The burdens of the veterinary profession: In your words

As useful as surveys are, they can never capture the nuances of your experience like your direct comments can. Here are your verbatim observations about the state of the veterinary profession and your experience in the midst of it-the joy, the despair, the frustration, the thrill-from the 2015 dvm360 Job Satisfaction Survey.

“I just never thought my career would let me down like this.”

“I sometimes wish I'd never become a vet. I wish I could change careers at least once a week.”

“Even though the clients can be difficult and the job can be stressful, at the end of each day I know I'm helping animals. I would not be satisfied doing anything else.”

“The best and brightest sooner or later will quit applying to veterinary schools.”

“My kids want to be vets and I say absolutely not. My husband is a dentist, works Monday to Thursday, and makes more than 10 times what I make. Never works weekends.”

“I am the practice owner and am burned out by the business aspect. I still love taking care of my patients and clients. It is the only thing that makes it possible to get up and go into work every day.”

“If I were pursuing veterinary medicine today, the amount schooling now costs would not deter me. It was all I ever wanted to do.”

“Not working Saturdays or Sundays really helps.”

“Our profession needs to look at itself honestly for it to survive and regain what it once was.”

“There's a lot of emotional abuse of associates in veterinary medicine. I really believe that many veterinarians from previous generations have serious psychological problems.”

“My middle daughter wants to be a veterinarian. It's the best job in the world. I love mentoring kids who want to pursue this career.”

“Veterinary general practice is a complete joke. I don't practice medicine; all I do is find ways to help one idiot after another devise the best way to spend as little money as they can on their animals without feeling guilty.”

“I can't think of a job I'd rather be doing.”

“Veterinarians need to work together to support one another and find their own niche in their field. Trying to be an expert at everything isn't possible.”

“The profession is full of jackass owners who don't care about their employees.”

“We are caregivers and need to learn how to recharge regularly, or we will teeter constantly on the edge of burnout.”

“It's an honor to be a veterinarian.”

“I would never ever choose this career again.”

“This is the greatest profession in the world.”

“The compensation received in this profession isn't worth the stress and the debt incurred preparing for it.”

“I would never want my child to experience the complete imbalance of life, work, student debt and income potential that veterinary medicine currently has. Add that to the ever-increasing negativity awarded our profession by our clients and I wish I had never pursued this career myself.”

“I love knowing that I am helping-the animals, the owners and even the community.”

“The infiltration of veterinary medicine by corporations is our profession's downfall.”

“I give hope to people by saving a family member's life. Love it when people appreciate all that we do for them.”

“I used to be much more of a perfectionist. Now I am learning after many years of therapy and hard work on myself that perfection is not healthy and cannot be achieved.”

“This is a fun and exciting job-if you can hack it.”

“I will never pay off my student loan, ever. Other parents at my daughter's school respect me but also pity me as the poor single mother who works every weekend.”

“I am 80 years old, so I don't have to worry about bills, but it would be nice if the new veterinarians could earn what they are entitled to.”

“I still love my clients and patients and most of my staff.”

“If I can tread water for another two years, I can eliminate my student debt and go do something else-finally.”

“The people who euthanize their “best friend” and then come back one week to five years later with another pet-THIS is why I go to work every day. These people are my soulmates.”

“I have associates who expect excellent pay and benefits but who don't want to work when they're needed.”

“I have been depressed for 15 years. The job is a cause, not a help. Plus I am totally fed up with the salary gap and lack of respect by male colleagues.”

“People pay me to do something I absolutely love doing, and I've practiced full-time for 46 years. It just doesn't get any better than that.”

“If I take enough time to work up cases properly, I can't see enough patients in a day to be economically viable unless I charge prices too high for 80% of my clients.”

“It's a challenge to get a week off for vacation, ever.”

“No other eight-year medical degree is com­pensated so poorly, whether you measure in salary, time off, benefits or retirement potential.”

“I am so disappointed in veterinary medicine at this stage of my career it saddens me.”

“When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's sad.”