Vet shortage causes concern

[dun]

By Dairy Herd Staff | Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The shortage of large animal-veterinarians is a growing problem, says Dwight Wolfe, a food-animal professor at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in Auburn, Ala. No need to panic just yet, but there is a growing concern for the future when aging veterinarians start to retire.

Approximately 77 percent of veterinary-school graduates choose to work with companion animals only. This is a flip-flop from the profession’s beginning, when most of the animals people kept were food animals, not pets.

The main reason most veterinary students aren’t interested in food-animal medicine is because they’re not exposed to farm animals, Wolfe says.

The lack of large animal veterinarians is already affecting some employers, such as the USDA. The USDA employs more than 1,100 veterinarians, but needs to hire a hundred more. The agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service offers student loan repayments up to $20,000 to all newly hired veterinarians, according to information from their Web site.

In some areas of the country, there is one veterinarian for 5,855 food animals. In other parts of the country, there is one veterinarian for 47,943 animals.

Kansas State University has predicted that the demand for food-animal veterinarians will grow by 12 percent annually, while the supply of veterinarians will shrink by 4 percent per year.


Source: Birmingham News

 

[Limomike]

That is so true dun! Had the same conversation with the Spradlings (president of Farm Bureau) here in Okla about that very problem. Some of the universities make it too tough and expensive to get in, and there are also alot more girls staying in the program than guys. Therefore more of them just want to take care of the small animals.
Now before you women on here start getting on me; I did not say that a girl could not do the job, because one of the best vets around here that I know and have used many many times for my cattle is a woman.

 

[dyates]

Fluffy also pays better than cows. If I had all the work done to a dog that I can get done to a cow for $12, it would cost ten times that.

 

[jkwilson]

It sure seems to me that there is going to have to be a training program to create the equivalent of nurse practitioners in the vet business. At least 90% of what a vet does could easily be done by a sharp cowman or woman with a few months training. Even a C-section on a cow isn't rocket science if you've done it before and had the training. It's actually pretty undesirable grunt work.

I wouldn't want anything less than the best trained to treat a donor cow, AI stud or a trained horse, but if you are talking about a plain old working cow or calf, the cost of the vet work is soon going to make it a wash to just shoot the animal.

Trip charges are already to the point that if I have to call the vet out for a single animal, I'm losing money on her for the year.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Some states and Mo. is oneof them are offering partial reimbursement to large animal vet students to go to areas that need them within the state if they stay their for 5 yrs but they only will do that with 10 students a year so takes alot of yrs to serve the areas that need them

 

[grannysoo]

Most all of the vets around here don't want to even look at a large animal, much less work on them.

We are fortunate enough however to have one vet that is a farmer/rancher at heart. He will work on anything.

 

[LoveMoo11]

Doesn't surprise me at all that there is a shortage-there is often more money in small animal practices. Our vet is about an hour away (he's the closest). Usually he doesn't show up until 1 AM or so because he is so busy driving around the state! Poor guy doesn't get much sleep I expect.
You are right about the fact that a lot of vet students aren't even exposed to large animals-In our animal science class this semester, most of the students were afraid to touch the cows at the university farm!

 

[dun]

As bad as the vet shortage is for tradtional large animals, goats are even in worse shape. Back when we had the goat dairy there wasn;t a vet around that really knoew much about goats. Fast forward to today and it isn;t any better. There are 4 vets in a reasonable area that do large animals and none of them really have much of an idea about goats. Each one knows a little, but no one of them knows enough.

 

[TexasBred]

You got that right dun. The goat people just have to learn on the fly and hope it works. The vets have little to no training on goats. As for other large animals, it's just not worth it. Most can't make any money right out of vet school especially working on large animals. The money is in poodles and tabby cats.

 

[blackcowz]

Looks like I might be considering vet school for my college major.

 

[TexasBred]

Looks like I might be considering vet school for my college major.

Best of luck to you. I got accepted to medical school twice...never could get accepted to vet school. :cry2:

 

[bandit80]

Looks like I might be considering vet school for my college major.

...never could get accepted to vet school. :cry2:

Ditto. Vet school never worked out for me either. I got irritated at some of the prissy little preppy boys who have never even been around a cow get accepted into vet school. Still burns my be nice to this day . I'll let it go sometime.

 

[djinwa]

Went to my daughter's freshman orientation at the university and had some time to poke around the vet school. Saw class photos of the vet students and saw that over 80% were female. Don't know if that translates to more small animal practitioners or not. I do know that on average, males are more concerned about being the primary breadwinner, and perhaps economics mean more.

I have commented a few times on here when people say their old vet came to their farm and did some stuff and only charged them $50 or something. That is ridiculous and unsustainable. If a new graduate with $50,000+ in student loans has to compete with those charges, no wonder they'll go small animal. Not to mention the hours worked in hot and cold weather, cost of transportation, etc. If you want a vet, you'd better start paying them.

 

[dun]

If you want a vet, you'd better start paying them.

You can only pay what they charge. If they don;t charge enough to cover their costs and still turn a porfit thy won;t stay in the business for long.

 

[Limomike]

Thats right.. they need to charge for their services. That woman vet I know, she used to make farm calls for only 50 bucks to show up...now, she charges $125 to show up. Cant say that I blame her when she could just stay at her office and make that amount on treating 3 or 4 cats.

 

[angus9259]

Thats right.. they need to charge for their services. That woman vet I know, she used to make farm calls for only 50 bucks to show up...now, she charges $125 to show up. Cant say that I blame her when she could just stay at her office and make that amount on treating 3 or 4 cats.

It's not just that they can make MORE on cats, it's that it costs $50 just in gas to get from her office and back before she's paid for her receptionist, rent, heat, etc and been able to get lunch on the way home.

 

[angie1]

Vet came to my farm this spring, vaccinated two heifer calves, dehorned one, gave overall physical, looked at and advised on pregnant heifers, antibiotics to both SB babies. $45 total bill including the farm call. I send him a Christmas card, he sends me a sympathy card when I lose one. He also updates rabies on cats and dogs so long as he's there and saves me the office call and exam fee. My vets are competent, compassionate, and a phone call from showing up 24/7/365. They don't charge for my rehab animals because they know its volunteer work for me. They have an emergency call line available to clients after hours and call back promptly.