Words Fail Me

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An article came out in the Sunday New York Times yesterday, in the Education section. It was written by Phyllis Korkki, and it's about the financial state of the veterinary profession.

According to the article we have a 1:1 debt to income ration, make an average of $121,000 a year, yes tuitions are going up but hospitals are expensive to run and we need more vets in food animal medicine. Besides, we do it for the 'personal fulfillment...which is worth more than a paycheck."

Oh, yeah, and we pay $18,000 a year tuition and can get our debt forgiven- if we don't get it paid for by the government through the VMLRP, that is. The VMLRP is the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program which provides up to $25,000 a year towards your loans if you take a job in a state designated shortage area.

Last year it funded 80 people. Year before, 62. Over those two years we know AT LEAST 3919 + 3879 = 7798 people became eligible to join the North American practitioner population.

And according to JAVMA, in 2012 those 3879 were carrying an average $151,672 debt load; $148,614 in 2011.

Grand total debt load, adjusted for inflation....$1,013,179,641

Personal fulfillment...priceless.

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commented 2012-11-05 23:25:21 -0500 · Flag

This is veterinary version of the 19th century “gold fever” It manifests itself as accruing an inordinate amount of debt among the newly infected who just must become a veterinarian and as delusions of “one health” grandeur among veterinary academics who want more students (ie more money) so they can solve all of the health problems of humans, animals, the earth’s environment, and the life bearing planets in our galaxy. After all ( according to a report from some CSU veterinarians) veterinarians are “physicians for the universe”.