Creative Veterinary Jobs

[Springs10808]

I was wondering if anyone has ever used their veterinary degree in a creative field, and if so, how? Growing up, I was always interested in becoming either a veterinarian or a writer. I always much preferred my writing and English classes to biology but ended up going to vet school anyway because the job market was better. However, the longer I was in vet school, the more unhappy I became. My mom talked me out of dropping out, and so now I have the debt of a full veterinary degree, but I've been in the field a year and I really don't feel like I'll ever be happy. I'm still a novelist in my spare time but the idea of doing medicine for years with just the off chance of making it big enough with a novel someday to write for a living is wearing on me. I'd love to get into fiction publishing or be a creative writing teacher, but I don't have any qualifications in those fields, so I was wondering if there was a path out of this field by using my veterinary degree to get a job editing veterinary papers or something, and then maybe transitioning to something not medically relevant once I have more professional editing experience under my belt. Has anyone done this? Or has anyone actually successfully left the field entirely without other qualifications? Just feeling out my options.

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[battie]

job editing veterinary papers or something,

The VECCS editor in chief position is open right now, but requires the applicant to be boarded. I would assume that's the same across the specialty journals. Likewise, editing/publishing for academic journals is vastly different than for fiction. I think you would have a better time transitioning to being a science columnist for someone like FiveThirty-Eight or Politico after doing academic journals.

If you want to write fiction, I think you'd have to continue chugging along as you have been and networking in the fiction world on the side; or quit vet med entirely. People have obviously left vet med. It's whether or not *you* as an individual can leave vet med that matters.

 

[Springs10808]

Quitting vet med entirely is absolutely my goal. I just feel kind of lost and overwhelmed when I think about where to go and realize creative fields are very competitive as it is and I have no creative qualifications outside of my creative writing minor and my participation in various creative writing programs/clubs in my spare time. I was only thinking about editing science papers because it's a writing-adjacent job that might actually accept someone with my resume.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

I know someone who did veterinary graphics and drawings for publications, but not as a full time gig.

 

[britzen]

One of the higher up veterinarians at the CDC also writes romance novels on the side.

I'd bet you could find vet med related writing jobs for sure, or find other creative outlets to generate income. Podcast/influencer/other? I've seen several jobs posted on LinkedIn that were focused on technical writing and/or public relations/advertising type work as well.

My Alma mater does careers work shops for people looking to change from clinical med into other career fields. Might be worth taking at some point to help you think through the types of jobs that would fit what you want. Resources for Career Transition

 

[that redhead]

There’s a current thread on VIN about this - I’d urge you you read it and even maybe contribute if you feel comfortable! (I think it’s one of the trending threads at the bottom.)

Like others have said, you could certainly find work writing in science, but if you’re still a new grad your experience level is going to make you less competitive for those jobs compared to say, a vet who’s retiring and looking for side work. You might consider marketing work - either writing for a big company or even working as a sales rep for certain products. There are also jobs for telemedicine or online “ask the vet!” forums. Mostly I’m wondering if just getting out of clinical medicine will help your career dissatisfaction for long enough to help you pay down some debt and pursue your true interests.

It sucks to be stuck with all of the debt and none of the interest in continuing, but you can make the exit work. I doubt it will be easy but you may absolutely find it to be worth it, which is what matters

 

[skipper28]

I remember meeting a veterinarian once who said she had a prior career as a medical writer (not sure if this was before or after she got her vet degree). Might be worth looking into! Ultimate Guide to Becoming A Medical Writer