Veterinarians are women

Abstract

The public has come to accept the fact that their veterinarian will most likely be a woman. It has taken me years, however, to accept this reality, even though I know it is a good thing. The majority of veterinary students these days are women, and by 2005, women will be the majority in veterinary medicine. My 1957 veterinary class at Colorado State University was composed of all men. The emphasis in our education was on livestock, and most of us came from some type of farm background, or at least we had experience with handling large animals. Some type of experience with livestock was actually a requirement for acceptance into veterinary school in those days. A recent report from Tufts University (a veterinary college that did not exist when I graduated) pointed out that of the 77 graduates this year 62 are women. Seventy-five percent of the University of Wisconsin veterinary graduates this year are women. The graduating class at the veterinary school at Davis, CA, is 81% female. One reason suggested for the change in gender among veterinarians is the relatively low income earned by veterinarians. Men gravitate to professions with higher pay according to this reasoning. However, my experience in farm and ranch practice tells me that large-animal practice (virtually a man’s world) has also been a low-paying occupation. It will be a long time, in my opinion, before this field of veterinary medicine is dominated by women. So, it seems that the change in the demographics of veterinary practice—the decline of livestock practice percentage—has created an opportunity for more women to be veterinarians. Not that there are not some good women livestock practitioners, but most women veterinarians prefer decent work hours and adequate time off. In general, women are not willing to sacrifice family life for round-the-clock veterinary work. Equine practice these days is not like the livestock practice that it used to be. Aside from the specialty racetrack practice or breeding farm practice, equine practice is a lot like small animal practice in which good bedside manner is essential. Women tend to be as good as, or better, than men at equine bedside manner. In general, a woman’s temperament is more suited to handling horses. They take naturally to the modern ideas of horse psychology made popular by men like Monty Roberts and Dr. Robert Miller. It is nice to see the American Association of Equine Practitioners, long a male-dominated organization, opening their executive board to women. In my opinion, many more leadership positions in veterinary medicine should be held by women veterinarians. William E. Jones, DVM, PhD