SUN,f]hursday,March 9.1978,.page 6 ..

Veterinary schools continue to grow in‘popularity

Entry into American med— ical schools may be notor- iously competitive but, statistically, it is 'twice as difficult to get into veterinary college here.

The overall proportion of applicants accepted by the United States 120 med— ical schools has crept up fran a low of 35.3 per cent in 1974/75 to an expected 38 per cent this year, as the pool of candidates has dropped slightly and uni- versities have expanded their medical facilities.

Comparable figures for ’ the 22 veterinary colleges ~ are not available, but the most recent estimate of the acceptance rate was 15.3 per cent in 1975/76.

The American Veterinary Medical Association's Washington representative, Dr. W.M. Decker, who carried out the survey, says the percentage has not changed much in the subsequent mo years. If at all, it may have risen slightly.

'lhe veterinary profes- sion is now widely regarded as the most difficult of all to get into, and there are frequent stories of students having to'settle instead' for medical ‘ school.

Dr. Decker says that interest in the fielélhas been growing steadily since I the early 1950's, Success- ful applicants now have to be "academically outstand— ing".

me reason for the growth, he says, is that veterinary medicine is "a field in which one can still practise medicine in a non— institutionalized way".

Some students, Dr.

Decker suggests, have been attracted to veterinary studies by the subject's "relationship to their ecological and environmen- tal interests". He '

mentions as a third factor its appeal fir the rapidly growing number of women students. Others thirfl< James Heriot's best-sell— ing books like All Creatures Great and Small have had an effect.

American higher educa— tion is always ready to respond to student demand, and the number of veterinary colleges in the United States has risen from 18 to 22 over the past five years, with several more at

various stages of planning. 'Ibtal enrolment for all . - four years of the veterin- ary course is currently 6,900. ’

Canada has just three schools, at the univer.-' sities of Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Guelph in Ontario, but a fourth has been proposed to serve the Atlantic provinces. The country has 1,000 veter- inary stddents this year.

Traditionally, veterin- ary schools in the United States have been associat- ed with the land-grant colleges, the originally agricultural state univer- sities set up in the late nineteenth century, and 20

of the 22 colleges are associated with state universities. The 13:00 private schools are at Tuskegee Institute, an independent black university in Alabama, and the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania ~‘ (whose veterinary school is exception in being closely linked to the university's

medical school rather than the faculty of agriculture). A third independent vet- erinary college opens next year at Tufts University, Massachusetts.

States that do not have veterinary schools train veterinarians (as veterin— ary surgeons are lmown in the United States) by sending than to out-of— state schools and paying most of their tuition fees.

'lhe states' motives for expanding veterinary' edu— cation are mo fold: to root: meet the student demand and to alleviate an alleged shortage of rural vets.

Farmers, especially those with dairy herds, maintain that there are far fewer vets prepared to come out to treat their animals today than there were 10 to 20 years ago. "We’ have a lot of veterinarians, but there are few who will practse on large animals", said one farmer. "They can

' make a lot more money

seeing pets WI’EII‘, the people bring the animals to them." Medical Association is -‘ sponsoring a maner survey of the profession that should answer some of v' the questions about \vets'

“attitudes to rural work.

It is due to be completed later this year.

However, the association does say that'some of- the advanced specialties. veterinary and, suffering genuine shortages.

Indeed, the profession ’

maintains there is a

serious Shortage of govern- ment funds to support research intoythe health and diseases of economical- ly important animals. The _. 1979 Budget that President Carter announced last V month caused furtherdisap— poinutent: the administra- tion wants to cut back the limited support the Depart- ment of Agriculturetis giving research.

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YOU??

To find out, try this nifty little crossword puzzle!

The food service students would like to remind you that this is NATIONAL NUTRITION WEEK. Do something nice for yourself _— eat according to Canada's Food Guide. It's simpler than it'l. -st . _ Everytime you sit down to eat, just stop and\think for one minute. Have you included a protein .food (meat,’fish, . poultry. eggs, nuts), 3 vegetableipreferabiy a ‘dark green or deep yellow one), and a break or cereal food (whole wheat bread, macaroni, spaghetti). Then for dessert, just have a fruitiapple, orahge or banana) and a glass of milk. There you “we it —— a completely nutritous meal. It wasn't that hard, was it? ‘

n

Across

3. pound (abbr)

7. fruits with Vit. C 9. an article

11. a vitamin

17. Prevents goiter .18. Feed v 20.2000 pounds

‘28. Nourishment 29. Sweet Potato

22. Salad vegetable texture 26. Sugar and starch group

600

Francine Pertus Food Service Supervisors

13. Calcium makes these strong 14. Calories measure this

19. With 423 down; milk vitamin

Down ‘ '

. Equal to 2 cups (abbr) . Necessity of life ' . Same as 3 across (abbr.) Root and Greens vegetable \ . Tissue growth necessity . Low calorie food . Pro-Vitamin A rich vegetable (2 wds.) . China cereal 10. Mineral needed by bones 12. Protein high food , ' . 15. Bones and blood building substance 16. No calorie beverage 21. A B-vitamin in meats 23. With 19 across; milk vitamin 24. Milk supplier 25. A plant's beginning . Hemoglobin builder

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ANSWERS ON PAGE 12