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20 JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC
Using Alumni Research to Assess a Veterinary
Curriculum and Alumni Employment and Reward
Patterns
David G. Bristol
ABSTRACT
Rationale for the study – The purpose of the study was to obtain an outcomes assessment of the professional degree program
of a veterinary college and to determine whether recently published national gender differences were true for a program that
has always been predominantly female.
Methodology – A survey was developed and mailed to all alumni of the veterinary degree program at North Carolina State Uni-
versity. Anonymous responses were collected by an independent organization for summation. Results were expressed numeri-
cally where possible, although the survey included numerous opportunities for textual responses. Responses were stratified by
year of graduation, in five-year increments, and by gender of the respondents.
Results
1. Sixty-one percent of graduates remained within North Carolina.
2. While most of the prerequisite courses were considered useful preparation for the curriculum, physics and calculus were
exceptions.
3. Over half the alumni thought time allocations to specific courses were appropriate. However, there were substantial differ-
ences between courses.
4. The alumni were satisfied with most aspects of the training program, although there were differences between various com-
ponents.
5. There were substantial gender differences in length of first employment, salaries, species treated, practice ownership and type
of ownership, and career satisfaction.
6. Most alumni work in small animal private clinical practice. Ninety-four percent were employed within three months of graduat-
ing. Ninety-five percent did no work with the state’s predominant agricultural species.
7. Nineteen percent of alumni were either unsure, probably would not, or definitely would not become a veterinarian if they
could choose again .
Conclusion – The survey was a tremendously valuable source of information. Results provided support for curricular revision.
The survey also provided comparative data in relation to national norms, where such norms were available. Unfortunately, few
reports of this type are available, making inter-institutional comparisons difficult. The Association of American Veterinary Medical
Colleges could assist with standardizing the process of outcomes assessment.
INTRODUCTION
Outcomes assessment is critical to understanding the qual-
ity of training programs and in many cases will provide the
information needed to effect organizational change. In pro-
fessional degree programs, there are few external assess-
ments of instructional effectiveness. The Council on
Education (COE) of the American Veterinary Medical Asso-
ciation (AVMA) provides a general review of a college’s
programs during accreditation reviews in order to ensure
that the college is meeting the “Essential Requirements of an
Accredited or Approved College of Veterinary Medicine.”
1
In the accreditation process, factors related to admission to
the program, facilities, and curriculum are reviewed from
the perspective of the accrediting body. The perceptions of
the site visit team, though valuable, may be different from
the perceptions of those who experience the program first-
hand.
One external measure of the quality of a teaching program
is the success of its graduates on national licensing examina-
tions, though this is a matter of some debate. In trying to
provide the best education possible in a limited amount of
time, the goal of veterinary faculty is not simply or necessar-
ily a high pass rate on these examinations. Regardless of the
true value of licensing examination pass rates as an assess-
ment tool, a high pass rate on these examinations combined
with abundant job opportunities for graduates can act as
impediments to changing curricular programs.
Most veterinary colleges have mechanisms for evaluating
specific courses and instructors. Students complete evalua-
tion forms, which are then summarized. Unfortunately, stu-
dents may not completely understand the future application
of course material. Peer evaluations of faculty are useful in
assessing instructional style and other pedagogical issues.
Alumni evaluations provide additional information from
the unique perspective of the users of the educational prod-
uct delivered to them as students. In addition to curricular
information, returned materials allow institutions to assess
the impact their alumni are having on society and the pro-
fession, to determine whether patterns observed in the pro-
fession apply to their particular students, and to assess post-
graduate satisfaction with chosen careers.
While useful, alumni surveys also have inherent deficien-
cies. Few alumni have had the opportunity to benefit from
other professional educational programs. Therefore, a
model for comparison is missing. As time since graduation
JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC 21
increases, details of programs are forgotten. Programs being
assessed may have changed in the period between gradua-
tion and the time of assessment. Those who are tremen-
dously successful or unsuccessful may inappropriately
attribute that success to the teaching program, evaluating it
with undeserved bias.
The purpose of this report is to share the methods and
results of a survey of one college’s alumni and the applica-
tion of those results.
METHODS
A survey instrument was designed with the following spe-
cific goals:
1. to assess the initial and current state of employment of
one college’s veterinary graduates,
2. to obtain the opinions of graduates on the usefulness
of courses required as prerequisites for admission to
the college,
3. to ascertain the effectiveness of time allocations to
courses within the curriculum,
4. to assess the overall quality of the teaching program,
5. to determine whether gender differences indicated in
recent national analyses were typical of the graduates
of a new program, the students of which have always
been predominantly female,
6. to determine the types of species treated by alumni in
clinical practice, and
7. to determine the satisfaction of alumni with their vet-
erinary career.
The survey included a combination of multiple-choice and
open-ended questions. It was mailed, with a covering letter
from the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the Presi-
dent of the Veterinary Alumni Society, to the last known
addresses of all alumni. Alumni were told the results would
be used as part of the college’s reaccreditation efforts, to
gain information on the financial rewards of practice to
accurately advise veterinary and pre-veterinary students,
and to assess the impact of our students on their communi-
ties and the profession. Alumni were assured that the col-
lege would receive only the aggregated results to maintain
anonymity of the respondents. Three weeks after the initial
mailing, another copy of the survey with a new covering let-
ter was sent to non-respondents.
Responses were collected and tabulated by the Center for
Urban Affairs at North Carolina University. Data were
entered into a statistical software package (SAS) for further
analysis. Analyses were performed on the total respondent
pool and in some cases were also stratified based on year of
graduation and/or gender of the respondent. For some
responses, the significant differences between percentages
were determined using Davies’s approach.
2
RESULTS
In all, 514 of 974 veterinary alumni responded to the survey
(52.8%). The number of surveys returned as undeliverable
was not recorded, so the true response rate is unknown.
Sixty-nine percent of the respondents were female. Most
alumni were members of veterinary medical associations
such as the American Veterinary Medical Association (85%
of male and 90% of female alumni), state veterinary medical
associations (55% of men and 61% of women), and city or
county associations (29%). Approximately 1.8% and 2.7% of
alumni were officers in state and city/county veterinary
medical associations, respectively. Almost one-third (31.1%)
of alumni were involved in a veterinary specialty organiza-
tion.
Employment after Graduation
Approximately 93.7% of alumni indicated that they were
employed in veterinary medicine within three months of
graduation.
Success at Obtaining Post-Veterinary Training
Internships were sought by 17.7% of graduates; of these,
78% were successful. Residencies were sought by 15.3% of
graduates, 87.3% of whom were successful. Graduate train-
ing (master’s or PhD programs) was sought by 15.4% of
alumni, and 84.1% were successful. There were gender dif-
ferences in the percentage of alumni seeking post-graduate
training. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to
apply for internships (20.3% vs. 11%), but slightly less likely
than men to apply for residency or graduate degree pro-
grams (14% vs. 18.5%). Success rates for men and women
applying for post-graduate programs were similar.
Location and Type of Career
Sixty-one percent of graduates remained in North Carolina
for their first job. This statistic did not change with time
after graduation. The college accepts 18% non-residents, but
residency status is a poor indicator of the state the students
consider “home,” since it is easy for adults to become North
Carolina residents. Table 1 lists the distribution of graduates
in various career types in their first year after graduation
and at the time of the survey.
Table 1: Employment of male and female graduates in their
first year after graduation and in 1999
Women were more likely than men to be employed in small
animal practice, relief work, or “other” work or to report
being unemployed. Men were more likely than women to
be employed in any career typically referred to as an “alter-
native veterinary career” (military, industry, etc.). While
Type of employment Men Women
First year 1999 First year 1999
Post-graduate
veterinary education
12.50% 02.80% 14.20% 05.64%
Post-graduate non-
veterinary education
00.69% 00.00% 01.58% 00.00%
Small animal practice 38.19% 41.96% 54.57% 58.93%
Mixed animal practice 26.39% 12.59% 19.24% 06.27%
Large animal practice 06.25% 04.20% 00.95% 00.63%
Equine practice 03.47% 04.20% 01.89% 01.88%
Emergency medicine 02.78% 01.40% 01.58% 01.25%
Government or military 03.47% 09.09% 01.26% 02.51%
Academic veterinary
medicine
00.00% 06.29% 00.00% 02.82%
Industry 01.39% 05.59% 00.63% 00.94%
Other 02.78% 04.90% 01.58% 08.46%
Relief work 00.00% 02.10% 01.58% 03.76%
Employed outside
veterinary medicine
02.08% 04.90% 00.63% 03.76%
Unemployed 00.00% 00.00% 00.32% 03.13%
22 JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC
women were more likely than men to obtain post-graduate
education immediately after graduation, they were less than
half as likely to be employed in academic veterinary medi-
cine at the time of the survey.
Forty percent of the women and 50% of the men reported
having made one or two job changes since graduating.
Twenty-six percent of the men and 32% of the women had
made three or more job changes since graduation. Table 2
indicates the length of time graduates spent at their first
place of employment.
Women were more likely than men to report that they spent
less than one year at their first place of employment. Men
were more likely than women to remain as long as possible
at their first job.
Table 2: Duration of first employment*
*M = Males, F = Females, T = Total
Salaries of Men and Women Alumni, and Practice Owner-
ship
There were no clear differences between women and men in
starting salaries. However, there was a remarkable differ-
ence in salaries by 1999. Forty-five percent of men versus
79% of women earned salaries less than $60,000 per year.
Seventeen percent of men vs. 3% of women reported sala-
ries over $100,000 (Figure 1).
Alumni in practice were asked to indicate if they were in an
ownership position and, if so, what type. Women were
much more likely to be working as employed veterinarians
than were men (75.2% vs. 36.2%). Of the respondents in
ownership positions in private practice, the percentage in
sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporate shareholder
positions were 56.1%, 10.5%, and 33.3% for women and
40.0%, 38.3%, and 21.7% for men.
Species Treated
Alumni in practice were asked, “What percentage of your
practice is devoted to each of the following species?”
Responses appear in Table 3. Women were more likely than
men to report that over 80% of their practice was devoted to
small animal patients and were more likely than men to
report 0% of their practice devoted to horses or agricultural
species. Women were also more likely than men to treat
exotic species.
% <1 year 1 year 1–3 years 3–5 years 5–10 years >10 years Number of
respondents
M ‘85–‘89 06.7% 28.3% 30.0% 10.0% 05.0% 20.0% 060
M ‘90–‘94 06.7% 28.9% 17.8% 17.8% 28.9% 045
M ‘95–‘99 17.6% 29.4% 26.5% 26.5% 034
M Total 09.4% 28.8% 25.2% 16.5% 11.5% 08.6% 139
F ‘85–‘89 16.7% 20.0% 33.3% 13.3% 08.9% 07.8% 90
F ‘90–‘94 14.4% 26.9% 31.7% 14.4% 12.5% 104
F ‘95–‘99 16.2% 27.0% 40.5% 16.2% 111
F Total 15.7% 24.9% 35.4% 14.8% 06.9% 02.3% 305
T ‘85–‘89 12 .7% 23.3% 32.0% 12.0% 07. 3 % 12.7% 150
T ‘90–‘94 12.1% 27.5% 27.5% 15.4% 17.4% 149
T ‘95–‘99 16.6% 27.6% 37.2% 18.6% 145
T Total 13.7% 26.1% 32.2% 15.3% 08.3% 04.3% 444
Figure 1: Salary by gender
JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC 23
Table 3: Species treated by alumni in clinical practice
Curricular Evaluation: Prerequisite Courses
For each of the courses currently required for application to
the veterinary program, alumni were asked to indicate
whether they took the course to satisfy an undergraduate
requirement or because it was required for application to
the veterinary program. Some respondents indicated both
reasons for some courses. Alumni were also asked to rank
the usefulness of the course in preparation for their veteri-
nary educations. Results appear in Table 4. Calculus and
physics had the lowest appreciated usefulness for prepara-
tion for the veterinary curriculum. Animal nutrition and
statistics were the only courses that were taken by most
alumni in order to meet admissions requirements rather
than to satisfy undergraduate curricular requirements.
Table 4: Reasons for taking prerequisite courses and their usefulness
Alumni were also asked to make suggestions for prerequi-
site courses. A total of 194 responses were received. The
most common categories of responses were business/prac-
tice management (31.4% of responses), communication/
public speaking (13.4%), anatomy/histology/physiology
(12.4%), and psychology/counseling/stress management
(8.8%).
Curricular Evaluation: Allocation of Time to Pre-Clinical
Courses and Senior Year Requirements
Alumni were given the time allocated to lectures and labo-
ratories of each of the courses in the veterinary curriculum
and were asked to evaluate the appropriateness of the time
allocation as either too much time allocated, about the right
amount of time allocated, or too little time allocated. For all
but two of 37 courses, over half the alumni thought the time
allocation was “about right,” though there were marked dif-
ferences in the proportions indicating “too much” or “too
little” for specific courses.
The percentage indicating that too much time was allocated
for a given course was subtracted from the percentage indi-
cating that too little time was allocated to identify those
courses alumni felt most needed additional lecture time.
Those with over a 30% difference, ranked from most need-
ing additional time, were Introduction to Physical Examina-
tion Skills, Principles of Surgery, Professional Development,
Clinical Nutrition, Introduction to Clinical Practice, Clinical
Pathology, and Anesthesiology. Only two courses had a 30-
point difference with alumni indicating too much time was
allocated to lecture: Swine and Poultry Medicine and Public
Health and Hygiene. Using the same 30-point threshold for
laboratory time allocation, three courses were identified as
0% 1–15% 16–30% 31–45% 46–50% 51–65% 66–80% 81–100%
Small Animal
Men 42.8% 01.4% 1.4% 1.4% 2.1% 3.4% 5.5% 42.1%
Women 29.1% 00.3% 0.3% 0.0% 1.2% 2.8% 4.0% 62.2%
Horses
Men 77.2% 07.6% 2.8% 4.1% 1.4% 0.0% 2.1% 04.8%
Women 87.0% 07.7% 2.2% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 0.3% 02.5%
Cattle
Men 80.7% 11.0 % 3.4% 2.1% 1.4% 0.0% 0.0% 01.4%
Women 90.7% 06.8% 0.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.6% 0.6% 00.3%
Swine
Men 91.0% 08.3% 0.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 00.0%
Women 96.0% 04.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 00.0%
Poultry
Men 96.6% 03.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 00.0%
Women 98.5% 01.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 00.0%
Exotics
Men 69.0% 29.0% 1.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 00.7%
Women 56.0% 40.6% 1.2% 0.6% 0.0% 0.3% 0.0% 01.2%
Reason for taking course (%) Usefulness (%)
Course Satisfy
undergraduate
requirement
Needed to
apply
Both Low Somewhat
low
Moderate Somewhat
high
High
English composition 86.0 11.1 2.9 03.7 06.4 21.2 25.7 43.0
Calculus 69.0 29.0 2.1 35.6 23.3 27.4 09.7 4.1
Statistics 44.5 53.4 2.1 11.9 17.5 31.8 24.0 14.8
Physics 58.8 38.7 2.5 17.9 26.4 34.6 15.0 6.1
Inorganic chemistry 65.9 32.2 1.9 10.0 17.3 34.4 25.3 13.0
Organic chemistry 59.0 38.8 2.2 09.5 13.3 33.5 26.9 16.8
General biology 75.9 21.7 2.5 01.2 01.2 07.7 28.2 61.7
Genetics 59.8 37.9 2.3 03.4 06.3 18.0 36.4 35.8
Microbiology 57.0 40.8 2.3 00.8 01.6 14.4 30.0 53.1
Biochemistry 50.8 46.9 2.3 02.2 06.7 18.3 28.7 44.0
Animal nutrition 27.3 70.8 1.9 06.1 09.9 19.5 31.2 33.3
24 JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC
needing more time: Anesthesiology, Principles of Surgery,
and Toxicology and Poisonous Plants. Embryology was
indicated as having too much laboratory time.
Alumni were also asked if specific senior clinical rotations
should be required. Those identified by more than half of
alumni are identified in Table 5. Only two rotations received
the endorsement of more than 90% of the alumni: Anesthe-
sia and Radiology.
Because opinions on which courses should be required
could be influenced by the type of practice in which an
alumnus or alumna was employed, the responses to senior
year course requirements were also analyzed by the species
treated by alumni. Alumni in clinical practice who indicated
that they spent 66% or more of their time treating specific
species or species groups were compared. There were too
few alumni employed (at over 66% effort) in swine, poultry,
cattle, or exotic practice to allow comparisons. There were
301 alumni in small animal practice and 21 in equine prac-
tice whose responses were compared. The courses with sig-
nificant differences of opinion between equine and small
animal practitioners are listed in Table 6.
Table 5: Percentage of alumni indicating that specific
rotations should be required
Table 6: Small animal and equine practitioners’ opinions on senior course requirements, where
p
<0.1
Table 7: Overall quality of programs
* The score was determined by assigning numerical values (from 5 = Excellent to 1 = Poor) to each of the rankings and averaging the results.
Overall Quality Assessments
Alumni were asked to rate the overall quality of their expe-
rience at the College of Veterinary Medicine, with regard to
specific areas. The results are summarized in Table 7.
The data in Table 7 represent all graduates. When evaluated
by class of graduation in five-year groups, computer facili-
ties and career planning have shown improvement. The
score change for computer facilities was from 2.71 for the
classes of 1985–1989 to 3.53 for the classes of 1995–1999. The
scores for career planning increased from 1.88 to 2.80 for the
same groups.
Desired Changes in Veterinary Education
Alumni were asked to reflect on their experience as veteri-
narians and to identify three topics that should have been
covered in their veterinary education but weren’t. They pro-
vided 1,028 responses. The top three responses and percent-
age of alumni making the observation were as follows:
Senior course title % indicating course
should be required
Anesthesia 91.0
Radiology 90.3
Companion animal medicine 87.4
General surgery 87.0
Clinical labs/Necropsy 84.8
Clinical pathology/Parasitology/
Immunology
72.8
Veterinary emergency/Critical care
medicine
68.3
Clinical conference 62.2
Equine medicine and surgery 57.1
Orthopedic Surgery 56.6
Ophthalmology 56.2
Dermatology 54.5
Food animal medicine and surgery 50.2
Neurology 49.9
Course % of small animal practitioners
indicating rotation should be
required
% of equine practitioners
indicating rotation should be
required
Significance (
p
<)
Ophthalmology 60.54 40.00 0.10
Dermatology 60.47 23.81 0.01
Orthopedic surgery 58.31 38.10 0.10
Neurology 54.05 23.81 0.01
Equine medicine and surgery 53.77 76.19 0.05
Externship 29.39 47.62 0.10
Herd and flock medicine 27.12 47.62 0.05
Clinical oncology 24.32 4.76 0.05
Equine surgery 20.00 38.10 0.05
Equine field service 17.29 33.33 0.05
Excellent Very good Good Fair Poor Score*
Hospital facilities 47.7% 44.2% 7.4% 0.7% 0.0% 4.39
Library 30.2% 41.1% 22.2% 5.2% 1.3% 4.33
Teaching animal unit 50.4% 35.9% 10.9% 2.2% 0.7% 4.33
Course content 28.9% 53.4% 15.5% 2.2% 0.0% 4.09
Laboratory facilities 34.1% 42.3% 18.4% 5.0% 0.2% 4.05
Quality of instructors 27.7% 51.0% 17.6% 3.5% 0.2% 4.02
Classroom facilities 34.0% 41.2% 18.3% 5.7% 0.9% 4.02
Instructors’ attitudes 20.2% 39.3% 27.2% 11. 4% 2.0% 3.64
Computer facilities 13.5% 25.3% 33.3% 19.5% 8.4% 3.16
Career planning 3.9% 11.4% 23.7% 34.0% 27.0% 2.31
JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC 25
• Business management (24.7%)
• Financial planning, accounting, and marketing (13.9%)
• Communication skills and interpersonal skills (9.3%)
Alumni were asked to identify three things they would like
to have changed in their veterinary education, and provided
910 suggestions. The top five items were
• More special interest/own track (20.4%)
• More clinical time/hands-on experience (15.9%)
• More time with surgery (12.5%)
• More time on everyday applications (5.9%)
• More internships/externships (4.3%)
Most Important Skills for Success in Veterinary Practice
In response to a request for the most important skills
needed for success in veterinary practice, alumni provided
1,233 responses. The top five were
• Communication skills/dealing with clients (33.4%)
• Medical skills/clinical and diagnostic skills (9.7%)
• Practice management and personnel management
skills (8.1%)
• Surgical skills (6.8%)
• Patience/stress management/time management skills
(5.7%)
Aspects of the Veterinary Role
Alumni were evenly split between working with animals/
restoring health (30.0%) and working with clients/building
relationships (30.4%) as the most satisfying aspect of being a
veterinarian. The top three things alumni would change
about their veterinary career are the poor financial situation
with inadequate pay and benefits (114 responses, 22.4%),
the time commitment required (96 responses, 18.9%), and
client financial constraints (35 responses, 6.9%). Alumni
were also asked to identify the biggest professional prob-
lems they faced at this time. The most common of the 872
responses were as follows:
• Financial situation/inadequate pay (18.8%)
• Balancing family life and career (12.8%)
• Professional development/specialization (12.3%)
• Staff turnover/staff management (10.9%)
• Client relations/non-compliance (7.7%)
Would They Do It All Again?
As a final assessment of their career satisfaction, alumni
were asked, “If you could do it all over, would you still
become a veterinarian?” Responses were stratified by gen-
der, by whether or not the respondent was in private clinical
practice, and, if in practice, by whether the respondent was
employed or in an ownership position. Results are pre-
sented in Table 8.
Table 8: Alumni responses to the question “If you could do it all over, would you still become a veterinarian?”
Among all respondents, 19.1% were either unsure or would
not become a veterinarian if they had the opportunity to
make the choice again. There was a slight tendency for
alumni to respond that they probably or definitely would
not become veterinarians again with increasing time after
graduation:
Class of 1995–1999:10.6%
Class of 1990–1994:11.3%
Class of 1985–1989:15.6%
Women were more satisfied with their career choice in prac-
titioner categories. Men were more likely to respond that
they were unsure if they would become veterinarians again
in all employment categories. Non-practitioners appeared
least happy with their career choice.
DISCUSSION
The publication of “The Current and Future Market for Vet-
erinarians and Veterinary Medical Services in the United
States”
3
(the KPMG Mega Study) and the “Executive Sum-
mary of the Brakke Management and Behavior Study”
4
have caused renewed introspection within the veterinary
profession, and among veterinary educators in particular.
The KPMG study indicated six “critical issues” for the
future of the profession:
• low veterinary incomes
• the economic impact of large numbers of women in
the profession
• the global demand for veterinary services
• the inefficiency of the veterinary service delivery
system
• an oversupply of veterinarians
• the skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes of
veterinarians and veterinary students
The study reported here provides additional information on
veterinary incomes, the impact of women on the profession,
and the skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and attitudes of veteri-
narians.
Employment type Gender Definitely or probably Definitely not or probably not Unsure
Employed private practitioner Female 85.00% 10.00% 05.00%
Male 76.92% 12.82% 10.26%
Total 83.56% 10.50% 05.94%
Owner-private practitioner Female 91.94% 08.06% 00.00%
Male 78.33% 13.33% 08.33%
Total 85.25% 10.66% 04.10%
Non-Practitioner Female 73.86% 18.18% 07.95%
Male 72.34% 14.89% 12.77%
Total 73.33% 17.04% 09.63%
26 JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC
Veterinary Incomes
Educating students on the economic realities of both veteri-
nary practice and life in general can have a significant
impact on their understanding of what they will require as
starting salaries, what they need to generate to earn those
salaries, and how their behavior will affect their future earn-
ing potential. Requiring business training of students with
private practice goals may be helpful in better preparing
them for financial success. Often students do not under-
stand what income they must earn just to repay accumu-
lated personal and educational debt. Because this survey
asked respondents to indicate a range within which their
income fell, it is impossible to calculate the average income
of the respondents. However, evaluation of the responses
showed little difference in starting salaries of male and
female graduates. A growing disparity occurred with
increasing time after graduation.
Restricting analysis to the classes that graduated between
1985 and 1989, 25% of the men but less than 10% of the
women reported salaries over $100,000 per year, while only
men (6.7%) reported salaries over $200,000 per year.
Impact of Women on the Profession
There are conflicting data on the impact of women on the
veterinary profession. While it is generally agreed that
women veterinarians earn less than men, there is disagree-
ment on the hours worked in practice situations. The KPMG
study
3
suggests that women work, on the average, three to
four hours less per week than men. However, the 1999 Eco-
nomic Report on Veterinarians and Veterinary Practices
5
showed that in most practice categories, women practice
owners worked more hours than men, while women prac-
tice employees worked fewer hours than men. In most prac-
tice categories, male practice employees earned more than
female practice owners. The KPMG study
3
also reported
that women were less likely than men to rate themselves as
“good” or “excellent” in business skills or financial skills.
However, these data were not stratified according to busi-
ness ownership, so it is unknown whether women rate
themselves lower than men because a smaller percentage of
women have been business owners.
It is important to note that data on differences in male and
female earnings and male and female hours worked per
week are based on self-reporting, without an assessment of
differences between men and women in reporting behav-
iors. The assumption that men and women who work an
equal number of hours would report the same figure when
asked may not be true. If women underestimate the value of
their efforts when reporting hours, the wage gap could be
even greater than reported.
The study reported here found similar results to the KPMG
study
3
regarding lower salaries for women and decreased
likelihood of practice ownership. An additional finding was
the decreased likelihood of women practice owners to be in
a partnership business structure compared to male practice
owners. The reason for this difference is unknown. It may
be that being a sole proprietor allows better control of work
schedules, allowing easier accommodation of family
demands, which may be perceived as more important by
women than by men.
Colleges can influence the economic impact of large num-
bers of women in the profession through admission selec-
tion processes that put value on business skills,
entrepreneurship, and self-confidence. All students must be
educated in personal and business financial issues, contract
negotiating skills, and the availability of education opportu-
nities on business-related topics. While colleges can influ-
ence the business preparation of men and women, their
differing biological, social, and family roles will continue to
influence the salary and practice ownership statistics. It is
also possible that the definition of “professional success”
differs between the genders. It is interesting to note that
while women earned less and were less likely to be practice
owners, they also were happier with their selection of a vet-
erinary career in all practice categories, as well as in non-
practice careers. This could affect retention of graduates in
the profession.
The Brakke study
4
indicated that most veterinarians are
poorly prepared for the realities of business. Thus, it was
hypothesized after initial analysis that perhaps men were
less happy with their career choice because they were more
likely to be business owners, a position for which neither
male or female veterinarians are adequately trained. How-
ever, further analysis of the data indicated that this was
untrue. Rather, men were less likely to report being in pri-
vate clinical practice, which had an overall higher satisfac-
tion rate than non-private practice careers. Tests are
available that match the “fit” of an individual’s interests
with different career options. Perhaps an increase in the use
of such tests, particularly by high school and undergraduate
advisors, would decrease the number of individuals who
select a career with which they are later dissatisfied.
Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Aptitudes
The alumni indicated that, of the currently required courses
for application to the College of Veterinary Medicine at
North Carolina State University, calculus and physics were
of limited value. These courses may be taken to satisfy other
undergraduate requirements or as prerequisites for other
undergraduate courses. However, if not required for these
purposes, other, more useful, courses could be substituted
that would better prepare veterinary students for their
careers. It could be argued that calculus is useful in some
fields, such as pharmacokinetics, but veterinarians are far
less likely to undertake pharmacokinetic calculations than
to need business or communication skills. Physics and cal-
culus courses also may present unnecessary barriers to
some potential applicants.
More than half the respondents felt the that time allocated
to the great majority of courses was appropriate, based on
their veterinary careers. While alumni know how their
courses prepared them for their specific career, they cannot
compare their programs directly with those of other gradu-
ates of other schools. Furthermore, they may have felt the
time allocation was correct but that the quality of course
content could be substantially improved. A quality assess-
ment was not requested for each course. Even if alumni find
themselves either better or worse prepared for specific areas
of practice than a graduate of another program, they rarely
know the course allocation times or contents of other curric-
ula. Thus, the data presented should not be directly com-
pared with what may be available from other colleges. The
data on course time allocation is best interpreted by com-
paring responses within a single curriculum. The informa-
tion is valuable in that it allows faculty to review alumni
JVME 29(1) © 2002 AAVMC 27
responses for their particular course with responses for
other courses. Individuals who see their course evaluated as
having excessive time allocation may be more willing to
decrease credit hours to allow reallocation of time to other
courses.
Assessing the impact of the curriculum student morale was
not an objective of this study. However, faculty have noted
that student morale deteriorates as they experience the cur-
riculum, particularly when compared to the excitement and
enthusiasm they demonstrate in the first week of classes.
Given this fact, it is interesting to note that alumni surveyed
indicate that (1) working with animals/restoring health and
(2) working with clients/building relationships are the most
satisfying aspects of being a veterinarian. The current cur-
riculum gives students little opportunity to experience these
“most satisfying” aspects of the profession in the early
years. Changes that promoted these experiences could help
sustain students’ enthusiasm.
The question posed to alumni on whether or not specific
senior rotations should be required of all graduates pro-
vided NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine with infor-
mation that was useful for its current curriculum, wherein
every student has the same senior requirements. A short-
coming of the study is that it did not provide the alumni’s
perspective on what should be required for graduates in
their specific area of practice.
When considering the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and apti-
tudes needed for success in practice, it would be prudent to
consider the alumni responses for topics that should have
been addressed in their veterinary education but weren’t.
These were business management, financial planning/
accounting/marketing, and communication and interper-
sonal skills—none of which are emphasized to the degree
that scientific courses are in veterinary programs. Commu-
nication skills were the most frequently cited skills neces-
sary for success in practice. The need for better written and
verbal communication skills is expressed by employers in
many areas—not just in veterinary medicine. Few veteri-
nary programs emphasize these skills to the point of sys-
tematically assessing them within the curriculum.
Perhaps the most important aspect of a study such as this is
how the institution makes use of the information generated.
Multiple curricular changes have occurred in connection
with this and previous surveys of alumni. The introductory
surgery course has been moved to the second year of the
curriculum. This course is necessary before students can
participate in any other surgical exercise. Its relocation
increases students’ ability to participate in both core curric-
ular and extracurricular exercises to improve surgical skills.
A program of “selectives” has been added as the final two
weeks in each of the first six semesters. Over 60 such
courses have been developed to allow the students to par-
tially tailor their curriculum to their specific area of interest.
Most of the selectives focus on hands-on activities. Courses
on interpersonal skills, communication skills, and practice
management have been added to the selective offerings. The
more difficult aspect of credit hour reallocation remains as a
short-term future challenge.
CONCLUSION
Alumni surveys are a useful part of a college’s assessment
efforts. They provide information on alumni satisfaction
and provide data that can be used to more accurately advise
veterinary students, undergraduates, and pre-college stu-
dents. The information is also useful in instituting organiza-
tional change. As scientists, most veterinary faculty want to
see hard evidence before undertaking the effort required to
complete curricular change. Data from alumni are one
source of such evidence. National studies, such as those
reported by KPMG
3
and Brakke,
4
are another.
Inter-institutional comparisons are much more difficult to
make. Because two courses with the same name and similar
credit hour allocations may cover different material, direct
comparisons are difficult at best. Hopefully, the data pre-
sented in this report will allow some comparisons between
colleges so that “best practices” can be identified and shared
among colleges sharing a common mission.
Q
REFERENCES
1. Essential requirements of an accredited or approved
college of veterinary medicine. 2000 AVMA Membership
Directory and Resource Manual, p190–192.
2. Davies V. Tables showing a rapid method for determining
the significance of the difference between two percentages. Station
circular 151, Washington Agricultural Experiment Station,
Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Washington State Univer-
sity, 1962.
3. Brown JP, Silverman JD. The current and future market
for veterinarians and veterinary medical services in the
United States. J Am Vet Med Assoc 215:161–183, 1999.
4. Cron WL, Slocum JV, Goodnight DB, Volk JO. Execu-
tive summary of the Brakke management and behavior
study. J Am Vet Med Assoc 217:332–338, 2000.
5. Economic Report on Veterinarians and Veterinary Practices.
Washington, DC: Center for Information Management,
American Veterinary Medical Association, 1999.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
David Bristol
serves as the Associate Dean and Director of Aca-
demic Affairs at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North
Carolina State University, Box 8401, Raleigh, NC 27606. He is a
Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners,
Certified in Equine Practice, and a Diplomate of the American
College of Veterinary Surgeons. E-mail: david_bristol@ncsu.edu.
