Vet School Student Shortage?
Medical school applicants are continuing to see a shortage for available medical school slots. The allure of becoming a doctor (salary, perks, prestige, not to mention making a difference and saving lives) is more common than the availability of education to create doctors (despite a shortage in the workforce based upon the demand for physicians). An interesting opposite of this is occurring in the veterinary industry. The AVMA released a report for its February news issue is seeing trends that project that the number of available slots will actually outnumber the qualified applicants in future years. This is occurring despite the fact that the number of vet schools is far under the number of medical schools in the United States. Every state has a medical school in this country, most have more than one. But only half the states offer a veterinary school. So what does this tell us?
First, obviously a career as a veterinarian is not as lucrative as that of a doctor. While vets often make a very comfortable living, it typically pales in comparison to that of MDs. It also does not offer the prestige that being a doctor does. MDs typically get to use the title of Dr. in all phases of life. DVMs are more like dentists where they be called Dr. in the workplace, but rarely outside of it. On top of that, while this author places great value on animal life, I can understand that saving someone's dachshund may not offer the same reward as saving their child.
Second, we may be able to take this as a note that the price points for veterinary schools are too high. The cost of a typical veterinary school is just as high as that of a typical medical school. However, with future incomes expected to be much lower than that of MDs, loans for these institutions are often tougher to obtain and harder to pay back.
Setting a lower price point could make starting a career in veterinary medicine more attractive to qualified candidates. That is not to say that providing this education is a cheap endeavor. This means that states could possibly lose money in the process of creating veterinarians. However, it should be noted that any state with an agriculture or livestock economy is typically facing a veterinary shortage (AVMA numbers indicate that over 1800 US counties have 1 or less Veterinarians per 25,000 animals). When one puts a value on veterinarians treating the nation's food supply, suddenly the "loss" associated with creating a veterinarian may not feel like a loss at all.
A third lesson we can learn from this is that if vet schools do not become a more attractive locale for qualified candidates, they will end up filling their slots with unqualified candidates. This can have multiple negative outcomes. It puts our food supply and pets in the hands of lesser professionals than we are accustomed to using (do you want a C student trying to identify and squash a mad cow outbreak in Western Kansas)? It also leads to more professionals who will likely fail in the industry, eventually being unable to pay off their student loans and creating a drain on the economy.
This is not a problem that is here yet, but it is coming. As long as a society plans on having meat as part of its diet, having an ample supply of qualified veterinarians is a must. If you want to keep grilling burgers instead of tofu, this is worth keeping an eye on in coming years.
Questions and Answers
The competition among students with their marks is becoming tougher and tougher to get admission in the best colleges of Delhi. Delhi university cut off marks seems to be unrealistic as it has touched the pinnacle in last few years.
Textbooks are your major expenses of every semester, and they can be very, very expensive. But there's good news here: you can buy them at discounted prices from 40% - 85%. And what do you need to do?
Brilliant Tutorials is reaching out to students through this mode of learning. This institution reaches to millions of students through distance mode of education.
We friends quite a time talk about business, management studies, advertising, media etc. In all these things there is only one point common to make your business successful. That's non other than ‘Marketing'. I believe Marketing forms a very crucial part of any business entity. Don't you agree?
The field graphic designing has shown tremendous growth and developments in the recent decades. The introduction of technology in this has also changed the facet of this profession. Owing to such developments, career prospects in this are very exponential and growing. Graphic designing program are the best way to start with.
Parallel parking is becoming one of the lost arts. Once a common aspect of any driving test, the ability to parallel park is going the way of the dodo. This is not unrelated to the also dwindling number of parking slots on the sides of streets.
Hard hats are necessary safety equipment for most construction sites. It is no longer just a good idea to protect the head; it is now a requirement (primarily due to liability issues) for the employees of most companies.
Age 30 to 39 is a transitional period for men. We have moved past the invincibility of our 20s, but are not yet facing the mid-life mortality that our 40s will bring. Injuries take longer to heal than they once did, but the risk for chronic illnesses is only slightly higher than it was in years prior.
As a political hot button topic, talk of socialized medicine is frequent the twenty-four hour news networks these days. However, despite this prominence, I am often surprised how much of the general public does not understand what it is (and what it is not).
The Ivy League is a name that is held in the highest of esteems when it comes to secondary education. They represent a large percentage of the most prestigious, most selective, and even most expensive schools in the United States.
Discuss this Article
