Another new vet school

Ok, are you freaking kidding me?

http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/08/source-kaleida-picks-vet-school-for-gates-site.html

Another new vet school? Because the ones in Alaska, Utah and Arizona aren't enough? Because we really need more vets, especially in the densely populated Northeast? Because we don't want a building to go to waste and we need more jobs????? REALLY?????

Creating more academic jobs and more "long term" jobs for hospital workers is not going to solve any problems. There is no "big money" in veterinary medicine. Opening a new school will not bring economic growth to the area.

Creating MORE veterinarians than there already are, with multiple new schools in the works, is going to ruin this profession, as echoed by colleagues herehereherehere, here and others elsewhere on VIN, and other forums.

There is no shortage of veterinarians. In fact, there are already too many. But the AVMA and academia are apparently ignoring this fact, and presenting a picture to new vets that is very different from reality.

I fought when my school decided to add 20 more seats to the class size (they did it anyway) while they were telling me that they needed the increased tuition dollars to keep their doors open. If a veterinary school, who gets millions of dollars each year from tuition, plus grants for research, donations and the income from it's referral hospital is having trouble staying afloat, how can you expect small business owners to do it? Especially with new grads coming out of school with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and not enough cases to pay the salaries they deserve.

Veterinary medicine is a calling, and I am not sure I would have turned away from it even if I knew the current state of things. However, making it easier to go to vet school is making it harder to find a job, harder to earn a living, and harder to love this profession.


Comments

  1. It's absolutely terrifying for those of us wanting to go to vet school... Almost enough to make me not want to go due to the horrid outlook and the ways that the AVMA is not managing the schools and is allowing them to continue to open more seats and open more schools.

    So scary,

    A new reader

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  2. New reader, it is scary. I don't know if this would have deterred me, but it sure makes you think twice. Do anything you can to have as little debt as possible.

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  3. Aiming for in-state, that's for sure! And have been looking into the schools that allow in-state after the first year, as well as military and USDA scholarships/ loan repayment plans. From what I have seen, if you don't have some sort of plan, you end up swamped with tuition loans before you even have a chance to start into the field. Love it too much to think of doing anything else...

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  4. I'm in that boat too... I want to apply to vet school in a few years, and yet with all that I'm reading, I'm actually starting to feel a little turned away. No one seems to understand, they just say "Follow your dreams!" or, "You'll be a doctor, of course you'll be rich and have a job!" This is what I've wanted for so long, but I have to think about the consequences in debt there will be for my future-family and future-husband...
    I'm still going to do it, I think, but I'm scared. Really scared.

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    Replies
    1. I am almost fifteen years out. I have been paying $800 in student loans every month ever since graduation. The debt has definitely impacted my life choices, and is getting very old. Fortunately, I had no credit card debt, unlike many of my classmates. I am moonlighting at a non-practice job because I will need to purchase a new vehicle sometime in the next year. I live modestly, and it is no fun to have the lifestyle of a graduate student when you're as old as I am.

      Think very carefully before embarking on this career. BTW, Rich With Life, the USDA has had a virtual hiring freeze for the last several years, unless meat inspection is your thing.

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  5. Chelle, this is great and honestly a problem in A LOT of other fields. What gets me is the 'jobs, jobs, jobs' ranting. What we need is technical skilled labor. Not more kiddos with bachelors or higher degrees. We need people to work in manufacturing centers. There is a serious gap between the 'over-educated' and 'under-educated' and that sweet spot in the middle where there are ACTUALLY jobs available. Our kids are mislead to think that the only way to succeed is to go to college. This myth needs to be busted big time and we as our generation has children need to recognize that the path to a happy life is not necessarily through college education but might in fact be through technical education. Example: Cousin Steven (Stacey's bro) is 23(ish) and graduated from PennTech as a machinist got right in with a fabulous company and is most likely making more than I am with MUCH less debt(for the other readers I have a MA and work in non-profit grant management 6 years out from undergrad and 2 from grad). My EDC is working on this initiative and trying to get into schools early enough (middle) to catch the parents and kids before they are sent down the path of college-prep. You should get on a non-profit board seat to make the difference you are seeking ;)

    xo-t

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