Veterinary students are less willing to tackle the hardships of a career in veterinary medicine now that the economic forces on earning a buck off the backs of food animals are skewed against them. So says Marketplace, American Public Media's show known for its inclusion in the early morning and late afternoon NPR lineup.
As all NPR junkies know, Marketplace rolls up all the economic news into an hour-long, rush-hour radio show. Hence, it doesn’t get much of a chance to provide the kind of in-depth profiles of big or little economic events and issues deserve. This time, the brevity likely killed this segment, titled, "Keeping Large Animal Vets on the Farm." So says this would-be large animal veterinarian and avid veterinary industry watcher.
That’s why I wrote Marketplace a little note for their (and your) consideration:
Dear Marketplace:
Thank you for addressing the issues surrounding the dwindling supply of food animal veterinarians in this country. Americans deserve to understand the complexity involved in bringing animals to the dinner table. Showcasing my profession’s often overlooked role in the process is an excellent way to do that.
However, as a veterinarian who once strongly considered entering the field of food animal medicine, I’m concerned that your focus on the economic factors alone may do a disservice to the larger issues at play. Indeed, veterinarians have many reasons for electing a career in agriculture species and its my view that financial concerns play a second fiddle to these.
Apart from the longer hours and tougher work conditions you cite, consider the following four para-economic reasons why veterinarians I know have chosen the path of small animal medicine after seriously entertaining a career in food animal practice:
1-Rural Life
Food animal veterinarians are almost invariably required to relocate to rural areas. Suburban life and its amenities are nearly irresistible to the family inclined and lifestyle oriented among us. Despite its lower cost of living, the rise of the suburbs and the decline of rural America play heavily into veterinary graduate decision making––especially now that the average family boasts two working family members whose professional goals must both be met.
2-Gender
Often overlooked is the role of gender bias in food animal settings. Because more than 75% of veterinary students are women, and because the overwhelming majority of faculty, employers, colleagues, clients and industry leaders are men, women are subject to both actual and perceived gender biases in food animal medicine. Mentorship, support and encouragement is lacking for women who may elect a career in animal agriculture.
3-Opportunity
For students with above-average academic drive and professional ambition, food animal medicine offers fewer opportunities. The financial upside and professional challenges of specialization are not readily available in agricultural medicine, whereas they are commonplace in companion animal medicine.
4-Welfare
Given the rapid evolution of high-tech veterinary medicine for small animals, consider that how we treat pigs and cows no longer compares to the individualized attention afforded our dogs and cats. This dichotomy not only affects the outlook of student veterinarians on the basis of medical technology, it inevitably plays into animal welfare considerations, too.
How can a veterinarian raised on the love of animals (whose own shelter pet may have been treated for lymphoma, for example) be expected to choose a career where economic considerations almost exclusively dictate how animals are treated? Where quality of care means a questionably better product whose healthy, marketed remains are the proof of success?
***
For a culture that’s increasingly divorced of first-hand knowledge of how food comes to the table, is it so surprising that its work force also suffers from the effects of this extreme division of labor? After all, the same cultural constructs that set our social classes into an ever-widening, chasmic divide are the very ones that influence how the “educated classes” are likely to perceive animal agriculture.
Concentrating, as Marketplace does, on the economic issues inherent to any subject is understandable––that’s your job. But the reality is far more interesting (and useful) when the larger forces are revealed.
Exposing the depth of veterinary student financial difficulties in this case is critical. Explaining the 20% gap in starting salaries for food vs. companion animal medicine is indispensable. Detailing the lack of funding for loan relief in agricultural medicine is telling. I thank you for tackling these points head-on. But what are you missing?
Lest any doubt remain, nothing cuts to the quick of the issue like a swift jab at the cultural underpinnings of any dramatic shift in supply and demand. After all, were industrial animal medicine to respond to the shortage of veterinarians as any other rational market does, food animal doctors would be worth far more than the average small animal veterinarian.
That is, unless the prevailing forces provided a drain on supply through a greater demand in a more attractive, allied market (for small animals) and unless parallel market forces spoke to an overtaxed industry struggling to make do with its current [inexpensive, underpaid] work force.
Why else would an agriculturally-minded veterinarian like me raise chickens and goats in her back yard while practicing small animal medicine for a living? It’s not just about the financial differential. It’s mostly because of the reasons I’ve profiled here. Nonetheless, it’s also because the economics in animal agriculture are geared towards inexpensive foodstuff at almost all costs.
It’s therefore my view that were the latter situation remedied through regulatory intervention leading to more realistic financial compensation for food animal veterinarians, the former, more global and culturally relevant issues would nonetheless continue to drive the divide.
Attacking the problem through government intervention via loan relief––which is ultimately, a subsidy for the animal agriculture industry––is not the long-term solution. Addressing the system-wide issues of the animal agriculture industry by way of mitigating the cultural issues that should by all accounts be forcing its hand, is the true path to food safety and the veterinary shortage in food animal medicine.
Nothing short of a dramatic shift in agriculture practices will address these persistent problems. That’s what this would-have-been food animal veterinarian believes it’ll take. Email me for a detailed list of how we should start. And now, I’ll take my comments off the air.
Respectfully,
Dr. Patty Khuly
Add Comment21 Comments
Market place is rapid fire media. It's no wonder people are confused. Nice letter though.
Evet April 7th, 2009 05:43:05 PM
Great letter, Dr. Patty. You are very right about the need for a dramatic shift. As I always say: Nobody wants to be a poultry vet - and it's not because chickens aren't likeable creatures. Even though large animal vets are well-trained and extremely competent professionals, the ones who really care about animal well-being cannot shake that uncomfortable feeling of being a concentration camp physician as they tend to dairy cows and feedlot cattle. And there are even fewer who get to see the inside of poultry and swine operations. When I had finished two years of large animal practice and was on mat leave with my second kid, I realised with a jolt that even if my salary were tripled, it still wouldn't be enough to get me back in there. And yet a lot of it was truly rewarding work...(no I haven't forgot your request for a guest post, but I am having time management issues :-) ).
brebis noire April 7th, 2009 07:46:07 PM
Very good letter. My first experience with the media was an interview with a local public radio reporter about the "shortage" of veterinarians. She did not really understand the economic and other reasons for the lack of specialists and fully equipped specialty equine and small animal hospitals in every small and moderately sized city. I am afraid I was not very convincing to the reporter-hopefully I will do better next time.
I also am uncomfotable with a lot of the intensive livestock raising practices currently used in the food industry. I have a small flock of laying hens in the backyard, and apply for population management elk hunts every year to avoid buying meat as much as possible. It shocks some people, but some of the reasons I hunt are the same or similar to some of the reasons people are vegetarians. In some parts of the moutain west, Elk is the most local food you can get, even grain and vegetables are often shipped in due to short growing seasons at high altitudes.
I never was very attracted by the herd health type practice common to food animal practice. I did enjoy working with cattle and sheep, but the food animal career was not attractive to me.
SkeptiVet April 8th, 2009 12:10:55 AM
Great response. I too am concerned that the large animal vet shortage coverage in mainstream media seems to lack the sort of insight that your letter has provided. I'd say the welfare and opportunity aspects of production animal medicine have discouraged me from pursuing the field. I just cannot take part in the intensive farming systems that are so prevalent in the US. And I can't leave an animal in pain just because it is not economic to treat it. Less important, but still a factor: herd health is a lot less intellectually attractive to me than the individual animal medicine you can do in small animal and equine. I do love cows though. When I started vet school, I had planned on doing mixed animal practice, but, with 1.5 years of vet school left, have decided to track small animal.
cayugaduck April 8th, 2009 03:46:12 AM
Re: The care given animals/profit motive of farmers. I just had a conversation with the mechanic on our farm, he was the herd manager for a dairy down the street before it closed and still has a lot of friends in dairy. Where I am (MA) dairy is prety much dead, it just dosen't know it yet. He was talking about how many of the farmers are not treating the animals they have that may be sick because of the food regs. If a animal is medicated and dosen't survive that animal is valueless as it can't be slaughtered for x amount of time. The decision has to be all about the money as the margin is razor thin and that leads to too many animals that could probably be cured being sent to the slauhter house on the chance that they won't get better. I don't know any dairy farmers who don't LOVE their cows, it is the only reason to be a dairy farmer here. There is NO money in it and the farming tradition of having a second job to support the farm is alive and well here. The biggest problem with animal welfare on farms in this country is not really profit, it is the consumers demand for cheep food that drives big agribusiness. There is simply not enough of a margin to support small farmers in most places. That and food safty regulation that is disproportionately burdensome to smaller farms and, well you get what you pay for. If there is 100$ profit to be made per cow or per acre or any unit you like and you want to make oh, 20K per year you need 200 of whatever unit you are working with, perfectly manageable. If you cut that margin to $10, well suddenly big agribusiness looks prety good. If the corn you sell is cheeper to buy than grow and you make all of your money on per acre subsidies, then big agribusiness looks pretty good. Just some thoughts for those of you who want to changes things.
Jacob L'Etoile April 8th, 2009 01:17:19 PM
I did large animal (80%) for most of the past 30 yrs. While there may be a shortage of Veterinarians, there is also a shortage of clients. The calls I have had ranged from the ignorant to the ludicrous. The cattle owner who has a yr old calf-weighing 450 lb (should weigh 800) that is down and can't get up (after that, they rarely do). No vaccinations or parasite control, 30 mile each way, and dont want to spend too much... The owner of 4 cows who doesnt vaccinate, has never used any parasiticide. Has no chute or head catch. Wants a vet if they need one for emergencies (obstetric)... I could go on, but why. I loved working outside, but the current economics make it impossible to service the hobby client who has no clue as to animal care and handling. In addition, I put my life on the line, as well as my liability for their injuries... I dont know the answers, but even Iowa State doesnt do filed calls for food animals, they must be brought in to the clinic.... Kim
Kim Houlding DVM April 8th, 2009 01:28:45 PM
Part of the blame and also much of the opportunity to remedy the shortage of farm animal veterinarians belongs to the veterinary colleges. When I applied in 1960, one of the first questions asked me by the admissions committee was what experience I had with large animals. Even though I had more than most other city kids, (I had actually worked as a shepherd in the Gallilee!), I was required to pledge that I would work with cattle and swine during the summer between my freshman and sophomore year. Every student was thoroughly trained in care and treatment of economic animals and rode with local farm practitioners for two week periods in addition to training at the school's "farm campus." With the current shift in admission policies (better to have graduated in social work or advertising than 'ag), and specialization early in the curriculum; most graduating veterinarians are much less prepared to choose a farm animal career, even if that were made more attractive. Furthermore, we are less well prepared to deal with public health problems (exotic disease, natural disaster, bioterrorism) as we might be if all veterinarians were as broadly trained as my generation and before. Additionally, I feel that my own "extraneous" training on multiple species has helped me to solve clinical problems in companion animals by "interpolation" when an immediate specific answer is not at hand. Even though it may be less likely to generate big research grants and glamorous TV episodes, I would assert that it is incumbent on the veterinary schools to "pre-load" ALL students with knowledge, experience and confidence regarding farm animal work such that they can respond to economic and other market "after-load" that might induce them to enter large animal practice later in their careers.
Dr. Steve Dubin April 8th, 2009 04:08:09 PM
Dr. Dubin: I so agree. I, too, am fortunate to have graduated before the trend of "tracking" got some steam (for those of you who don't know, tracking is the change in veterinary curricula that allows students to concentrate on a specific group of animals earlier on in their veterinary education).
Not only does tracking effectively close the doors on veterinary students who might benefit from the exposure to other species, it forces students to make decisions too early. They miss out on learning about a fuller spectrum of veterinary life (which would help them become better advocates for all animals), and it pulls the rug out from under students who might otherwise choose a career in food animal medicine once fully exposed to its charms.
The argument, however, also goes the other way according to veterinary schools. Because so many food animal students change their minds mid-way in favor of small animals, tracking is sometimes argued as a way too keep this group engaged in their pro-ag studies--by essentially segregating them and making it tougher for them to change their minds, it would seem.
For myself, I'm glad I know how to identify the various forms of anthrax, spot tularemia in rabbit liver, post a chicken. Not only does that make me a more interesting dinner party guest, who knows when I might need that info again? ;-)
Dr. Patty Khuly April 8th, 2009 05:44:47 PM
Dr. Dubin: I also love that you call them "economic animals." This is more to the point than "food animals," is it not?
Dr. Patty Khuly April 8th, 2009 05:47:02 PM
Speaking as a student who is currently tracking small animal...
If I were to track mixed, or if I were at a school that didn't track at all, I'm not sure how'd I'd be able to see all the basics on my rotations. As it is, dentistry, elective small animal surgery (i.e. two weeks of spays/neuters), behavior, ophtho, oncology, and clin path are all electives. If I tracked mixed, I wouldn't be able to take any of these electives, so I'd leave school without ever having done a dental prophy, with only one spay under my belt, and never having looked at an FNA or urinalysis.
I read the VIN threads ranting about how ill-prepared new grads are at even the basics, but also see a push against tracking. How can I be prepared for the basics in all species when what's considered a basic skill set keeps getting bigger and bigger?
I agree that tracking too early is dangerous and limiting, but my school doesn't start tracking until second semester of third year. After 2 1/2 years of foal team duty, volunteering at the State Fair's "Miracle of Birth" center, colic team duty, large animal hospital clerk duty, farm field trips, and learning how to give cows epidurals, I'm really ready to get on with learning how to be a small animal /exotics vet already! I feel like by now I'd be less like to have an epiphany about wanting to go into large animal medicine than I would to have an epiphany about wanting to specialize in a certain small animal specialty while on an elective rotation- "Oh my gosh, I was BORN to do neurology!!"
I definitely don't think we should move towards limited licensing, but I also think being able to graduate as a competant all-species vet is getting harder and harder. I love that I could go in any direction when I entered vet school, but I also love that I can get an in-depth small animal education in my rotations now that I'm pretty certain I don't want to make the jump into equine, dairy, poultry, or swine.
Megan April 8th, 2009 11:29:14 PM
Megan: Great points. But you can't graduate having done it all. Surgery, in particular, is an area where it doesn't matter if you've done only one. Is three, instead, going to make you more competent and confident? Dentistry? I learned that on the job since it wasn't available as an elective when I went through. Ophthalmology? Unless your hospital invests in the equipment you'll refer most of your non-routine cases anyway. In fact, a lot of what you might consider an essential now is not what's going to make you a great practitioner.
Yet, ultimately, I do believe that veterinary education is going to have to go the way of human medicine. Internships are the way to do that. Sure, it means one more year of earning less than you need to live on--eating Ramen noodles and driving that clunker--but that's what many of us chose to do (and it didn't kill us nor are we financially less stable for it--usually, quite the opposite in fact).
Dr. Patty Khuly April 9th, 2009 08:03:12 AM
I agree that most of what I really need to know will be learned after graduation, but I still think that tracking allows me to gain confidence and competance in the skills that I'm most likely to need after I graduate. As a small animal tracker, I'll be performing ~25+ spays and neuters, versus the 1-5 performed by the mixed-track folks, or the 1 performed by large animal people. Being small animal track doesn't mean I won't be exposed to any large animal work, as we are required to rotate through necropsy and public health services too... I know how to recognize anthrax and tuleremia too!
If my class is representative, I'd say students are more likely to come in intending to go into large animal medicine and deciding against it once they realize the financial realities of large animal work rather than intending to be a small animal person but falling in love with horses. Most of the production animal students in my class come from ag backgrounds, with 4-H/FFA experience and know what to expect from a production animal career. Our school does what it can with incentive programs to attract large-animal-oriented students (i.e. the vetFAST program), but finances really are at the heart of most people chosing to do something aside from large animal GP-type work (they generally either shift more towards public health, or aim for corporate/research type work that pays better). I'm nervous about doing a $30,000 internship for a year with my in-state debt load- I can't imagine wanting to go into large animal work with an out-of-state debtload and expecting to make about $40,000 a year. Yikes.
... and we've come full circle back to the APM story :)
Megan April 9th, 2009 02:38:47 PM
Check out the "New Grad Frustrations" thread on VIN for a sense of why I feel nervous about having the right skills when I graduate...
Megan April 9th, 2009 03:20:15 PM
Wow! 25 spays and neuters?? That's impressive. All shelter pets, I imagine. And yes, thanks, I will check out the thread. Thanks!
Dr. Patty Khuly April 9th, 2009 04:35:10 PM
I am a financial advisor and I live in Iowa. I think there is a similarity between the problems bank face and the corporate farm industry. In both cases, the largest producers seem to get all the public benefits. Corporate farms have left Iowa with some of the dirtiest water, destroys the quality of life for many neighbors and depends on public money. The small, quality providers have to fend for themselves, competing against publicly funded competitors. In finance it is similar, many local banks are fine. So, I don't know about the difference between small animal and large animal vets, but I can guess a lot of the problem with being a large animal vet is a result of corporate farming. For my part, I buy meat from a Co-op of local farmers and use a local bank. I hope society trends towards the same. As to Marketplace, I positively hate the program. It is glib and shallow. If you want to learn about finance read some blogs. Public radio in general has turned into talk call in radio.
Erich Riesenberg April 11th, 2009 10:02:43 AM
Erich: Yes, this is true on corporate farming--in many ways. But your take on smaller producers can be better stated as "no-longer high-quality"--because they just can't afford it. As recently as the early nineties, smaller farms (dairy and poultry, in particular) had almost gone the way of the Dodo.
The low prices for eggs and milk (driven down by factory farming enterprises and the growing demand for these products at every American meal) had left smaller players out of the equation. The ones that remain (especially the dairies I've visited in Pennsylvania) are dirty and sad. Even the organic dairies don't get my vote. I'd rather drink milk (which I don't do anymore, though I cook with it) from bigger, cow-friendlier operations.
And yet, the bigger guys are leaving all kinds of detritus in their wake.
We need to wake up to the fact that food prices are artificially deflated. That animal proteins have consequences for our ecosystems, our health and our livestock. And that not every meal need contain these expensive ingredients our bodies don't need in such abundance.
For those who care about this issue and choose to educate yourselves, buy "The Omnivore's Dilemma," arguably the best non-fiction eco-science read since "Silent Spring."
Dr. Patty Khuly April 11th, 2009 01:48:04 PM
Dear Patty,
Your letter eloquently stated exactly what I've felt for years to be one of the most important reasons behind the drop in interest in food animal medicine, animal welfare. In my own perfect world, everyone who consumes meat, myself included, would have to spend 1 day per year on a food animal farm or in a slaughterhouse. I think we'd see big gains in the quality of food animals' lives and the manner of their deaths with the appropriate raise in product cost as well. Meat is valuable and should cost more and be consumed less frequently. It'd be good for the animals as well as the humans, not to mention the planet.
I truly enjoy reading your well-written articles in Veterinary Practice News. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelly
Dr. Kelly May 6th, 2009 10:24:10 AM
When checking out a vet school, this looks like an awesome place to begin your academic program! <a href="http://www.sgu.edu/svm/campus-facilities.html" title="St. Georges University.">The True Blue Campus </a> at St. Georges University. http://www.sgu.edu/svm/campus-facilities.html
john May 7th, 2009 09:07:49 AM
<a href="http://www.sgu.edu/svm/campus-facilities.html" >The True Blue Campus </a>
john May 7th, 2009 09:10:13 AM
شات
amal_ May 22nd, 2009 09:48:17 AM
The only ones ghd hair iron among you who will be really happy ghd mk4 iron are those who will have sought and foundhow to serve. When the fight begins ghd iv dark styler within ghd iv kiss styler himself, a man's worth something ghd hair iron .
GHD Hair Iron September 12th, 2009 05:01:05 AM
Add Commment