|
State of the Profession
-
AVMA workforce study nixes notion of veterinary shortage
4/24/2013
Report calls on practitioners to increase public's demand for services
-
New York Times article rocks veterinary profession
3/18/2013
Crises aired on national stage generate mixed reactions
-
Final destination for Ross veterinary students — Buffalo?
3/7/2013
Abandoned medical facility could become veterinary teaching hospital
-
Influx of veterinary colleges on horizon
1/26/2013
New programs give rise to supply and demand questions
-
BVA fears new school could create surplus of UK veterinarians
11/15/2012
University of Surrey plans to open veterinary school in 2014
-
‘The Incredible Dr. Pol’ asserts innocence despite board discipline
10/8/2012
Star of reality TV show placed on probation
-
Veterinary visits up but pet ownership down
8/10/2012
New AVMA survey results offer mixed prospects for profession
-
Can MDs and DVMs bridge the cultural divide?
7/24/2012
Physician champions concept of 'zoobiquity'
-
Study: No widespread shortage of veterinarians
5/30/2012
Veterinary presence needed in public health, agriculture, food safety
-
No simple answers on supply and demand in veterinary profession
5/29/2012
Workforce data outdated, conflicting
-
Labor Department job outlook for veterinarians: 'Overall ... good'
3/29/2012
New occupational profile less upbeat on small-animal practice, however
-
Private university in Arizona plans new veterinary school
3/8/2012
Midwestern University cites shortage of rural practitioners
-
Labor Department maintains rosy outlook for veterinarians
2/1/2012
Jobs projection contradicts view of many practitioners
-
Student debt relief option: Instant gain, distant pain
1/4/2012
Pros and cons of Income-Based Repayment
-
Independent voice of digital radiology silenced?
10/13/2011
DVMInsight's sale to Idexx viewed by some as contradiction
-
Anniversary inspires veterinary history commemoration
8/18/2011
National Library of Medicine exhibition highlights equine medicine
-
Out of the frying pan, veterinarians mix economic uptick with uncertainty
7/28/2011
Increased competition likely to blunt recovery for veterinary clinics
-
AVMA task force to review merits of foreign accreditation
7/20/2011
Resolution stripped of economic language on advice of AVMA lawyer
-
Dream of veterinary career deterred by school expense
7/7/2011
Student couldn’t justify cost of education
-
Tight job market squeezes large-animal veterinarians
6/27/2011
Some say shortage of food-supply practitioners is over
-
Tough job market compels dogged hunt by new veterinarians
5/19/2011
Fewer grads enjoy luxury of multiple offers
-
Federal bill tackles rural veterinary shortages
5/13/2011
Veterinary Services Investment Act to be introduced
-
Report: unprecedented change in store for AVMA, profession
4/28/2011
'Continuous improvement' prescribed for nation's largest veterinary association
-
New Utah veterinary education program wins approval, funding
3/11/2011
Plan stirs concerns about a potential oversupply of practitioners
-
NAVMEC addresses great challenges facing veterinary profession
3/8/2011
Economist's call for change goes beyond NAVMEC recommendations
-
Veterinary student debt continues to climb
1/4/2011
Despite years of concern, solutions remain elusive
-
Debt problem is everyone’s
1/4/2011
Most student loans financed by taxpayers
|
|
Private university in Arizona plans new veterinary school
|
March 8, 2012
By: Jennifer Fiala
For The VIN News Service
 Photo courtesy of Midwestern University
Midwestern University, a private institution with campuses in Illinois and Arizona, plans to open a veterinary school on its Glendale, Ariz., campus in 2014.
Midwestern University’s Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to
move forward with plans to create a veterinary medical college with an
inaugural class of 100 students to be admitted in fall 2014.
"This is fantastic news for both
Midwestern University and the state of Arizona,” said Gov. Janice K. Brewer in
a statement released by the university. “The establishment of this college will
produce good jobs and help ensure that Arizona develops homegrown
veterinarians to meet our most pressing animal health care needs.”
The four-year program will be developed on Midwestern’s Glendale
campus, about a 15-minute drive from downtown Phoenix. Tuition has not been set but likely will be similar to that of other
veterinary medical programs, university officials said.
Median tuitions for U.S. veterinary medical programs was $18,316 for in-state students and $38,788 for out-of-state students during the 2010-11 academic year.
It's unclear whether the Midwestern program will include a veterinary teaching
hospital, which can cost tens of millions of dollars to build. All but one of
the 28 veterinary medical programs in the United States have a teaching
hospital, which until recently was necessary for accreditation.
Western
University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., has the only accredited veterinary medical program in the United States that’s successfully bypassed the teaching hospital condition.
Rather
than having its students rotating through an on-campus hospital, Western U has adopted a “distributive model,” which involves a partnership between the university and 300 or
so private practices. It’s in those private practices that third- and four-year
students are expected to learn their clinical competencies.
Another way that fledgling programs can avoid building a teaching hospital is by entering into a 2+2 arrangement with a
university that has an established veterinary medical program.
One
such arrangement involves Utah State University, which recently accepted 20 students to attend its new veterinary medical program this fall. The inaugural
class will complete two years of course work at Utah State before moving to Washington State University for clinical training.
In Utah
and Arizona, proponents of creating in-state programs cited a desire to address
shortages of veterinarians in rural areas, especially those who
treat livestock.
Midwestern
University President and CEO Kathleen Goeppinger could not be reached today for
comment but stated in a news release that developing a veterinary college is in
line with the university’s mission to meet area health care needs.
Established in Illinois, Midwestern is the state's largest not-for-profit health care university. The institution, with campuses in Illinois and Arizona, offers medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry and nine health sciences degrees.
“The rural and agricultural
areas of our state have shown a significant demand for more well-qualified
veterinarians and have voiced strong support for this new college,” Goeppinger said of Arizona in the news release.
In the days
surrounding Midwestern's announcement, Arizona farmers and ranchers have taken their plight to the media, explaining to local newspapers and broadcasters that veterinarians are in
short supply in their areas.
The Midwestern program, however, cannot guarantee that its veterinary students will practice
food-animal medicine or settle in underserved areas of the state. The vast majority
of all veterinary graduates in the United States enter small-animal practice, usually in urban
areas.
It's a fact that Goeppinger acknowledged almost a year ago, in an interview with the VIN News
Service. “We have to train for all kinds of veterinary medicine, but we can do a number of things. (For example), we can recruit students from rural areas who want to go back home," she said.
What attracts students
to small-animal medicine rather than large-animal practice is varied and multifaceted. Many believe that
treating pets often comes with better working conditions and a bigger paycheck,
especially in metropolitan areas. Given that new veterinarians graduate, on average, with
more than $142,000 in student loan debt, earning a sizable income is a
requirement for paying those loans back.
To justify the need for veterinary education in Arizona, Goeppinger cites projections from the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) that there will be a shortage of 15,000 veterinarians over the next 20 years.
That estimate and others like it are a source of controversy, with the topic of supply and demand in the veterinary profession likely to top debates this weekend during AAVMC's annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Anecdotal reports and recent statistics reveal that the job market for veterinarians in all practice sectors is tighter and more depressed than it's been in recent history. What's more, government officials and others are beginning to recognize that an area may be underserved because it's unable to support a veterinarian.
Driving that perception are reports that newly minted veterinarians who've taken government-backed loan repayment assistance to work in underserved areas often can't find work. Last May, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners issued an opinion that “there is not currently a shortage of veterinarians for rural food supply veterinary private practice.”
The VIN News Service could not immediately reach veterinarians in rural Arizona or near Midwestern's campus in Glendale to get their take on whether the shortage of practitioners is real or perceived. Emily Kane, executive director of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association, said a number of calls have come in from the group’s 1,100
members
but was vague about the general reaction. She noted that the association is working closely with Midwestern on the program's developments.
"They've kept us in the loop the entire time," Kane said. "They have indicated to us that we will in some way be involved with the school. We don't know what capacity that will be yet."
Sorry, but you do not have authorization to view the news article you requested.
|
|
Search VIN news
All news categories
Follow us
|