Choosing a Career

[WhiteWyan]

I'm a medical technologist. Love it. It's great work and very bio heavy. Work in a hospital but no real patient contact. If you're into anatomy might consider histology pathway.... Message me if you're interested.

 

[Abriana]

Be a vet! That’s what I plan to do and I love that I will get to work with lots of farm animals (mostly birds I hope!).

 

[Perry17]

I brought up jobshadowing for the teacher thing...my mama says "no, you loved working with the vet, that's what you need to do" "either that or finish your phlebotomy first"...I haven't exactly told them my class registration got messed up again. So they have no idea I'm not enrolled in phlebotomy for spring semester.

Hmmm y'all check out Fort Valley University in GA. They are the only ones with a bachelors vet tech degree, which sounds great. And their program seems great...but the safety ratings for the Fort Valley area scared me a little. Would be great cause I have a friend planning to go to Mercer at the same time, might even work out to have a Roomate. And it's right near Perry which is where the State Fair is, I know Perry like the back of my hand from showing livestock all these years. Just have to get past the high murder count near the college...

So if I do go the vet tech route, y'all have any other college recommendations? That aren't in the scary part of town, or in a big city like Atlanta. I have looked at so many they are all just starting to mush together.

 

[Kusanar]

So if I do go the vet tech route, y'all have any other college recommendations? That aren't in the scary part of town, or in a big city like Atlanta. I have looked at so many they are all just starting to mush together.

Ok, I'm gritting my teeth as I type this because I absolutely detest the school (for nothing the school has done, just most people I know of that are proud that they went there are absolute garbage so...) but, Virginia Tech has a huge livestock and vet school. In fact, a lady I used to work for at her farm had Va Tech students come out and work on her horses a lot, so not only do they have hands on with school owned horses, but if a horse in this area needs colic surgery or lots of constant care, they usually get sent to Tech to be taken care of, AND the students also get to go on farm calls for things like AIing a mare, or the one they were out most for was the foal that somehow got an infection in her joint, so 2 times a week (I think) they would come out, knock her out, put a tourniquet on her leg, inject antibiotics directly into the joint, let it sit for 20 minutes, then they would take the tourniquet off and let baby wake back up. I got to see them A LOT for that.

The town is a big college town, but, it's not particularly dangerous. We did have one student go postal and shoot up the place a few years ago, but he's dead now... More people have gotten drunk and fallen out of the windows than have been killed..

 

[Perry17]

I'm thinking something a little closer to home, but I would love a hands on skills program like that. I don't think I'm going to find one in ga that isn't in Atlanta or Athens though.

Now my thoughts are going towards Tri County in SC. Seems small farm town, great program someone recommended. Not too far I guess, only about 5-6 hours away.

I would have to pay out of state, but even out of state tuition is less than what I paid going to the ag school. But I guess that included housing at the ag school too. It's also really close to the intern kennel I was offered a job at.

When I first talked to the kennel, I was still planning on nursing and it seemed like an impossible idea. But now I'm starting to realize moving out of state for that and the vet tech thing wouldn't be too bad... I never thought I would actually start considering it, but as bipolar as I am about everything now. It might be a possibility.

I know I am making no sense at all lol. Sorry y'all haha.

 

[theoldchick]

I graduated from TriCounty Tech's Veterinary tech program way back when the Dinosaurs stepped on cars. Like any job it has good and bad. The most important thing I can tell you is that the Veterinary business is a people business. You will be dealing with people. This field suffers from a high percentage of burn out because of low pay and lack of respect. As with any job you must be mobile and willing to move where the good jobs are. It is a challenging field that is starting to become diversified. Veterinarian technicians can specialize in anesthesiology, dental, physical therapy, lab animal, radiology. I will be frank, though, and tell you this is a field where having a vet tech license or not causes a huge divide among the staff. Things are getting better though, and the field does need intelligent, dedicated people who love animals and the owners who love their pets to the point of being fanatical.

TriCounty is located in a nice area and is hop, skip and a jump from Clemson College where they have a fine pre-vet program. In my book and education is never a waste of time or money. You will lose many things in your life but your education will stay with you until you die.

Good luck with your decision. The only advice I can give is start with the basic education and see what door opens for you. Gotta keep your eyes open, though, and look for the door.

 

[Perry17]

I GOT IN!!! Someone actually dropped the phlebotomy program, and I actually got in!! I am so excited!

Now I will be able to have my phlebotomy tech degree this spring. So at least I will have some degree to fall back on if all else fails.

I can't believe it actually worked out, but I am so glad it did.

 

[theoldchick]