The Life of a Purina Nutrition Veterinariain

Posted July 4, 2013

Guest Author: Alina Ali

Editor’s Note: During the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) Conference in January, third-year Cornell veterinary student Alina Ali talked to Dr. Jason Gagne about his job as veterinary communications manager for Purina. Though it has been functioning for many years, the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN)1 is one of the most selective of the over 20 board specialties approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association with fewer than 100 diplomats, (compared, for example, to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons with over 1,600).

Donald F. Smith

Alina Ali, Guest Author, DVM Class of 2015, Cornell University

(Photo provided by Alina Ali)

What a pet eats is now considered one of the five vital assessments of every physical examination,2 along with temperature, cardiac function, respiratory health and the presence and character of pain. Many of the exhibition booths I visited at the NAVC Conference showcased new diets, treats, and toys. The copious amounts of literature and advertising for nutritional products available to the consumer is enough to confuse even veterinarians.

Although one may think these are just marketing tactics, many of the diets undergo clinical trials for years before they are ready to be introduced to the public. Dr. Jason Gagne, who completed both his DVM and postgraduate residency in clinical nutrition at Cornell, helped me understand the major role veterinarians have in the development, testing and marketing of pet foods.

Pet food companies routinely employ veterinarians for nutrition research and product development, safety, efficacy, palatability trials, and in marketing and education for consumers and practicing veterinarians. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, for example, employs over 150 veterinarians world-wide, though only a small proportion of these are board-certified like Dr. Gagne. About one-third of ACVN diplomates are employed by veterinary colleges where their primary responsibilities are teaching and research, and serving as clinical nutritional specialist in the academic medical center and teaching hospital.

After Dr. Gagne received his DVM in 2009,

I practiced small animal medicine for a few years before going back to Cornell to begin a residency in nutrition, but I still practice once a week now while working with Purina. The company actually requires its veterinarians to practice for at least one year, and they encourage that they continue to practice part-time to give them a better understanding of the needs of their clients and pets.

After 2 years as a full-time general practitioner, Dr. Gagne returned to Cornell to pursue a residency in nutrition. Dr. Gagne’s residency training involved extensive clinical experience as well as teaching veterinary students, He was also responsible for conducting clinically-relevant nutrition research. By the time he took the ACVN examination, he was qualified to formulate commercial foods, supplements and home-prepared diets, as well as develop specially-tailored diets for animals with various medical issues for which nutritional therapy would be critical to optimal medical management.

So what do nutritional experts actually do? Their schedule varies greatly from day to day, and many of the tasks incorporate education of basic nutrition for students, as well as continuing education for general practitioners and veterinary specialists. This requires them to travel to national conferences, as well as to their region’s veterinary colleges. On occasion, veterinarians working for Purina will be consulted on study designs, or facilities.

As a pet food representative, education about their company’s products make up a large part of day-to-day activities. Each product undergoes a very structured clinical trial, some of which have been designed by veterinarians. Many research projects conducted at universities are funded by pet food companies.

It is important as a representative to teach both students and veterinarians how to assess the nutritional status of an animal, and also address common misperceptions about pet food, so that the correct information can be passed onto clients and utilized.

I love teaching, and I was interested to learn how I could become a pet food industry veterinarian. Along with public speaking skills and a DVM with practice experience in the real world, a PhD or nutrition specialty is not required, but is definitely an asset that can open up further opportunities.

There is much opportunity for veterinarians to be involved in the pet food industry as it continues to grow. It will be essential to have informed individuals as spokespersons for pet food, especially with the increasing trends in grain-free, as well as raw food diets. The industry is constantly evolving, and healthy pets, as well as those with common disorders, are experiencing increased quantity and quality of life with the use commercial pet food and prescription diets.

By Alina Ali, DVM candidate 2015 (Cornell University)

Dr. Smith welcomes comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

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1 American College of Veterinary Nutrition
2 Determined by the American Animal Hospital Association

Dr. Tom Cully: Dairy Herd Veterinarian

 Donald Smith Smith, Cornell University

July 4, 2014

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Editor’s Note: Tom Cully received his DVM from Cornell University on Memorial Day weekend. He and his classmate, Julie Adamchick, whose story appeared on May 23rd,1 are two of a handful of Cornell graduates who begin their careers as production animal veterinarians working in the dairy industry. Both will be in the Midwest, with Dr. Cully in Wisconsin and Dr. Adamchick in Michigan. A previous posting on May 5th described the experiences of food animal-oriented graduates from Iowa State and Kansas State Universities.2

Donald F. Smith

Dr. Cully became interested in a career in veterinary medicine while he was in high school. Though he grew up on a crop farm in Ohio, he felt becoming a veterinarian would balance his love of animals with his interest in agriculture and science. Originally, his goal was to become a general practitioner and treat all species; however, after spending time with several mixed animal practitioners, he discovered that dairy practice most appealed to him.

After working with a predominately dairy practice one summer during undergraduate college, I was hooked and have not looked back. I was particularly interested in the combination of individual cow care mixed with production medicine and herd health.3

For students like Tom, this educational framework

served as the foundation and springboard of my veterinary career. The students, staff, faculty, and administrators of this College have offered me an excellent education of which I have only begun to reap the benefits. I was involved with student clubs which hosted multiple labs, trips, and speakers. I also participated in several externships, conferences, and visits to practices and farms. The time I spent with practitioners is what I found most helpful to developing my skills and establishing a network of colleagues. However, my classmates also played an important role in my development. They provided a lot of support, encouragement, and friendly competition that were quite valuable personally and professionally.

Dr. Tom Cully, with his wife, Olivia, and baby Ruth, 2014
(Photo provided by Dr. Cully, 2014)

(Photo provided by Dr. Valerie Ragan, 2014)

In addition to jobs posted this year on the website of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, there were numerous jobs not posted publicly. As was also the case for some food animal-oriented students at Iowa State University,4 Dr. Cully sought out employers with whom he would be interested in working regardless of whether he thought they were hiring or not. “Many practices keep their eyes open for the right candidate rather than post a public job listing,” he said. Dr. Cully agrees with classmate, Dr. Julie Adamchick, who learned during her search for a job that production animal medicine practices are often looking for personal characteristics such as attitude, personality, and work ethic in a new graduate as well as, of course, some basic clinical skills.5

Similarly, Dr. Cully put a high priority on the personal qualities of his future employers and colleagues. He also took into consideration the type of work, location and benefits of the job being offered. “But my top priority was to find good colleagues, followed by type of work, and finally location. My family and I ranked all of these criteria for each place we visited.”

Cully notes the growing trend in the production animal industry for veterinarians to work for a single dairy, or a small number of farms, due to the increasing farm size and industry consolidation. He observed that many veterinarians already own or manage large dairies such as the 7,000-cow farm in Wisconsin where he will be working. He will be the second associate employed, working for the two veterinarians who jointly own the dairy.

Salaries negotiated for new graduates are a frequent topic these days. Dr. Cully’s perception of compensation packages for those doing exclusively or predominantly bovine work is that they are similar to the trends of recent years, being slightly more attractive than packages negotiated by their equine- or small animal-oriented counterparts. Regardless of the specifics of salary, Dr. Cully is optimistic for the future, feeling that the role of veterinary medicine will change and evolve as the demands of farms and farmers change. “We are adaptable, with an education and skill set that enable us to stay involved with food production on many levels.”

Unless they are pursuing careers in academia, it seems that relatively few graduating veterinarians with production animal interest pursue formal internships. It could be that they feel more prepared for jobs right out of college, or perhaps they feel they get good support and mentoring in the their first employment experiences. Regardless, it certainly is different from graduates going into the established equine field where internships are the norm, and it sometimes takes several years to be fully integrated into the more prestigious equine practices.

As noted above, this is the third story devoted to bovine and production animal veterinary medicine for this graduating class. It will be interesting to follow these and other food animal-oriented graduates as their careers progress.

This story is based upon written and verbal communication with Dr. Cully.

Dr. Smith welcomes invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edi

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1 Smith, Donald F. Dr. Julie Adamchick: The Making of a Production Animal Veterinarian. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine, May 23, 2014.
2 Smith, Donald F. Are Production Animal Jobs Improving for 2014 Veterinary Graduates? Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine, May 5, 2014.
3 Cully, Tom, DVM (Food animal veterinary practitioner, Wisconsin). Emails to Donald F. Smith (Cornell University), May 18 and 26, 2014. The numerous quotes and the story throughout are from this correspondence and subsequent meeting on May 20, 2014.
4 Smith, Donald F. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine, May 23, 2014.
5 Smith, Donald F. Perspectives in Veterinary Medicine, May 5, 2014.

Are Production Animal Jobs Improving for 2014 Veterinary Graduates?

Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Posted May 5, 2014

Over the past decade, several veterinary colleges have instituted specialized recruiting and educational programs for students interested in become rural or food animal veterinarians. This was for many years considered a growth area of the profession. However a few years ago, some professional organizations have expressed concern that we may have an excess of capacity for food animal veterinary services nationally, including in states like Kansas, Wisconsin and California.1

My interest was recently piqued when I talked to one of our graduating students from Cornell who had just accepted a job as a farm veterinarian on a dairy operation in Wisconsin.2 One of his mentors, Dr. Daryl Nydam, said most of the graduating bovine-oriented students at Cornell have been able to get very good jobs in the dairy industry, but with the important caveat that they be willing to move.3

My sense is that anyone who has been a bit geographically flexible has got a nice production animal job recently. There will be near record milk prices this year with relatively moderate feed prices and that improves opportunities. The growing marketability of our products in foreign countries also contributes to the improving strength of the job market for young production animal veterinarians.

With the help of the head office of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP),4 I contacted two graduating students from Midwestern colleges and asked them to share their experiences.

Travis Vlietstra from Iowa State University agrees that the job market for bovine jobs has been strong this year. He visited practices in Iowa, Michigan and California that he felt would be great places to work, though none of them actually were advertising for a new associate. His decision to visit practices not planning to hire may prove instructive to other students or young veterinarians.5

Well-run, progressive practices are constantly on the lookout for someone who fits their practice dynamics. While none of the practices I visited were advertising the need for another veterinarian, I received job offers from each of the three I visited for externships. They believe that if someone comes along whom they feel they can’t pass on they will make an effort to hire that person knowing that work will come.

Similarly, one of Travis’ classmates spent time at six or seven beef practices―most of them were also not advertising for new associates―and he ended up with several offers. “Those practices, whether they were planning to hire someone or not, realized that they had better try and hire this kid because he would be a good fit.”6

Tera Rooney Barnhardt. Kansas State University,2014

(Photo provided by Tera Rooney Barnhardt, 2014)

Tera Rooney Barnhardt, who will be graduating this spring from Kansas State University, also reported that the job market for food animal veterinarians is very good. “You have to be willing to do some small animal work as well, but in rural Kansas, general practitioners are hiring this year.”7 Tera prefers to stay in state, but she observed that as long as she is geographically flexible within Kansas, her job options are what she described as numerous. She will be working in the southwest corner of the state, two hours west of Dodge City. “It is a progressive mixed animal practice with a high potential for gaining more cattle clients because of the strong agriculture industry in the area.”8

Both graduates feel that compensation packages are similar to what they’ve been in past years, perhaps marginally higher. Tera cited some differences in the specifics of the health insurance components of the offers because of the uncertainties associated with implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Travis Vlietstra, Iowa State University 2014, and his wife Colby

(Photo provided by Travis Vlietstra, 2014)

Despite being far from their homes in the Midwest, Travis and his wife, Colby, decided to move to the San Joaquin Valley of California, where he will join a large dairy practice.9

My wife and I prayed regularly and often about the decision. When the time came the decision was surprisingly easy. We knew that California is what felt right, that if we turned down that opportunity we would always wonder “what if”. California provided a 100% dairy-focused career opportunity. Leaving home will be hard, but we are determined not to be scared and to branch out and do something we never thought we would do.

Interviewing for a job can be challenging, but it also provides many opportunities to show unity and respect for our profession. Tera has some wise and helpful advice to other students approaching the job market,10

Never burn a bridge while interviewing for a job. Always be gracious and keep in contact with practitioners that you hit it off with. This is such a small community, our profession, and keeping doors open will improve your chances of getting exactly where you want to be in the future.

Also, keep your classmates in mind while interviewing for jobs. There were several clinics that were not perfect for me, but I thought of a classmate who would love to work in that practice. It really makes turning down job offers a little easier if you can suggest a great person for them to interview. At the same time, be careful with whom you recommend. Your reputation is at stake any time you give a recommendation.

Tera Rooney Barnhardt, Kansas State University 2014, and her husband, Sheldon Barnhardt

(Photo provided by Tera Rooney Barnhardt, 2014)

If the experiences of soon to be graduates from Kansas State, Iowa State, and Cornell are any indication, perhaps the job market in production animal medicine is improving. One year does not make a trend, and it is important not to broadly interpret a few anecdotal stories; however, these reports from the field are encouraging.

Dr. Smith welcomes comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

This story can also be found at www.veritasdvmblog.com 

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1 The Center for Health Workforce Studies, 2013 U.S. Veterinary Workforce Study: Modeling Capacity Utilization P 17
2 Cully, Tom (DVM candidate, Cornell University Class of 2014). Personal communication with Donald Smith (Cornell University). Apr 13, 2014.
3 Nydam, Daryl, DVM, PhD (Associate Professor, Cornell University), email to Donald Smith (Cornell University). Apr 14, 2014.
4 Wren, Geni (American Association of Bovine Practitioners), email to Donald Smith (Cornell University), April 17, 2014.
5 Vlietstra, Travis (DVM candidate, Iowa State University Class of 2014), email to Donald Smith (Cornell University). April 19, 2014.
6 Ibid
7 Barnhardt, Tera Rooney (DVM Candidate, Kansas State University Class of 2014), email to Donald Smith (Cornell University). April 22 and May 1, 2014.
8 Barnhardt, Tera Rooney, Ibid
9 Vlietstra, Travis, Ibid
10 Barnhardt, Tera Rooney, Ibid

Employment Opportunities for Veterinarians

Posted May 29, 2012

By Donald F. Smith, DVM, Cornell University

Graduation ceremonies for the 28 U.S. veterinary colleges are conferring DVM degrees on 2,630 new veterinarians this spring. Hundreds more U.S. citizens will be graduating from the schools in the Caribbean (especially Ross and St. George's Universities), and from other foreign schools. 

What will these new veterinary graduates be doing and who will employ them?

To get an answer, I looked at data from the American Veterinary Medical Association for the graduates who entered the job market in 2009. Data from the more recent classes are not as reliable as a substantial proportion of the veterinarians do not yet have complete records on file. The following summaries do not include the relatively small proportion of graduates who are not members of the professional association.

Species Activity:

Approximately 80% of veterinarians who graduated in 2009 work with small animals (see chart below - SmAn). The predominant species are dogs and cats, but increasing numbers of pet birds, rabbits, small rodents and reptiles are now cared for in veterinary clinics.

Eight percent of the graduates are working in exclusive or predominantly equine practices (EQ in chart below). Livestock and food animal practices (FA) and mixed animal practices (MA) make up the remaining 10% of employment activities. 

With respect to large animal employment in general, and food animal in particular, there are significant differences in employment activity based upon college of graduation. For example, students interested in bovine practice tend to self-select colleges that emphasize production animal education and these graduates are much more likely to be employed in that field. A similar trend is evident with graduates seeking equine employment, though the data are not as sharply defined as for food animals.

Species Employment Activity for Veterinarians who Graduated in 2009;
SmAn (small animal), Eq (equine), FA (food animal), MA (mixed animal practice).
Data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, May 2012.

Despite the fact that many veterinary students arrive at college with aspirations to work with wildlife or in zoos, only a small handful realize that goal when they graduate. Thirty members of the Class of 2009 list activities with wildlife or zoologic species, but the majority of these spend only a small proportion of their time working with these animals and the majority of their time with more traditional species.

Who Employs the Veterinarians: Regardless of the species interest, 87% of the recent graduates are in private clinical practice. The 6% working in universities are usually interns, residents, clinical instructors, or graduate students. Another 4% of recent graduates work in non profit organizations, usually humane associations though a few work in zoos and aquariums. Three percent work for the government, mostly in the army or the federal meat inspection service, and one percent work in industry.

What Type of Practice Work Do Veterinarians Do: Of the veterinarians who graduated in 2009 and who are now working in private practice, almost 75% are employed in general medical and surgical practices. See chart below (Md/Sg). These range from single-doctor practices to large practices employing 8-10 or even 25 or more veterinarians. Emergency and critical care veterinarians (E/C), make up 15% of the private practice workforce and are employed in clinics or services within larger clinics that are solely devoted to emergency work and management of critical-care patients. Six percent of the graduates work in production animal medicine, mostly in cattle practices (PM). Five percent work in referral or specialty clinics (R/S).

Type of Private Veterinary Practice for Veterinarians who Graduated in 2009.
Md/Sg (general medicine and surgery), E/C (emergency and critical care),
PM (production medicine), R/S (referral and specialty clinic or hospital).
Data from the American Veterinary Medical Association, May 2012.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu.

A Tribute to African-American Deans in Veterinary Medicine

Posted February 27, 2012
Written by Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

My final blog for February is a celebration and tribute to African-American veterinarians who are currently deans of U.S. veterinary colleges, or have recently served in that capacity.  At a time when fewer than three percent of the veterinary students in the United States are African-American, three of our 28 veterinary colleges are currently led by African-American deans.



Current deans of veterinary medicine (L-R): Willie M. Reed (Purdue), Phillip D. Nelson
(Western University of the Health Sciences) and Tsegaye Habtermariam (Tuskegee).
Photo by the author, 2011



Dr. Willie M. Reed, dean of Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, was raised in Alabama and received his DVM from Tuskegee University in 1978, and PhD from Purdue in 1982. He served as an avian pathologist on the faculty at Purdue, then became director of Michigan State University’s Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (now called the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health). An accomplished scientist, administrator and champion of diversity, Dr. Reed was attracted back to Purdue as dean in 2007, where he has served both the college and the greater veterinary community with distinction. He is past president of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

The dean of newest veterinary college in the U.S. at Western University of the Health Sciences is Phillip D. Nelson, DVM, PhD. A 1979 veterinary graduate of Tuskegee University with his PhD from North Carolina State University (1993), Dr. Nelson established a career that included research on a feline model for human HIV infection. He held senior administrative positions at Tuskegee University and at Mississippi State’s veterinary college before moving to Western in 2005 and becoming the college’s second dean in 2007. Dr. Nelson is a strong proponent that each student should develop a positive moral compass, and practice the profession with compassion and decency.

Dr. Tsegaye Habtemariam’s journey to becoming Tuskegee’s Dean of Veterinary Medicine and Nursing and Allied Health in 2006 began in his home country of Ethiopia where he received his B.Sc. in 1964. His passion to become a veterinarian led him to the U.S. where he received this DVM from Colorado State University in 1970, and advanced degrees (MPVM and PhD) from the University of California at Davis. Dr. Habtemariam has a distinguished research record in risk analysis with a focus on diseases of agricultural species like Food and Mouth Disease and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (often referred to as “mad cow disease”). He has held numerous prominent international assignments of significant importance to disease surveillance and control.



Dr. Michael Blackwell, veterinary dean,
the University of Tennessee (2000-2007).
Photo provided by Dr. Blackwell



Dr. Michael J. Blackwell was the first African-American to serve as dean of a veterinary college outside of Tuskegee. A second-generation veterinarian—his father was in the second graduating class at Tuskegee—Dr. Blackwell was appointed dean of the veterinary college at the University of Tennessee in 2000 after having been Chief of Staff of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States.

Dr. Blackwell served as dean with distinction for seven years when he left the university to form The Blackwell Group, a management and venture-capital corporation.


Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

An Interview with the Dean of the Anticipated Veterinary College at Lincoln Memorial University

Posted July 17, 2011

Written by Donald F. Smith, DVM, Cornell University

In a course I give at Cornell on the history of veterinary medicine, I ask students to predict where the next veterinary college will be established. Because most of the 28 current colleges are part of land grant universities in small or moderately-sized cities, we talk about the prospects of building a veterinary college in a large metropolitan area, affiliated with a major medical school and also a school of public health to take advantage of the growing awareness of the need to unite human and animal health.

Some students were surprised, therefore, to read the recent news reports that new veterinary colleges are being considered in small college campuses in rural communities of Magnolia, Arkansas and Harrogate, Tennessee.[1]



Dr. Randy Evans, dean of the proposed
College of Veterinary and Comparative Medicine,
Lincoln Memorial University (Tenn).
Photo provided by Dr. Evans.

To get a better understanding of the anticipated College of Veterinary and Comparative Medicine at Tennessee's Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), I talked to the dean of the new venture, Dr. Randy Evans. A graduate of Auburn University, Evans was program director of two- and four-year veterinary technology programs at LMU for 19 years. He also directs the School of Allied Health Sciences that has programs in medical technology, social work, athletic training and physical therapy. The university has a program in osteopathic medicine.

Lincoln Memorial University is a small, private non-profit university that emphasizes preparing graduates to work in Appalachia and other underserved areas. So when Dr. Evans attended national meetings on veterinary education last year and learned of the emergence of veterinary colleges that use private practices rather than costly university medical centers to teach the practical aspects of clinical medicine, the wheels began to turn back at LMU.

The university also adopted the concept of a six-year combined undergraduate and veterinary degree program, rather than the more typical eight years to complete both curricula. “This will be the first two-plus-four year program in the country”, he told me, “and that will help reduce student debt, which is one of the current impediments to working in rural communities”.

Dr. Evans and his colleagues at LMU are hiring faculty for anticipated opening in fall 2012. An initial visit from the AVMA’s accrediting body is scheduled for this fall. However, many veterinarians are concerned that the recent growth in veterinary enrollment in the 28 established colleges is compromising the ability of new graduates to find meaningful employment at a time when the economic climate remains uncertain. Dr. Evans responds, “We believe that veterinarians can still make a living in Appalachia and other underserved areas if they are willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard”.

Though LMU is located just 50 miles from the Knoxville campus of Tennessee’s current veterinary college, Evans anticipates recruiting students from a national pool because they do not receive direct support from the state.

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[1] A third veterinary program is being considered at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, located in Phoenix metro area.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu.

Veterinary Class of 2011 - Congratulations and Best Wishes

Posted by Donald Smith (Cornell University)

May 26, 2011

On this Cornell Commencement weekend our 87 DVM graduates will be among the 2,630 nationally to become the nation's newest Doctors of Veterinary Medicine. They enter the veterinary workforce at a time when the demands and opportunities to promote animal health and welfare, public health, and biomedical research have never been greater.

Commencement Hooding Ceremony, Cornell Class of 2011

The new graduates will cite the Veterinarians’ Oath, at the Hooding Ceremony on Saturday afternoon, May 28th. The oath connects animal health, human health and animal resources, and states, in part: “I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through:

·         the protection of animal health and welfare

·         the prevention and relief of animal suffering

·         the conservation of animal resources

·         the promotion of public health, and

·         the advancement of medical knowledge”

As is traditional, most of our graduates will enter practice initially, either in general small or large animal practice, or through an internship. However, by their fifth-year reunion, many will broaden their career scope. Those in the Army may be deployed overseas or have entered into a PhD program in epidemiology. Others will be engaged in research or advanced training in a clinical specialty like surgery or oncology; or will be employed in the pet food industry or a pharmaceutical company.



By their tenth reunion in 2021, many of today's graduates will be owners or associates in general or specialty practices involving a broad array of companion, farm and sport animals.  Others will be leaders in humane shelter medicine, homeland security, food quality assurance, in comparative biomedical research in a medical school, or in conservation medicine, perhaps internationally.



2011 is designated by U.S. Congress as World Veterinary Year
 in honor of the 250th anniversary of the veterinary profession.
Logo by Vet2011 and the AVMA



This year’s graduates enter the profession during the World Veterinary Year which has been designated by Congress to celebrate the 250^th anniversary of the veterinary profession throughout the world. The congressional resolution cites many of the critical roles that veterinarians play in society beyond clinical practice, whether in public health, biosecurity, biomedical research, international development, disaster medicine, or in promoting the unique role that animals, especially pets, play in human health and welfare.

To the Class of 2011, congratulations on your remarkable achievements and best wishes as you assume the leadership of veterinary medicine for the next generation.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu