Posted on 10/17/2010 3:01:57 PM PDT by EBH
Legislation addressing the developing veterinarian shortage in rural America that was introduced by Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb, was approved last week by the House of Representatives.
The legislation authorizes the secretary of agriculture to award competitive grants to help develop, implement and sustain veterinary services. The bill will now go to the Senate.
Smith said America's food animal veterinary work force is facing a critical shortage in the public, private, industrial and academic sectors. Large-animal veterinarians, in particular, Smith said, are integral to small, rural communities.
However the number of vets per animal - especially in rural areas - is decreasing. According to the USDA, Cherry County has 145,000 food animals per veterinarian.
Smith's legislation builds on the current student loan repayment program to make it more effective and long-term. The funds authorized by Smith's legislation may be used to support a wide array of activities, including:
(Excerpt) Read more at theindependent.com ...
Mo money. mo money.
Put everyone on the dole I guess.
If there's a shortage of veterinarians, their wages will rise, and the profession will become more attractive. Let the market work.
I won’t be surpised if the current crop of “Ruling Class” wanna-be’s don’t do what the old commie countries used to do. After graduating from vet school you got sent for 3 years wherever the commie gubmint decided they needed veterinarians, without you having any say so whatsoever. Methinks we are fast approaching that point. Rep. Adrian Smith needs his arse kicked just like the rest of the “rulers”.
Staging a crisis, yet this guy has an R after his name?
The groundwork for that is already in place. The health care bill took over the college student loan industry. Wait till these kids find out that they owe the feds $100K and the feds can tell them where they can work and for how much.
Netflix: “Rain Shadow”
Maybe we could import some Australian vets.
The reason there are fewer rural vets is because after all of the money spent on an education equal to that of the M.D.s, they go out and earn a salary less than that of a schoolteacher or a nurse. I practice in a mixed practice and the only reason we still work on large animal is as a courtesy. 95% of our problem clients and dangerous situations come from the large animal sector. If they would let the free market take over, large animal and mixed animal veterinarian salaries would rise. With this economy veterinarian salaries are dropping...the problem is not enough veterinarians, its the ability to make a living with the education needed to become a vet. I have been in practice 30 years and gross $56K per year. Even factory union workers make more than I and they don’t have to operate their own facility and buy their own insurance.
and the price system doesn’t work because??
I hear the same from our vet friends.
Another reason they have concentrated on small animal practice is that their large animal clients have died, retired or quit.
My area has two large multi-vet practices and a couple of small single proprietor ones. Another couple of vets work part time only seeing large animals and an awesome vet orthopod travels from practice to practice doing the rarer orthopedic surgeries. The independents likely don’t even gross what you quote. The small animal clinics see clients from 45 miles away, just because the fees are lower.
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