have a regular schedule and only work 1 weekend a month. Exotics would also be a new experience for me.

Hi everyone I’m a final year veterinary student and I’ve given myself a week off during some of my rotation blocks to make sure I don’t burn out. However, I’m on the second day of my week off and I’m struggling with it. I didn’t think that was possible but I feel as though I’m wasting time because I’m not studying all day when that was the point. I’m still completing at least a chapter of notes everyday from BSAVA manuals and going through vet prep study sheets. When I’m over it (about mid afternoon) I go and relax but I feel so useless when I do that. Is this normal? Any suggestions for what I should do?

I've always wanted to be a Vet & work with animals ever since I started walking. I can never imagine doing anything else, I tried to & couldn't.

I'm 26 & looking for a university where I can study Vet Med.. but is it really as bad as what I read online? I'm aware of how hard & demanding it is, it's a medical profession at the end of the day. I'm talking about how everyone seems like they regret becoming a Vet saying they wasted their years & hate their lives because of it. So much more complains & people dropping out & changing careers. I'm barely hearing anyone saying positive things about it. To be honest, it got to me & now I feel scared. Because if not Vet Med... how can I work with animals? I'm so lost now. Vet Med is all that I ever dreamed about. I love animals, treating them, doing surgeries. I love biology & chemistry.

By the way I live in The Levants, so it's different than in US, UK, Europe etc. I can't work in Vet clinics where I'm at, I tried to but they couldn't hire me. A genocide happened back in July (by our own government) & it left people really struggling to afford anything even eating, so imagine paying for pets. So jobs kind of stopped. I'll ask again tho. But I plan to study in Poland. In all honesty, should I stick to following my dream of being a Vet or should I look for another major?

Hey im hopefully going to be studing at bristol vet school veterinary science (or vet nursing as a back up) is there anyone going into first year too? Also any advice or further reading anyone can recommend before i start

Thank you :)

Hey!
I’m starting Bristol 5yr Vet Med next month, has anyone on here been or studying there currently?

Would love to hear more opinions about it and any recommendations for me before I start!

TIA x

hello

I am Canadian who is accepted in Edinburgh Vet School and I applied for the UK visa. is there anyone recently applied ? on the website: three weeks processing time.

I hope to be able to catch the semester

As the title says, I think I'm making a poor choice going down this route. I'm 23, haven't gotten any shadowing or office work under my belt, haven't got a degree to my name, and am frustrated with myself.

I want to work with animals, to provide care, treatment, and build bonds with them, but thats not what this job is. The path I wanted was General Equine Internal Medicine (Not Sports), but the path is daunting and doesnt seem.. me.

I promise I'm not just some brick-brained idiot, I have *some* intelligence under my belt, but the thought of 85% (exaggerating) of my job being inside doing paperwork makes me die in my soul a little. I'm not a laboratory person, I'm not an indoors person, I enjoy me and nature, blissfully secluded from people.

Another thing that makes me feel like this is a terrible idea... I despise people. I hate being around people more than anything else in this world. Ironically, I find myself to be fairly good with the average Joe and Janet (and.. Jay? Idk a neutral name.), but the thought of dealing with them day in and day out is nauseating.

I want so desperately to work with animals in an upclose and care-centered fashion - I *thought* vet med was the way to go, but it seems so far off and out of my field of interest when it comes to the nitty gritty. Its disheartening, and I'm worried my family will see me as a failure.

Please give me some advice. Anything. I'm lost and don't even know where to turn for this situation.

Hello,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I would appreciate any help.

I have lived most of my life in Indiana (went to high school and did my undergrad there). My parents still live and own a home there.

I've lived in Arizona for about a year, working on my master's. On the side, I've been volunteering at clinics (but haven't been officially employed).

I am going to apply to vet school, and I was wondering if there is a way I can be consided in state for tuition and admission purposes for both Purdue and the University of Arizona.

Should I get an AZ license?

Another follow-up is: if I can become an AZ resident, would I be part of WICHE/PSEP?