Planning Veterinary School with a Spouse

For those of you in a committed relationship, whether it is a boyfriend/girlfriend, fiance, or husband/wife, your planning process for veterinary school will be a little bit different. Unlike single people, your decision will impact someone else's life to varying levels depending on your level of commitment to that person. There are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration depending on your relationship circumstances.

If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, then you might not have much of a difference to worry about. Significant others at this stage are important but at this point in a relationship you must make the right decision for yourself. This might mean going to a school thousands of miles away from your significant other because it is where you want to be or the only school you got into. Long distance can work, but you have to be prepared that it might not work if you don't work hard to keep the connection there.

The best policy during the application process is to be open and honest with your significant other. You need to make sure that they know where your thought process is at and what your end goal is. A lot of people might not realize what it means to go to veterinary school, so you need to make sure that your significant other understands what they are signing on for when they stick with you through veterinary school. Whether it means a long distance relationship or long days at school with long nights of studying, it is going to be a tough time on your relationship.

I know from experience that this can be tough because I am currently engaged and will be married at the beginning of the summer. My fiance and I have been planning where we wanted to end up for veterinary school since my sophomore year. We have always been very open about where our relationship was going and what each of us wanted. We knew that we were going to be together in the long run, so since the very beginning where I was going to veterinary school was about "us" and not "me". We chose locations that were good for both his job outlook and had good veterinary programs for me. He has been by my side throughout the entire process helping to proofread my application and cheer me on as I get acceptances.

Everyone is going to develop their own way to cope with the impending change that veterinary school will have on their relationship. There is no right way and sometimes it is going to be hard. My advice is to be open with communication, take both people's dreams into consideration, and make sure that you are making the right decision for both of you.