National Need and Priorities for Veterinarians in Biomedical Research (2004) / Chapter Skim
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4. General Conclusions and Recommendations
4. General Conclusions and Recommendations
Pages 43-62
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From page 43... ...
After reviewing all of the evidence available and deliberating on the cause of this shortage, the committee feels that while there are many factors that contribute to the lack of veterinarians in biomedical research, a key reason for this shortage is a lack of commitment from veterinary schools to educate veterinary students and graduates for careers other than private clinical practice. Veterinary schools and institutions that offer postgraduate training must reaffirm their role in educating students for all types of careers, including careers in biomedical research.
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From page 44... ...
Comparative medicine veterinarians need to influence decisions regarding curriculum within their veterinary schools. They should educate their fellow clinical faculty about the importance of research in general and encourage the use of examples of experimental research during didactic training.
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From page 45... ...
It is important that veterinary students are made aware of the benefits of a career in comparative medicine. For example, the average salary of a laboratory animal medicine veterinarian in 2002 was $117,240 (Weigler and Huneke, 2003)
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From page 46... ...
Having recognized the importance of increasing the numbers of veterinarians in biomedical research, NCRR has instituted a new funding mechanism, an NRSA: Training for Veterinary Students in Animal-oriented, Hypothesis-based Research: Institutional Training Award the "new" T32. This mechanism enables institutions to award grants to veterinary students to support one year of training in hypothesis-based laboratory animal medicine, comparative medicine, pathology, or a related field of biomedical research.
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From page 47... ...
CHANGES IN VETERINARY-SCHOOL CURRICULUM One way to increase the exposure of veterinary students to comparative medicine is through coursework in laboratory animal medicine. In a recent AAVMC survey of the top 27 NIH-funded veterinary schools, only six of 22 respondents required one or two courses in laboratory animal medicine (none required more)
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From page 48... ...
Veterinary schools must educate state government officials about the contributions of comparative medicine veterinarians to biomedical research and ultimately to the economy. MENTORING Although the Leadership Program for Veterinary Students has favorably influenced the career choices of its graduates toward research, a small group (2%)
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From page 49... ...
The prospect of an additional 1 to 3 years for residency training or 4 to 6 years to obtain a PhD while earning stipend-level salaries is a major deterrent to pursuing postgraduate training. To address concerns about the large debt burden that graduates of veterinary college face, a debt-repayment initiative similar to the NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program should be initiated.
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From page 50... ...
In contrast, veterinary residency training salaries in laboratory animal medicine were as low as $25,000 and averaged only $31,883 (Colby, 20021. To address the financial barriers to postgraduate residency training, the committee recommends increasing veterinary residency training salaries to eliminate inequities between resident salaries and research training salaries.
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From page 51... ...
The committee therefore recommends that if the current T32 program becomes fully utilized, NIH should consider increasing the funding to this program to accommodate additional awardee institutions. Lack of federal funding for residency programs in laboratory animal medicine has been a topic of considerable debate since NIH re-evaluated the use of T32 awards to exclude the funding of clinical training (both MD and DVM residency training)
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From page 52... ...
Acknowledgment by the research community, and NIH in particular, of the need for physician-scientists led to the increase in participation of physician-scientists in biomedical research. The committee recommends that veterinary schools with dual-degree programs seek support through the MSTP mechanism.
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Veterinary schools should also aggressively encourage their faculty to apply for NIH grants. Enriching the quality of comparative medicine research through competitive applications provides a greater opportunity for postgraduate training of veterinarians and the availability of faculty that can teach comparative medicine courses.
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From page 54... ...
Training Comparative Medicine Veterinarians to Support Biomedical Research Efforts There is a great need for veterinarians to play an integral role in the biomedical research effort as clinical laboratory animal medicine veterinarians, pathologists, technical advisors, and animal resource program directors. The shift toward translational research has created a substantial need for veterinarians who have exposure to and experience with animal models in biomedical research to provide guidance to principal investigators.
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From page 55... ...
As discussed in Chapter 2, a two-fold problem appears to be resulting in a decline in the number of individuals entering and completing laboratory animal medicine residencies a lack of qualified applicants and a lack of funding for residency programs. Unfortunately, it is not clear from the data whether one problem has a greater effect than the other on the supply of laboratory animal medicine veterinarians.
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From page 56... ...
Another option for funding residency programs at institutions that use laboratory animals is through funds generated by per diem charges; however, this places the burden for training on the investigative community, which makes this approach untenable in most instances, given their operational fiscal constraints. In addition, although veterinary schools support residency training for many specialties, such as cardiology and surgery, the majority of laboratory animal medicine residency programs are found at medical schools versus veterinary schools.
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From page 57... ...
, who have acknowledged difficulties in recruiting qualified veterinary applicants for laboratory animal medicine and research positions. This problem has grown for corporate entities because they generate approximately 28% of the open positions for veterinarians (Table 4-4)
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From page 58... ...
ATTRACTING VETERINARIANS INTO ROLES THAT SUPPORT BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH To attract more veterinarians into roles that support biomedical research, academic institutions should provide faculty appointments to comparative medicine veterinarians. It is the committee's experience that many academic institutions do not provide faculty appointments to attending veterinarians, laboratory animal medicine clinicians, and other veterinary staff.
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From page 59... ...
Reinvigorating comparative medicine departments or integrating comparative medicine veterinarians into existing departments with appropriate faculty appointments will ensure that veterinarians have the opportunity to participate fully in research in a manner that matches their research training and experience. Institutions must also evaluate the burden of regulatory and compliance issues on laboratory animal medicine veterinarians.
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From page 60... ...
be encouraged to select applicants with interests outside private clinical practice. · To encourage more student interest in careers in biomedical research, veterinary schools are encouraged to establish summer externship programs and also year-Ion" research programs that can be supported through T35 and the "new" T32 (NRSA: Training for Veterinary Students in AnimalorientecI, Hypothesis-basec!
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From page 61... ...
· All comparative medicine veterinarians should actively seek out and mentor students with an aptitude for and interest in comparative medicine. · To address concerns about the large debt burden faced by graduates of veterinary colleges, a debt-repayment initiative similar to the NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program authorized by the Clinical Research Enhancement Act (H.R.
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From page 62... ...
· Residency programs should aggressively recruit applicants through veterinary student clubs, national meetings, career days, etc. · Academic institutions should be encouraged to provide faculty appointments to comparative medicine veterinarians that support biomedical research.
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