Schaumburg, Ill. — Nearly 40 percent of 2008’s graduating veterinarians plan to go into residencies and internships, according to a survey conducted by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

The report, published in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, shows that education debt now averages $119,803. Yet despite rising costs associated with earning a DVM degree, additional training toward specialization has never been more popular, the study says.

Since 2003, the trend toward advanced education has increased 51.7 percent, says Alison Shepherd, MBA, AVMA’s senior manager of marketing research, reaching a point where there’s more student applications for post-graduate work than there are positions. Officials at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine reportedly receive 100 applications for two surgical residencies, and AVMA news release says.

AVMA research also shows that post-graduate education is more attractive to new female veterinarians, with more than 42 percent of female graduates going into post-graduate positions, compared to 33 percent of males.