18/06/2025
Respect all doctors. Especially those who speak for the voiceless.๐พ๐ค
Mababang Uri ng Doktor?"
Why Vets Are Being Degraded โ and Why That Needs to End
By Dr. Geoff Carullo, DVM, Dip., PCCP, Dip., PCVS
Letโs not sugarcoat this.
In many circles, when you say you're a veterinarian, you donโt get the same respect as a human doctor.
You get a polite smile. A joke. Or worse โ a dismissive shrug.
"Ay, sa hayop lang pala."
"Baka hindi ka pumasa sa med kaya napunta ka sa vet."
"So, parang doktor-doktoran?"
And just like that, years of education, sleepless nights, and surgical miracles are reduced to a punchline.
Letโs talk about that. Letโs dissect โ point by point โ why society treats vets like weโre the "mababang uri ng doktor."
And why this thinking is not just wrong โ itโs dangerous.
1. We Donโt Treat Humans, So Weโre Seen as Less Important
People measure importance by how directly it benefits them.
So if you donโt treat their child, their parent, or themselves โ youโre instantly ranked lower.
But hereโs the kicker:
We treat the very beings they call โanak,โ โbunso,โ โbaby.โ
We keep those family members alive โ the ones they sleep beside, cry with, and celebrate birthdays for.
But still, they call us โjustโ vets.
As if we donโt carry the same weight of life and death decisions in our hands.
2. Because Animals โDonโt Talk,โ They Think Our Work Is Easier
Oh, if only that were true.
They think diagnosing animals is like playing fetch and giving vitamins.
But in reality?
We deal with creatures who cannot describe their pain, who cannot say where it hurts โ and yet weโre expected to find the problem, solve it, and explain it to the owner in under 15 minutes.
We donโt just use stethoscopes โ we use our intuition, experience, and sometimes miracles.
3. Weโre the Punchline in Jokes, Not the Heroes in Stories
When media shows a human doctor, theyโre saviors.
When media shows a vet, itโs usually cartoons, animals in bandages, or "Dr. Dolittle" with talking pets.
They romanticize physicians.
They infantilize us.
But what they donโt show are the all-nighters spent in surgery, the euthanasia tears we swallow, or the rabid animals we risk our lives to contain.
Weโre real doctors. Not comic relief.
4. Because They Think Vet Med Is the "Back-Up Plan"
"Bakit hindi ka nag-MD?"
"Sayang naman, matalino ka pa naman."
These are the phrases hurled at us like we're failed medical students.
But hereโs the truth they donโt see:
Most vets chose this path. Passionately.
Because we love animals. Because we believe in a calling higher than just a salary.
Because we treat lives that others canโt โ and wonโt โ understand.
5. They See Our Clinics as Pet Shops, Not Medical Institutions
Walk into a vet clinic and you might see treats, shampoos, and cute puppies.
And because of that, some people assume we're just glorified groomers.
But behind the glass walls are surgeries, X-rays, diagnostics, and life-saving interventions.
We are a hospital.
Not a boutique.
And we wear lab coats for a reason.
6. Even Some Doctors Donโt See Us as Peers
Letโs call it out.
Some MDs see us as below them โ not because we know less, but because our patients donโt talk back.
But ask them to do a C-section on a dog in dystocia, identify Ehrlichia on a smear, or handle a collapsing Shih Tzu with congestive heart failure โ and watch them back away.
Weโre not trying to compete.
Weโre just tired of being belittled by people who couldnโt last a day in our shoes.
7. We Get the Blame, But Not the Gratitude
When we save a life, itโs expected.
When we lose a patient, itโs a scandal.
Our work is constantly under scrutiny โ but rarely under praise.
They forget we do this with half the tools, less of the recognition, and none of the glory.
Final Word:
Veterinarians are not โdoktor ng hayop lang.โ
We are scientists. Surgeons. Public health defenders. Frontliners.
And we do all of it with the humility of being treated like weโre second best.
But hereโs what they donโt realize:
When the world stops valuing those who care for the voiceless โ it has truly lost its humanity.
And until the day they treat us with the respect weโve always earned, we will continue doing what we do best:
Saving lives. Quietly. Fiercely. Without needing their applause.
Sharing this helps others understand what it really means to be a vet. Like and follow if you're with us.
