Veterinary medicine: Mandates and missions for the 21st century

their expertise is rising. Consolidation of food production industries, worldwide distribution of products, and potential risks from imported foods create demand for food safety assurance at every stage of production. As incidents of foodborne and waterborne illness increase, veterinarians must solve new problems relating to Salmonella, Cvyptospovidiurn parvurn, Escherichia coli 0157:H7, and other emerging, virulent forms of disease. UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine, the state’s only veterinary school, produces about 108 veterinarians a year. With California’s population increasing 1.8% a year, the School should be graduating 60 more veterinarians annually just to maintain the current ratio of 17 to 100,000 residents. The School cannot currently meet this demand. While enrollment is up from 108 to 122 students for 1998-99, we cannot expand further until more faculty are hired. We must also construct more classrooms and laboratories. Haring Hall, dedicated in 1950, was designed to serve roughly 50 students per class. The program outgrew the facility within 10 years. At the teaching hospital, built in 1970, faculty treat as many patients in one month as they once did in an entire year. Despite planning efforts dating back more than 20 years, funds to expand facilities have not materialized. The School and state legislators have already taken the first steps to address these issues. Recently, the Legislature and Governor approved a $2.5 million annual university budget augmentation. These funds will help us begin to address the veterinarian shortage by further increasing class size, which we hope to expand to 131 students by 1999. Twelve new faculty positions can be filled. We will add 30 residents to help meet the demand for specialized veterinary care services. The School will establish a long-awaited program to better serve Southern California. The School has also launched a $50 million capital campaign to raise money for new classrooms, teaching laboratories and clinical facilities. Endowments funded through the campaign will provide ongoing private support for scholarships, faculty positions and research programs. These new initiatives cannot start too soon. This summer the American Veterinary Medical Association recommended The current shortage of veterinarians occurs as the need for that the School be placed on “limited” accreditation status based on two areas of weakness: finances and facilities. The School fully meets nine of eleven essential requirements: faculty, research, curriculum, clinical resources, library resources, students, admissions, continuing education, and organization. The School is recognized by the AVMA for outstanding performance in several areas, especially curriculum, research and continuing education.