Forum: not enough jobs?

Entry, Forum

Jennifer Drew, Oregon State

There are proposals/plans for new veterinary education programs in several places including Utah, Arizona, and New York.  There is still controversy over whether there is a shortage or excess of veterinarians to fill the workplace demands.  Weigh in with your opinions, comments, or suggested solutions.

I don’t think the voices of current veterinary students are loud enough.  We are a generation in fear for our future.  Will there be a job for me in the field of veterinary medicine that I love?  Will there be a job for me at all?  How will I pay off all this student debt if I can’t find a job?  

 

When I was a little girl my dad sat me down and told me that the secret to financial success is a three step process.  1. Find something that you truly love to do.  2.  Turn it into a career.  3. Be the best that you can be in that career.   I’m not sure I totally understood what he meant back then, but today I know exactly what he was trying to say.  For the next twenty years of my life I watched my dad turn something that he loved into a successful and ever-growing corporation.   He wakes up every morning and he can’t wait to get to work because he loves what he does.  How many people can say that about their job?  I want to be one of the lucky few, that’s why I chose veterinary medicine.

 

I like science and I like medicine, but I love horses.  Horses are the ultimate athletes and I live to play a key role in keeping them in “the game.”  But the truth is I am worried about surviving in this field.  Going into OEPS this year I was hoping for some reassurance that there is still room for me in the equine medical field.  After attending, I was left with mixed feelings.  There were doctors that continued to tell us that if this is something we truly want to do then we need to keep working at it.  There were others that told us stories of their own unwanted changes in career paths because of the economy.  If there is so much uncertainty in post-graduation job placement, why are there plans for new veterinary education programs?   Adding to the competition for the lucrative and limited positions will only make our futures increasingly uncertain.  

 

I’m worried.  I know that many less vocal than me are worried too.  As class sizes at the current schools increase, and new schools open, job placement will continue to be a problem.   Many of us will be forced to take positions we don’t really want just to pay the bills.  Fewer of us will be able to pay off the student loans that will inevitably continue to rise.  Where will we go from there?  I think we need to hold off on the new programs and help the current students secure jobs and eliminate student debt.  

1. I love horses.  2. I have chosen equine medicine as my career.  3. I will do everything I can to be the best equine vet I can be.  I want to wake up every day excited to get to work.   I want a better sense of security for my future in veterinary medicine and I know that adding new programs and churning out more vets each year won’t help.