Education
Free Education, Abundant Opportunities for Farm and Public Health Veterinarians
By
Dec 23, 2007, 20:08

(ARA) – Dr. Brad Leuwerke, a 2006 veterinary school graduate, had the best possible experience when he graduated from Iowa State University. Employers were competing to hire him.

“At the time I was looking for a position, there were six to seven practices that were actively looking to hire, of which there were three offers I was seriously considering,” he explains.

Dr. Leuwerke’s experiences aren’t odd. There is a shortage of food safety veterinarians (who care for animals bred for food) and public health veterinarians. This shortage is driving the creation of new state and federal programs that pay tuition and offer large cash incentives to young veterinarians interested in working in rural areas or in public health jobs.

Existing veterinarians in those fields are beginning to feel the strain, complaining they work long hours to cover the work loads. At the turn of the 20th century, virtually every veterinarian in the United States was a food supply veterinarian, but today there are just 8,857, making up just 17 percent of the veterinary workforce. According to a recent study, the shortage of public health and food supply veterinarians is expected to get worse by 4 to 5 percent every year.

“It’s been a trend that we’ve been seeing for years now. Particularly swine and dairy practice are having troubling attracting new graduates,” says Dr. George Saperstein, chairman of Department of Environmental and Population Health at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. “It’s a crisis for food supply veterinarians. Large animal practices are realizing that they need to make the profession more attractive to new graduates.”

Dr. John P. Sanders, Jr., president of the American Association of Public Health Veterinarians says that there is also a growing shortage of public health veterinarians. The Association of American Veterinary Colleges estimates that shortage at 1,500 public health veterinarians today and a projected shortage of 15,000 veterinarians over the next 20 years.

The shortage is bad news, overall, but good news for veterinary students. Food animal production generates $124 billion annually to the U.S. economy, which is driving politicians to take notice. Dr. Arlyn Scherbenske, of the Steele Veterinary Clinic in North Dakota, who is currently trying to hire two veterinarians, says that North Dakota recently approved a state program that will offer new graduates $80,000 in incentives, over thee years, to work in areas of need, and a similar program is awaiting funding at the federal level. North Dakota also funds tuition for veterinary school students, in state and out of state, who are interested in areas in need.

Dr. Candace Jacobs, vice president of quality assurance and environmental affairs for H-E-B stores in Texas and Mexico, says that the shortages in rural practice and public health veterinary medicine also illustrate how important it is that the National Veterinary Medical Services Act, passed in 2003 but not fully funded, be funded in full. Once the program is operational, it will repay the educational loans of veterinarians who agree to practice in rural America and in public health jobs.

“I think the loan forgiveness programs are a great idea,” Dr. Jacobs says. “Once students get introduced to how interesting veterinary careers can be, they’ll be hooked.”

Leuwerke, who ultimately accepted an offer from the Swine Veterinary Center in St. Peter, Minn., agrees, explaining he’s pleased with his decision to become a food safety veterinarian. “I could see doing this work for a long time,” he said. “I’m enjoying myself.”

Of the employers competing to hire him in 2006, Dr. Leuwerke estimates that only three have filled the openings and four are still looking for employees … and these jobs will remain open at least a year, as the class of 2008 has already largely selected the positions they will take at graduation.

For more information careers in veterinary medicine, including a half-hour DVD on veterinary careers, please visit www.avma.org.

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