Veterinary shortage endangers (Homeland) security

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_377627.html

It took almost a year for horse doctor Nicholas Loutsion to find a veterinarian specializing in large animals to join his practice in Canonsburg, Washington County.

"They just aren't out there," said Loutsion, of Canon Hill Veterinary Clinic. "I searched the listings of available vets online for about 10 months, and there were only two of them: one from Holland -- who couldn't get a visa -- and the other was a professor from Chile."

The decline in the number of vets choosing careers in two critical specialties -- large-animal medicine and public health practice -- creates more than just a staffing problem for Loutsion. It's a matter of homeland security, according to a report published this summer by the National Academies' National Research Council.

The shortage is occurring at the same time that the threat posed by animal-borne illnesses -- such as avian influenza and mad cow disease -- is growing.

[radwriter0555]

1. We have the corporations to thank for this as well. It's harder and harder

for veterinarians to compete with the giant corps like VCA who keep gobbling up the smaller local offices, especially when the doctors retire.

Prices go higher and higher while services become more and more limited.

[kestrel91316]

5. Don't get me started on VCA...............corporate medicine at its best

:sarcasm: :mad:

[MADem]

2. Yeah, and the monkey in charge wants to make them responsible

for women's health care!!!

Maybe the government could offer a few scholarships in those specialities, with paybacks of mandated service in exchange for tuition...such a concept!

[Briar]

3. Lester Crawford needs a job. n/t

[kestrel91316]

6. Lester Crawford has spent his career in the very field we are talking

about - public health medicine. The US government is the nation's largest employer of veterinarians, several thousand (I forget). They work primarily for USDA FSIS (food safety and inspection service) and USDA APHIS (animal and plant health inspection service). Dr. Crawford is a food safety expert and board-certified veterinary pharmacologist. These are typical of the fields where vets are lacking - everybody wants to be a dog-and-cat practitioner it seems.

When I semi-retire I may very well go into USDA FSIS. Heaven knows I can get a job any day of the week with them, and work in any of the 50 states.

[fortyfeetunder]

4. DVM Shortage by design

There are about 30 (give or take a few) veterinary colleges in the US, as compared to maybe a hundred in the US. And the numbers of veterinary colleges outside the US are proportionately smaller as well.

So there is no surprise the demand for veterinarians will exceed the supply.

[kestrel91316]

7. There is not so much a shortage of veterinarians as there is a problem

with certain AREAS of vet medicine not being able to attract people. Being a dog and cat doctor is what most vet school applicants seem to want to be. Some also go into equine medicine, but that area has the highest physical risks and also highest liability insurance rates. Porcine medicine pays the best, I hear, but who wants to live in IA and go from pig factory to pig factory all day? Regulatory medicine (USDA) is very attractive WRT job benefits, but pay is not very competetive with private practice, and working in a meat slaughter/packing facility or food processing plant is not for everybody (most of us want to work on the living, not the dead). Doing a residency and getting board certified is not feasible for many due to the high costs of training (unless you have a working spouse or wealthy parents).

It's not as simple as a "shortage".

[Runcible Spoon]

8. equine practioners are extremely hard to find!

a lot of people tell me that getting into vet school is more competitive than med school, so maybe that affects things...:shrug:

[catzies]

9. Difficulty getting into vet school was why my daughter setted for vet tech

It's harder to get into a good vet school than it is to get into Harvard.

[kestrel91316]

10. It's WAY more competetive than getting into medical school ...............

(which is why I kind of brag about getting into vet school the VERY first time I applied).

I worked on horses my first year out of school (I was at a mixed practice - dogs, cats, parakeets, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, llamas), did the driving around the region in a little pickup and coming back to the clinic and seeing office visits and doing surgery. Worked my A-- off 13 days, then 1 day off, then 13 on, had to take nighttime emergency calls, too. The horse part was the worst.

Horses are not exactly intelligent, cooperative patients. I preferred working on cattle. Horses will kick your head in just as soon as look at you, and the owners have to restrain them for you much of the time so you are having to rely on THEM to not screw up. Horses love to halfway cut off their leg getting tangled up in a wire fence, then dance all over you when you are trying to sew them up. And trouble during foaling gave me gray hairs and ulcers. So I swore off horse doctoring forever, lol.

I understand the shortage. I know firsthand what THAT'S all about.

[bmbmd]

11. Don't know much about your situation

but there is only one Vet school in all of Texas. Texas A&m, by all accounts, is a wonderful school, but I can't figure out for the life of me why there isn't another school at Texas, Texas Tech, or West Texas A&M on Canyon.

[kestrel91316]

14. There are about 25 vet schools inthe US. They are VERY expensive

to build and operate, as you might imagine, since they have to provide state-of-the-art medical and surgical facilities for every species imaginable. They also are expected to provide top-caliber education for their students. There is very little government funding available for building and operating vet schools, and they face constant threats of budget cuts. So why on earth build more? We can't afford the ones we already have (but at least the rich got their tax cut, rich kids inherit millions tax-free, and the fags can't marry, right?).

I went to Colorado State University, arguably the best vet school in the US. We took students from not only Colorado but the WICHE states: AK, HI, MT, WY, UT, NV, AZ, NM. And occasional RICH out-of-staters paying full, unsubsidized tuition. If they built more vet schools, there wouldn't be any MORE funding available given the current state of fiscal affairs, and the cost per student would probably go UP because the funding for school B would cut into funding for school A. Taxpayers DEFINITELY don't want more vet schools.

[bmbmd]

17. Why build more?

Well, the title of the OP is "Shortage of Veterinarians Threatens Homeland Security". Seems like a good time to ratchet up the production. Supply, demand, all that.

[fortyfeetunder]

12. Can you share more on the DVM situation?

Like salaries, and number of DVMs in the specialties. Is DVM residency as long as a MD?

[kestrel91316]

15. I don't know offhand how many there are in the various specialties.

You could probably contact the AVMA and ask them - they have a directory that names them all. Board-certified specialists are in the minority in vet medicine, contrary to human medicine. We are WELL-educated and HIGHLY trained during vet school, and at Colorado St Univ we had a reputation for our ability to "hit the ground running": that is, start practicing competently upon graduation without any need for advanced training. UCDavis was NOT known for this, so we CSU vets came to CA and stole all the jobs, lol!

Internships are 1 year, typically right after graduation, but are optional. You MUST do an internship if you wish to go on to do a residency. Residencies are 3 years in most if not all cases. Board certification is every bit as rigorous as in human medicine. Some vets have multiple board-certification, though this is rare (opthalmology/surgery is one I know).

I am not very familiar with current salaries, as I have been self-employed for 17 years. When I first came to LA I was paid about $30k, that was in the early 80's. Vet salaries are famous for not coming anywhere close to keeping up with inflation. As a self-employed and honest, ethical vet my income is not high. Not average even. But I am not starving. My investment in my practice will provide me with a meager supplement to my meager social security once I retire. I have a solo practice. It is possible to "get rich" as a veterinarian. I know how to do it as I worked for years as a relief vet, but I refuse to treat my fellow human beings the way you have to to get rich.

[ninkasi]

18. Vets like you are priceless

Before we moved, my husband and I used a vet who was great. I used to tell him that I'd rather have him diagnose an illness than an MD. He was extremely ethical, and really, really cared about all of his patients. I imagine, since he has a solo practice, that he won't get rich, either.

[Sub Atomic]

13. if there's such a shortage then why did * just appoint a vet

as the head of women's health?


: head explodes :

[kestrel91316]

16. I think this was debunked.