Pfizer Animal Health Launches Externship Program

[EditorBob]

NEWS**

The future of animal production agriculture will be missing a critical piece—veterinarians—without support for students to pursue large animal veterinary careers. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, fewer than 10 percent, or about 200 students, graduating each year from U.S. veterinary schools are interested in large animal medicine.

Pfizer Animal Health strongly believes that veterinarians are an irreplaceable element in the cattle industry and is concerned about a shortage of cattle veterinarians in the future. To counter this trend, Pfizer Animal Health launched an Externship Program this spring aimed at veterinary students with a potential interest in large animal medicine. There are more than 100 externship recipients this summer representing 27 veterinary schools from across the United States. Through its Externship Program, Pfizer Animal Health hopes to continue increasing the number of veterinary students with an interest in pursuing a cattle practice each year.

The Pfizer Animal Health Externship Program works with veterinary schools in two ways. The company works with veterinary schools to place first- and second-year students with beef and dairy cattle practitioners for four weeks. Pfizer Animal Health provides a stipend, as well as identifies veterinary clinics willing to mentor students. For universities that already have a veterinary externship program in place, Pfizer Animal Health provides matching funds.

For the veterinary clinics participating as mentors in the Externship Program there are long-term benefits. As cattle practitioners, they have a chance to foster the development of a veterinary student and create an interest in large animal practice. A positive externship could lead to a potential future employee and a relationship that could grow into a partnership and a succession plan for a veterinary practice.

“The Externship Program was designed for the first- or second-year veterinary student who is interested in, but not committed to, becoming a large animal or mixed animal practitioner,” said Roger Saltman, DVM, MBA, Pfizer Animal Health group director for cattle veterinary operations. “We find externships for them with some of the best cattle and mixed animal veterinary practices in the United States in the hope that these externships may be transformational for many of their careers.

“At the very least, the externship will give the student an appreciation for the challenges facing large animal or mixed animal practitioners. Hopefully, this experience will lead to the veterinary student choosing to learn more about cattle medicine and maybe enter cattle or mixed animal practice after graduation.”

For additional information on Pfizer Animal Health’s portfolio of products, visit www.PfizerAH.com.

[Gallus]

Hopefully it'll help. The shortage of good large animal veterinarians is a big problem in my area. Can you blame the new grads for opting to work on only small animals? They have huge debt loads right out of vet school, and with Mrs Jones willing and able to pay for excellent care for Fluffy (usually), the veterinarians can usually make more working at a small animal practice. It doesn't rain or snow, or get too cold or too hot inside either, and there are usually plenty of well trained staff to prevent them from getting abused by the animals. As much as I want to see more LA vets, I sometimes wonder why anyone nowadays would choose that route without a huge financial incentive. If money is the only solution, the problem isn't likely to get any better any time soon.

[EditorBob]

It is definitely a huge issue, and I think you hit the nail right on the head. We're actually going to address it further in the September issue of Farming, too.

[Gallus]

Will be interested in seeing what you come up with. I've heard talk, nothing more, about NH considering offering to pay a certain percentage of vet students' tuition, in exchange for an agreement to stay and practice on large animals in state for a certain amount of time after graduation. Probably no extra money available for such a program for the forseeable future.

New England needs another vet school in addition to Tufts. Tufts statistics show that a large majority of their graduates actually stay and practice in Massachusetts. Would be great if UNH could establish a vet school.