Get Preventive Veterinary Medicine Where Are The Food Animal ... - Econ Iastate

Food animal veterinarians work with farm animals such as pigs, cattle, and sheep, which are raised to be food sources. They spend much of their time at farms and ranches treating illnesses and injuries and testing for and vaccinating against disease.

Over the last several decades, the number of food animal veterinarians has decreased dramatically in the United States. This trend endangers public health by increasing our vulnerability to zoonoses, compromising food safety, and threatening food security.

One of the starkest issues facing the U.S. pet care industry today is a shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians. In fact, by 2030,¹ we will need 40,000 vets and 133,000 vet techs to meet the needs of our nation's companion animals.

The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is a branch of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that regulates the manufacture and distribution of food, food additives, and drugs that will be given to animals.

How bad is the shortage? The number of FAVs in the U.S. is 90% less compared to the number in the 1940s, but the number of livestock has always been increasing alongside population growth. And out of all veterinarians in the U.S., only 2% specialize in food animals.

Summary: The veterinary shortage has put a huge amount of pressure on professionals. In the long term, changes in pay, work-life balance, and client expectations have driven dissatisfaction. In the short term, the pandemic has increased practice inefficiency, and therefore backlogs, exacerbating shortages.

It was established for the purposes of preventing and controlling globally important diseases of food animals and humans. To achieve its goals, VPM combines the disciplines of veterinary microbiology, epidemiology, immunology, parasitology, public health, production medicine, and clinical medicine.

The main reason why vets are leaving the veterinary profession relates to poor work-life balance. A whopping 60.3% of professionals list this as the main reason why they want to leave, indicating a growing sentiment (or indeed, resentment) in the profession.