Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Bizmology

Bizmology

Shortage of food animal veterinarians imperils food supply

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 02:02 PM PST

Cows need health care too.

Did you know the US is suffering from a shortage of veterinarians? Yep, just like us humans, who are facing a shortage of primary care doctors, our animal friends are also having trouble finding vets who can keep them healthy and happy.

It's not so much our companion pets that are finding it hard to get to see the doctor, however; the shortage is in veterinarians who treat food animals.

That's a huge issue, because when unhealthy animals reach the food supply, humans can get very sick indeed. The salmonella outbreak in eggs is a case in point; other examples are hoof and mouth disease, Q fever, and the chilling prospect of bovine spongiform encephalitis, or mad cow disease.

To combat this shortage of vets, the government has established incentives to urge vets to practice in rural areas. The USDA just announced that it is repaying the student loans of more than 60 veterinarians who practice in rural areas. It's as expensive to go to veterinary school as it is to go to med school, and many vets come out with debts of $100,000 or more.

Likewise, the US House of Representatives has proposed expanding the Public Health Workforce Grants and Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Programs to include veterinarians. Vets, the thinking goes, should be an integral part of public health and food safety.

Large vet work is dirty, hard, and dangerous (just ask James Herriot). Most vets would largely prefer to treat companion animals. But with incentives like these, maybe the government can start changing minds and entice animal doctors into the country.

Human health may just depend upon it.

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Photo by Marcy Reiford, used under a Creative Commons license.
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