It’s a question many of us never dared to ask out loud in vet school—because we were taught to believe passion is everything.
And maybe it was… back then.
Back when we were idealistic, inspired, and willing to work for experience instead of compensation. Back when we told ourselves, “I didn’t become a vet for the money.”
But now?
Now you know better.
You know how much it costs to keep a clinic running.
You know that passion doesn’t pay rent.
You know that no amount of “love for animals” can erase the exhaustion after a 14-hour shift or soften the blow of an unpaid bill from a client who ghosted.
So where does that leave us?
Do we throw away our love for the profession just to be financially stable?
Or do we keep choosing passion, even if it breaks us?
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Here’s the truth:
It’s not a choice between one or the other. It’s a timeline.
In the beginning, practicality often has to come first.
You take jobs to survive. You say yes to cases you’re not confident with. You keep your rates low just to get clients in the door. And yes, sometimes, you swallow your pride just to get by.
But eventually, passion needs to take the wheel again.
Because if you keep practicing only out of obligation, the fire dies. The resentment grows. And that’s when good vets burn out or quit entirely—not because they were weak, but because they lost the reason they started.
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The goal is not to choose between a heart that cares and a mind that calculates.
The goal is to become a vet who:
- Loves the craft, but knows their worth.
- Serves patients, but respects boundaries.
- Gives their best, but charges what they deserve.
- Heals animals, but doesn’t harm themselves in the process.
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So what should come first—passion or practicality?
Maybe the better question is:
“How do we build a life where our passion is protected… because we were practical enough to sustain it?”
Dr. Geoff Carullo is a Fellow and the current President of the Philippine College of Canine Practitioners.
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