Letter To The Editor

Rural vet shortage not just due to lack of males

To the editor:

This letter is in reference to the article in the March 19 issue of On Campus News entitled “Some colleges see no change despite overall gender shift.”

This article leaves the impression that veterinary medicine is in dire need of men and will soon be unable to function as the profession becomes totally dominated by women.

It is true that there are fewer males applying to the WCVM, but I take issue with the idea that this will translate into the disappearance of large animal practice. While it is possible that men are more likely to enter rural practice, many women are also opting for this lifestyle as a career path (myself included).

The shortage of rural vets is a real problem in the profession, one which applies to both genders across North America. It is an issue that is much more complex than “a shortage of male vets.”

The profession as a whole needs to be engaged in a discussion of the reasons for it. A shrinking number of large animal practitioners might have more to do with the idea that this way of life involves too many long hours on the job and if, as this article suggests, “women choose to work part-time,” this notion of underpaid and overworked rural vets may change for the better.

Lina Johannson
President
Western Canadian Veterinary Students’ Association