34 And Wanting To Become A Vet

Hi everyone. I would like some honest opinions and any advice that's going please.

Im now 34 years old. I have finally realised what I want to do in life, and that's become a vet. I am looking at the year zero foundation course at Liverpool University as I have no science A Levels.

I aim to do all my research and work experience this year as I am no way ready knowledge/experience wise, and apply next year.

I have a previous degree from 15 years ago where I only achieved a 2:2. But I was too unhappy and immature to be a good student.

I am determined and academically capable. If I make it I would be around 41 when I qualify. That would give me a good 25 years working. Should I pursue this dream?

Reply 1

Tarnia

That is completely up to you. I see vet medicine as a vocation, rather than a career or profession. You really do need to love it and have your heart in it to do it.

By all means start putting the wheels in motion, but keep an open mind. Do you really know this is what you want to do with what sounds like zero or very little experience? You might do work experience and find out it was nothing like what you expected. And that's fine-that's why you do work experience. :smile:

Trying to cram all the work experience in in one year will probably be hard. Will you be devoting your time solely to that? Do you have a job? How many hours/days per week would you have available?

Are you aware of the work experience requirements you need/are recommended? Do you have all those available in your area/plans to get those? Basically you want I think minimum 4 weeks with vets, ideally large and small and getting experience of different practices is always good. Then probably 10+ weeks on farms with cattle, sheep is strongly recommended, kennels, horse yard/facility of some kind, pigs/poultry if you can get it, then extras like zoos and abattoirs and such.

I don't know about the specific academic/other requirements for the year 0 program.

The course is academically difficult and intense, and very competitive. More so for you if you are applying to only one program.

As for your age, there were people in their mid to late 30s and even 40s in my class at vet school. If it is what you want go for it.

Reply 2

RichardTH

Thank you very much for your thoughtful and thought provoking reply.

I have a 38 hour a week job but my hours are very flexible as a care worker, and I have 5 days off in a row every other week. So I hope I could get the experience.

Did you study at Liverpool? It is really my only hope as I would have to live at home throughout as I have a 1 year old baby.

How hard and intense is the academic side of things? I am very glad to hear there were some people older than myself embarking on this journey.

Thanks again for your helpful reply.

Reply 3

skatealexia

Original post by RichardTH

We have some older people in our year. I am in final year now. The oldest might be 44 or something. You do need a lot of experience for liverpool, and I'd even aim for 14 weeks+ minimum. I study at Liverpool, but the course has changed a bit since I started. Do you live near liverpool? The first three years with a one year old baby would probably be do-able, even through to the start or rotations in fourth year. The rotations are a bit full time with 8-6 working days quite easily, three weeks of OOH only over two years makes it a bit more do-able. Equine is the most intense (8 weeks), and you have to do some weekends as well. If you prepare for 8-6 days throughout the course then it should be okay if you think you can cope with that and your 1 year old baby. Also bear in mind a lot of your holidays are taken by placement (ems). The academic side is very intense once in fourth/fifth year and requires rather a lot of work, I find it very difficult and stressful this year. The first three years aren't the easiest either with the new structure where all your exams are in summer requiring more knowledge in a shorter burst. If you want more info just PM me :smile:

For OOH you are required to stay on site.

Reply 4

Tarnia

I didn't study at Liverpool, no. I am a 2013 graduate from the R(D)SVS in Edinburgh.

I am not as familiar with the liverpool course but I think a standard recommendation is to all for 40-44hours give or take per week. I would be in class til between 3:30 and 5pm then go back to my dorm, eat supper, then study for most of the evening. I was also doing the GEP course though, so the pace was slightly different.

Reply 5

clair0511

Hi

It's been a long time since I've posted but reading your message I just had to share my experiences!

I've just graduated as a vet and I'm 38 :biggrin:

It was a long and winding road to get here but I did it in the end! I always wanted to be a vet but didn't get in at 18, so I studied Animal Science at Nottingham. As part of my course I spent an exchange semester in Germany and when I graduated I got a job teaching at the University of Natural Resources (i.e. agriculture, animal production, forestry, food sciences) in Vienna. That was in 1998. After 3 years at the uni, my contract was over and I got a job in the R&D dept of a (human) pharmaceutical company. I've been working there full and part-time ever since. I've had 2 kids (my eldest is now 11) and decided while I was on maternity leave with my 2nd child that I would apply to vet school here in Vienna. The course is in German so I had to be certain that my language skills were up to it and the timing seemed right! I got a place (having my UK degree certainly helped, but it isn't as hard to get in here....just hard to stay in :wink:

).

I started vet school when my youngest was 1 year old. As her mother I was obviously the primary carer (I assume you are the dad: going on your name!) so it was a very big step. Luckily my husband is very hands-on and was always prepared to look after the kids when I had to work night-shifts at uni or was away for a week on a farm excursion. There is no way you can do this without support from family and friends. Do not underestimate how much of your "free-time" studying vet med will take up! My husband used to take the kids to his parents' house for the whole weekend when I was revising for exams!

Group work is a real pain as a mature student and parent....I used to dread it as it took hours to get anything done and none of the other students had any deadlines to be anywhere etc (I had to pick the kids up, obviously! and had no time for people dossing about or being late).

To add to all this, I also continued to work 10hrs a week in my pharma job....I write reports and papers so this could easily be done at home or in the office, mainly in the evenings....I don't recommend this, but I had no choice!

EMS is a problem: in our final year we have to spend 10wks at one placement and as I had chosen to specialise in ruminants (our course is 6yrs, we specialise in the final year) I had to leave Vienna and live in the countryside for 2.5 months - obviously leaving my kids and husband to cope on their own. Lots of my other EMS I did as night shifts at uni. I have no idea if you can do this in the UK. Here in Vienna we can e.g. work 24 night-shifts in the ICU and it counts as 4wks EMS.

Sorry for the essay. The point of all this is: if you are being realistic then go for it. I totally agree with the others about getting work exp, you might love the idea of being a vet but hate the reality. Similarly: don't do it for the money. Vets earn very little! I would earn a lot more money in my pharmaceutical job (my current wage would be about twice the starting salary for a newly qualified vet!) but I would go insane just sitting in my office all day!

Good luck :smile:

Reply 6

RichardTH

Thank you all for your valuable insights and being kind enough to take the time to share them. I am now considering human medicine and all your informative comments have helped me to understand more about my own wants and needs. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again, Richard