Male vets!

Just out of interest... how many boy vets do we have here? I know nowadays wannabe male vets are few and far between (sob...sob...) - most vet wannabes I've met are girls (myself included!)
And vet students - what would you estimate your male:female ratio to be?? I'm intruiged...

xx

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Reply 1

nina_100

Probably like 1:10 :bawling:

!!! good for the lads i suppose but not great for us girlies!!!
Does anyone know if liverpool vets mix a lot with other students i.e. doctors :p:

??? Or do you mainly stay with other vets?

Reply 2

northern_lass

in our year, i think theres about 50 guys, if that, out of about 220. so theres not that many, but iv sumhow managed to become really good friends with most of them, and my group of friend is mainly guys! they are there, you just have to look really really hard!

Reply 3

ha_mint

i wonder why there arent that many male vets now.. most of the adult vets i know seem to be male haha.

Reply 4

Yeti-Boy

I guess there aren't too many vets because you don't earn as much as other academics. Although the proffesion is a lot better of course :biggrin:

... But we know the same ratio here in NL...

Reply 5

Pollo Loco

I'm a boy vet. My year at Cambridge is about 70% girls. We're a dying breed at the moment.

Dan

Reply 6

fi x

Pollo Loco

I'm a boy vet.

Wel I'm glad someone is! Lol it's true, all the old vets seem to be male, all the newbies are coming out female - must be a sign of the times!

Incidently Dan, you didn't do vetcam did you? Only the name rings a bell...

x

Reply 7

Pollo Loco

fi x

Not really, i'm a second year. Don't think i went before i was an undergrad and i haven't helped with it. I'm sure there's more than one Dan trying to get into Cambridge.

Dan

Reply 8

leggielass

Yeti-Boy

I guess there aren't too many vets because you don't earn as much as other academics. Although the proffesion is a lot better of course :biggrin:

... But we know the same ratio here in NL...

Pardon? my understanding is that traditionally vet med has been a highly regarded, commensurately paid and male dominated profession. Ask your grandparents- in those days certainly vets were infamous for driving the flash cars and being well off. I appreciate that anything below a partner and its not necessarily like this but those at the top of the field are earning on a par with surgeons and solicitors, if not rakin' it in, make no mistake!!

Reply 9

Hawk

leggielass

I totally agree, yes you aren't going to be paid well straight off, not many are, but once you become a partner in a practice you certainly won't be short of money.

Reply 10

Yeti-Boy

Hawk

I totally agree, yes you aren't going to be paid well straight off, not many are, but once you become a partner in a practice you certainly won't be short of money.

Ok I agree with that, but if you compare the earnings between vets, medics, dentists, lawyers and managers. The vets doesn't earn as much as the others, at least here in the Netherlands, a consultation for a dog for example is less than a consultation for a human, while the amount of time is the same. IMO this has also to do with insurances. If people know what a hospital visit costs, I think they wouldn't complain that much when they got their vet bill. During my work experience lots of people where complaining about those bills (most pet's aren't insured).
So what I'd like to mention is that as we assume that males care more about money than females, males will prefer a better paid profession, which could explain the males / females ratio we know for vet med.

Reply 11

mawi99102

im a prospective male vet, got an offer from rvc.

Reply 12

northern_lass

mawi99102

im a prospective male vet, got an offer from rvc.

i think rvc has more male vets then any other school, but thats only because we have a bigger year then anyone else. male vets arent impossible to find, just very rare!having said that,4 of my best friends at vet school are blokes, and one of my best mates from home is a first year ed vet and a guy.

i agree with whats been said, i think it is the money aspect of other careers that influences peoples decision in what career then choose. People have always said that i should become a doctor because thats where the money is, but thats not why we do it. maybe some men find this argument a bit more persuasive then actually improving animal welfare! also, the status of a vet is high, but we always seem to be ovwershadowed by medics, because there are more of them then us, and so they rely on saftey in numbers for their status!

We have had the argument that men are favoured over women in the application process, but im not sure if this is true or not.

congrats on ur offer btw! sorry, post is a bit waffly!

Reply 13

Vet In Progress

When I started first year there were 18 boys in a year group of 120. At the end of first year we lost a few girls, but we also lost three boys- one decided he'd rather be a doctor (shame on him) and two had to repeat first year. So they really are becoming extinct, at least in Bristol 2nd year!

Reply 14

ha_mint

Yeti-Boy

Ok I agree with that, but if you compare the earnings between vets, medics, dentists, lawyers and managers. The vets doesn't earn as much as the others

yep thats definitely true.. doctors and dentists earn quite a lot more than vets. but i think vets prolly get more satisfaction out of their jobs :biggrin:

northern_lass

We have had the argument that men are favoured over women in the application process, but im not sure if this is true or not.

really? why would that be? haha im just interested.

Reply 15

vetdude

HI,
Many vets I have spoken with think it's a real problem because of the physical aspect of large animal work, (having said that I know plenty of female vets that could handle a cow better than me! ) so I guess that's a reason they might give for favouring guys over girls, though I personally disagree with this

Why it is less appealing to guys I don't know. Many of my colleagues are vets who got very disenchanted with practice because of the lack of pay, long hours and total lack of any career structure so entered research (well known for lack of pay, long hours and lack of career structure...!).

Medicine is better paid (SHO @40k, three year qualified vet @ 23k) but I think the fundemental difference is that as a grad doctor you're not expected to hit the ground running and there is a massive support structure and obvious career progression, none of which is true in Vet med. A recent article in the vet press highlighted the problem that it actually costs a vet practice to take on a new graduate who requires (as all of us will) training and supervision so fewer are doing it. this may be the case in med, but the taxpayer pays so it is not an issue.

I want to be a vet, but the lack of structure, time it will take to become a partner and the fact that with grad debts as they are, how it will be possible to afford to buy in to a practice do worry me. perhaps because of historical attitudes males rate these issues more highly. I don't think the prestige is an issue as vet is a generally highly regarded profession.

or maybe schools push bright girls towards vet and guys towards other professions.