Human medicine vs. veterinary medicine?

Question

when i was young, i was really interested in being a vet. in the last couple of years, i've become interested in being a physician , i still love animals, but i'm just more interested in human medicine. but, i was reading an interview with a vet in a magazine article, and one of the questions was why he became a vet. he said that he was originally going to be a physician but was turned off by the lack of contact with patients. i want to be a physician, but how much contact with patients do you get to have? i don't want to be a nurse because i want to diagnose, but i want to be "hands on" involved in treating patients, and have contact with them. can i have this as a physician?

thanks in advance, and sorry for the confusing and long post

Answer 1

Patient contact varies with the medical specialty.

Primary care physicians, such as general and family practitioners, and internists see the same patients for years. They will usually see between 30-40 patients per day in the office.

Some specialists, like dematologists, psychiatrists, and nephrologists (kidney doctors) also have quite a bit of quality patient contact. On the other hand, pathologists, radiologists, and most surgeons usually have little patient contact.

Nurse practitoners DO diagnose and have tons of patient contact (also dependent on specialty).

Medical school is easier to get into simply because there are far fewer vet schools than medical schools.