Fellow Students: Let's Stop Talking and Start Doing

By Kelvin Urday, Governmental Relations Division Extern

The educational debt-to-salary ratio and the shortage of food animal and public health veterinarians have been called the "elephant in the room" among veterinary students. This issue has been heavily discussed by the AVMA, Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and on college campuses across the country. The financial problems faced by recent veterinary grads who practice food supply medicine have also been a topic of national discussion, and numerous articles have been written voicing concerns.

These issues are closely intertwined, and many students and new graduates are currently experiencing the reality of their own financial difficulties. Is this a problem directly related to expensive education, lack of federal funding or our own profession's discrepancies? The leaders of our profession have discussed how to address this issue, and many agree that it is a complex issue that requires multiple solutions.

So what has all this discussion led us too? Well, we have some direction and an idea of where our deficiencies lay, but what is the next step and how can students get involved?

One solution to aid with student debt has been the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), which was part of the 2009 spending bill that President Obama signed last March. As part of NVMSA, veterinarians commit to work in underserved areas of veterinary medicine and are, in exchange, granted student loan repayment. The bill was signed into law in 2003, but there have been massive delays in getting funding and in the USDA promulgating regulations for the program.

Another piece of the puzzle is a bill currently making its way through Congress that would provide relief for veterinary shortage situations. The Veterinary Services Investment Act (VSIA), H.R. 3519 or S. 1709, would support the profession in a variety of ways, including:

• Assisting in establishing/expanding practices, equipping veterinary offices and establishing mobile veterinary facilities.
• Establishing or expanding accredited veterinary education programs.
• Assessing veterinarian shortage situations and preparation of applications for designation as a shortage situation.
• Developing programs to encourage students in secondary schools to pursue a career in veterinary medical or science professions.

This bill currently has momentum, and this is a great opportunity to contact our legislators about supporting our profession by supporting this bill. It will only take five minutes to contact your government officials through the CAN website.

Together we can make a lasting impact on our profession and continue, by supporting targeted legislation, to address the problems facing our profession.