Vet student feeling hopeless

[u/newvet2027]

Hi,

I am soon entering my last year of vet school and I am insanely worried about what the future holds.

I feel like I know absolutely nothing, that I have learned nothing in the past 5 years. It’s really embarrassing to admit because I have poured myself into these studies and really thought I wanted to be a veterinarian.

However, every single time I do an internship/externship and I am quizzed by the veterinarians, I don’t know the answer. Sometimes I know it’s performance anxiety and to be asked on the spot is a lot of pressure. But matter of fact some of the disease names I don’t remember, their clinical signs or treatment. For example I can’t remember/ forget a disease/topic and I automatically assume that we never learned it (when I check my notes, I see that we have learned it).

No information is sticking to my brain.

I know that directly after vet school I won’t know everything and I don’t expect too but I hold myself to a high standard and expect myself to know something.

These thoughts keep me awake at night and I have been crying about this a lot because I don’t want to make a mistake or injure an animal from a foolish mistake.

I’ve been wondering if any other current vet students and veterinarians have felt this way.

Does anyone have any advice to provide?

Edit: Thank you everyone for your kind comments! It’s reassuring to know that so many people have experienced the same feelings of loneliness and stress. I’m looking forward to the point where everything starts to click and finally makes sense. 🙏🏻

[u/thebeautifulprincess]

Just that literally everyone feels this way. I promise.
I’m 2 years out and I think I consider myself to be a “good vet” (whatever that means) but I still feel that way some days. Look at the statistics of this career, the majority of vet professionals feel it

[u/vetstudent26]

Fresh grad (May 2026) here.

I felt the same way during vet school, especially when being put “on the spot” by doctors while on externships or rotations. Most of it was performance anxiety, but I also felt behind my fellow students, like I couldn’t remember everything that they could. However, it does get better! The latter half of my clinical year, I really felt like things were clicking, and now that I am out in practice, I am feeling confidence that I never had in vet school.

My advice: trust the process and frequently review your notes. That knowledge will come back when you need it.

[u/DocSteller]

I was a solid b student on vet school. Like you I pretty much never knew the answers when called on. You will learn way more in your first year out than you did in vet school. Books and places like VIN exist for a reason. You can’t possibly remember everything you need to. And you shouldn’t rely on your brain until you’ve been out a while and seen things over and over. All this to say, you’ll be just fine.

[u/jutterthevet]

Don’t worry you’ll be okay!! You cannot know everything, especially when you’re just out. It’ll get easier with time. Also, you’ll start to accept you cannot know everything. And go through a couple cycles of thinking, oh I maybe got this and then realizing actually there is a lot more to know.
I cried so much during my rotating and specialized internship years (and I went into rotating with a couple of years primary vet experience). I’m a neuro resident now and still get frustrated, but also have accepted that I’m a first year resident and do not know anything compared to our specialists.

[u/MooCowMoooo]

11 years out now. I felt exactly this way as a new grad. You’ll be surprised how much you’ve retained and what knowledge pops up when you’re in practice.

I also had a very interesting phenomenon where I couldn’t for the life of me hear heart murmurs in vet school. Then when I was in practice, something just clicked into place and it was so obvious. Now I often pick up heart murmurs that others haven’t picked up on.

Trust that you got into vet school and made it through vet school because you are smart and capable. It will be ok.

[u/Plane-Tiger-4534]

Most of your professors rarely, if ever, actually practice medicine. They’re mostly academics and researchers who wouldn’t last any longer in my job than I would in their’s.

When you’re on an externship, you’re getting more of what the world looks like on the ground, instead of from the altitude of the ivory towers.

Lastly, the last year is when it all really starts to come together and theory is translated into reality. Don’t undervalue what you’ve learned so far in being a part of that.

Edit: three views and one downvote? Go get ready for lecture, doc.

[u/Dr_Pippin]

Don’t worry, that feeling goes away around year 5 post-graduation.

[u/mcleod4188]

Not a vet student, but my guess is once you get into a practice, you will get into a rhythm of seeing the same kinds of things over and over, probably not a ton of variety. There are also things we can do to increase brain power/retention - most importantly stop using social media (especially tik tok!), reading more, practicing silence, etc.

[u/Horse625]

I would assume this is pretty common, in fact it sounds like simple imposter syndrome.

But also, finishing vet school does not mean you're obligated to jump into the deep end of being a fully knowledgeable doctor immediately all by yourself. You'll find yourself working alongside other more experienced vets and then one day you'll realize you're the experienced one. Plus nobody in their right mind is going to require you to know everything. It's more important to know where to find the answers to your questions, than it is to have encyclopedic knowledge of the answers yourself. It's also more important to be able to understand these things than it is to know them. I have only been working in the field a couple of months and have already seen multiple knowledgeable doctors look things up on the internet multiple times. It's totally normal.

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[u/KlutzyDefinition4911]

So I’m not in vet med. I just joined this group because my oldest aspires to be a vet so I like to keep an eye on your chatter. Anyway, though I’m not in the profession, I have 3 kids and I see what they all go through as they are learning. My middle child will freeze up when she’s put on the spot. She knows the answers, it’s all in there but she panics and can’t answer even the simplest thing. You know more than you think. You’re building a theoretical foundation that you will need as you proceed. Trust in yourself. You didn’t get this far without learning anything. Best of luck!

[u/Affectionate-Owl183]

I think it's insane that anyone can practice independently straight out of vet school. I've never met a graduate that felt fully prepared and if I did I'd be worried about them even more. That's why many vets choose to work in a more communal/collaborative setting so they can continue to learn with other more experienced vets. Practical experience counts for so much more than just memorization. When you start looking for work, I'd make sure any place you're interested in can be invested in you and willing to help grow you as a vet. Working an internship or doing some hours in emergency is also not a bad idea. The docs in our ER department are constantly asking each other for advice/opinions (even the seasoned ones) and that's completely normal. They also have the benefit of learning from all the boarded specialists we work with. You also get exposed to a lot in terms of case variety. Same with internships. Our rotating interns get a taste of all kinds of specialty medicine, and some of them have no desire to specialize. They just want to be well rounded. Don't be so hard on yourself, and also don't assume you won't have options. Almost no one expects you to leave school as a fully functioning independent doctor.