Vets

[cowman]

Is the sortage of vets a big problem where you live? I watched a show on this where they said rural vets are fast becoming obsolete. They sort of proposed vet technicians or something for outlying areas. Apparently these techs could do just about everything a vet could but would only have to go to school for three years.
I suspect this could be a good thing? I mean we all know farmers who are probably as good as the local vet(and maybe a lot better!) so why not?
I have three or four clinics within 12 miles of home so it is not a big deal here. There are a couple of excellent cow vets at these clinics and they are also excellent at ringing up the costs on the old computer! Why they can punch in so many different expenses it makes your head spin! But they are good.

[15444]

This topic is a apparently a real problem as mentioned in the last Cattlemen's. The vet college in Saskatoon is proposing 20 more seats to be added to the college for vets in general, which I can't see really helping the situation as it won't divert students away from the whole small animal scheme. Vet technicians that are trained in one specific area of large animals, such as just bovines, or just horses, is the way to go, I agree, but I doubt the college would think highly of that idea.

[kato]

The vet shortage is very real. I work at a clinic that has been advertising for another vet for over three years now.

It is a good time to be a student. Last year one clinic near here offered a signing bonus, a good wage, and a free house to live in, and a graduating student with no experience turned it down to go work on horses in California.

There are way more jobs than students. Actually the ones interested in working with cattle are being scooped up by Alberta. Or at least they were before May 20. I don't know what's happening now. Somehow pulling calves at 30 below in rural Manitoba has no appeal.

They get wined and dined, and pick and choose their opportunities. Another problem is that students are accepted strictly on the basis of marks, not on the basis of where they would like to specialize after graduation. That makes the classes top heavy on students who are really bright, but also are more interested in cats and dogs, and going home at 5 o'clock.

They need to change their priorities on acceptance into school.