Veterinarians in New York State

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University
Posted July 3, 2012

         When animal owners seek veterinary care in New York State, their dog, cat, horse or herd of cattle could be treated by a graduate of any number of colleges across the U.S. or throughout the world. Though Cornell has over 3,100 alumni dispersed around the country, fewer than 1,300 are here in New York. Graduates from other colleges in the region, especially Penn, Tufts, Michigan State and the Ohio State, add another 530.
         The largest change in the profile of New York's veterinarians in the last decade, however, has been in the substantial growth in graduates of foreign colleges, in particular, Ross and St. George's universities in the Caribbean, and the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada. These are relatively new schools and many of their American graduates practice in the northeast.  
         The following graph shows how the addition of graduates from a greater number of colleges is changing the profile of veterinarians in New York. When you consider N.Y. veterinarians of all ages, 35% are Cornell graduates. However, Cornell alumni make up only 22% when we look at the younger veterinarians, specifically, those who graduated in the ten-year period between 1997 and 2006. (I have not included data from the most recent six years because there is a more year-to-year movement in the first few years after graduation that is often associated with internship and residency positions.)
         The spectrum of institutions represented among the state's veterinarians also means that a New York student wanting to become a veterinarian can find graduates from a variety of schools to provide information on the institution they might be considering. 

Colleges from which Veterinarians in New York State received their DVM degrees
 in the 10-year period between 1997 and 2006.
(AVMA membership record, 2012) 

         New York has 3,630 veterinarians registered as members of the national veterinary association (AVMA). That is about one veterinarian for every 6,000 people in the state. Looking at the numbers from a national perspective, there appears to be an inverse proportion of  veterinarians to population density. For example, states like Iowa, Colorado and Wyoming, have one veterinarian for every 2,300 people, over twice that of New York, New Jersey or California.

Number of Veterinarians per 1,000 Population for the Twelve Largest States
(AVMA membership records, 2012)

         The preceding graph shows that New York ranks near the bottom in number of veterinarians per 1,000 people for the twelve most populous states. However, unlike a few years ago before the economic slowdown, many New York veterinarians will tell you that there not a shortage of DVMs in the state.

Note: All veterinary data in this blog are from the American Veterinary Medical Association. 

If you liked this blog, you might also like to read a blog posted on May 29, 2012, entitled "Employment Opportunities for Veterinarians"  

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

Veterinary Education and the G.I. Bill

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University
Posted June 22, 2012
Honoring the GI Bill, signed 68 years ago today.

This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

As World War II was drawing to a close, hundreds of thousands of battle-weary veterans returned home. Eager to resume their lives, the G.I. Bill of Rights (signed by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944) eased the transition of some of them back into society by providing access to university and postgraduate education. Students who started veterinary college between 1946 and 1948 were mostly veterans, many of whom were already in their mid- to late 20s with spouses and small children. It is sometimes quipped that Cornell's 1950 graduating DVM class photo had 50 graduates and 50 children, most still in diapers. 


With only ten veterinary colleges in the United States in the early 1940s (1), available slots for veterinary students were very limited. The situation was especially acute in the agriculturally-rich midwest and southern states, and in California. Responding to this need, seven new colleges were established in the four-year period starting in 1944. Six were at land-grant universities; the other was at Tuskegee Institute, a member of the Historic Black college system.

Location of  Veterinary Colleges established
before 1920 (red) and between 1944 and 1948 (blue). 
Colleges are identified in footnote (2).

Members of the first graduating class of the new college at the University of Minnesota were all men, one of whom was Dr. Glen Nelson:  "Most of us were veterans. We had a B17 pilot who was shot down over France and escaped back to England with the French Underground. We had a B29 pilot [who] flew over Nagasaki the day after THE Bomb. I was a tank officer under Patton in North Africa and Italy. We had a prisoner of war in our class, an ex-POW, and another who was shot up pretty bad (sic) on Saipan. Going to the student center was like sitting around the American Legion Club."


Of the 17 veterinary colleges in 1948, all but two (University of Pennsylvania and Tuskegee Institute, later University) were at land-grant institutions. Most of these were located in rural areas of the country in towns or small cities such as College Station, TX; Ithaca, NY and Athens, GA. An 18th veterinary college was added at Purdue University a decade later, but no more were established until the 1970s.


(1) Middlesex University in Massachusetts operated a veterinary college  in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
(2) Veterinary colleges established between 1868 and 1920 were at: Auburn, Colorado St, Cornell, Iowa St, Kansas St, Michigan St, Ohio St, Texas A&M, U of Pennsylvania, and Washington St. Those established between 1944 and 1948 were at: Oklahoma St, Tuskegee, UC-Davis, U Georgia, U Minnesota, U Illinois, and U Missouri.


Some material for this blog first appeared in an article by Dr. Smith in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education (JVME, 38[1], pages 84-99, 2011).
Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu.

Arizona's Proposed College of Veterinary Medicine

Posted March 10, 2012
By Dr. Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Will Arizona become the 27th state to have a veterinary college? YES, according to Midwestern University's president and CEO Kathleen Goeppinger who announced this week that its Glendale campus near Phoenix has allocated $90m for a teaching facility and hospital complex and anticipates accepting its first class of 100 veterinary students in just two years.

Conventional wisdom of most practicing veterinarians in the country, especially considering the business impact associated with the downturn in the economy and the 25% growth in the number of veterinary graduates in the last decade, is that we now have an oversupply of new veterinarians entering clinical practice each year.

However, the number of Arizona residents who currently graduate each year from U.S. veterinary colleges is only about 6.5 per million population. This is in the lowest quartile of all states, and only slightly higher than neighboring New Mexico, Utah and Nevada. Similarly, the number of veterinarians per capita practicing in Arizona (also Utah and Nevada) is much less than the national average.

When it comes to the vast rural areas in Arizona, the need for veterinarians is especially acute for both livestock and companion animals. That is the theme that resonates with the administration of Midwestern University as they propose to establish a college that will accept more students from rural areas with the hope that they will eventually fill part of that critical need in the State.

Representatives of the Arizona Cattlemen's Association and the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association  (AzVMA) I spoke to yesterday see the logic but also the challenges of this strategy. They acknowledge that most veterinary graduates regardless of origin, end up in small animal practice where compensation is greater and you don't have to "drive 80 miles one way to see a sick or injured horse".  The AzVMA has not taken an official position, but will continue to be involved in the conversations with Midwestern as plans for the school take shape.

Unmet needs outside of Practice:
There is another great unmet need for veterinarians across the entire U.S., and that is in public and corporate practice. Perhaps a new veterinary college in the southwest that is developed in association with other health colleges (as at Midwestern University) can help both regionally and nationally.

Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, USPHS
Surgeon General of the United States 2002-06

This priority is recognized by a prominent U.S. physician, Rich Carmona, the former surgeon general who is running for U.S. senate for the state of Arizona. Carmona has not to my knowledge given an opinion on this nascent veterinary college.

However, when speaking with him earlier this week, he shared with me his abiding respect for veterinarians in both the public and private sphere.

"During my tenure as United States Surgeon General [2002-06], it became very apparent that veterinarians were essential elements not only to the nation's health, but also to national and global preparedness activities, and as leaders of our multidisciplinary teams.

Veterinarians were some of the most sought-after professionals by all branches of the Federal Government. Whether from traditional veterinary practice to research and development, zoonoses, emerging infectious and global health, we were always in short supply of veterinarians."

Debating the merits of establishing new veterinary colleges will continue. However, we as veterinarians must find better ways to meet the needs of underserved areas in the country as well as expand into those fields in the public and corporate sectors where our educational background in comparative medicine and our talents in working in health care teams meet critical regional and national needs.

Dr. Smith invites comments at dfs6@cornell.edu

Veterinary Euthanasia: Cultural Influences in Bangkok, Thailand

Posted December 1, 2011

Guest Author, Katherine Bibi

DVM Candidate 2015 (Cornell University)

During spring 2011, I traveled to four cities on three continents seeking to understand how various governments regulate their small animal veterinary clinics, if at all. Among my destinations was Bangkok, Thailand, where I spent an amazing two weeks working at Thonglor Pet Hospital. After arriving from Hanoi, Vietnam, where veterinary medicine was still in the early stages of development, I was unsure of what to expect in Bangkok. 

After only a few days of observing, I noticed something that astounded me: I had not seen one euthanasia procedure since my arrival. 

Thonglor Pet Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand
Photo by Author

Coming from an area in the U.S. where I was often used to seeing one or two euthanasia procedures each day, I questioned why this procedure was such a rarity.  Dr. Jakaphan Wannawong, one of the dermatologists at the Bangkok clinic, told me that he had euthanized only three pets over his entire career.

The veterinarians explained that euthanasia is rare, and there were some doctors who refused to perform it under any circumstances. The rationale was completely intertwined with their religious values and culture. The majority of the Thai people are Buddhist, and because of the value that the Buddhist religion places on life, euthanasia is avoided in the majority of cases.

The stark contrast between my experiences in the United States and Bangkok made me wonder if euthanasia is too frequently used in our culture as a “way out” rather than a last resort.  The Thai veterinarians were unwaveringly persistent in every case. For example, I saw them perform endless CPR on one dog and remove multiple tumors on a client’s hamster.

This begs the question: Does the elimination of euthanasia as a medical option compel the Thai veterinarians to provide better care and make them more determined to succeed? On the other hand, when does the value of life exceed the amount of suffering required to live such a severely compromised life?  Some patients received endless and uncertain palliative care while unable to stand and covered in pressure sores. At what point does it become important to compromise one’s beliefs and traditions for doing what may not be “acceptable”, but right?  This is a conflict that many of the Thai vets had to face.

Regardless of one’s position on euthanasia, it was obvious that Thonglor had the facilities to accommodate such extensive palliative care.  Though Thailand lacks the board certification program that exists in the U.S., the doctors’ specialty knowledge was impressive, and it was clear that each individual was motivated to learn more about his or her specific veterinary interest. This enthusiasm allowed for over 12 different specialty clinics within the Thonglor hospital, including a physical therapy clinic fitted with a hydrobath.  Though doctors informed me that Thonglor was more progressive than the average Thai clinic, I was astonished by how advanced the clinic was and how dedicated the veterinarians were to learning new procedures. 

Katherine Bibi is a first-year DVM student (Class of 2015)
at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Photo provided by Author.

Though I had originally set out on my journey to determine how governments monitor and standardize the procedures of veterinary clinics, I soon realized that I was focusing on the wrong leading authority.  It became apparent that it was the culture of each region, rather than the protocols set forth by the government, that was at the heart of each clinic’s practices. Veterinary clinics aren’t run in totality by management, by the government, or by the desires of the clients; rather, they are guided by the customs of their people. 

If we as veterinary students choose to make an impact on the veterinary world, we must first understand the cultural values that lie within its foundation.  

Dr. Mitch Kornet and A Tradition of Mentoring

Guest Blog by Michelle Pesce, Cornell DVM Class of 2012
Posted October 21, 2011

Careers for Veterinarians Series

When Mitchell Kornet took his 89-cent hamster for a six-dollar veterinary appointment in 1968, he was making an investment in a good deal more than the rodent’s well-being. Dr. Albert Drolesky’s kind attention that evening was what first led 13-year-old Mitch to direct his aptitude for science towards veterinary medicine.

The 1979 graduate of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine considers himself fortunate to have had a series of mentors throughout his education and early career. Their guidance helped him establish a successful small animal practice with loyal clientele, as well as a deep-rooted sense of benevolence towards students pursuing a career in veterinary medicine.

Dr. Mitch Kornet CVM (Cornell '79) examining
his own dog, Ferrous, at the Mid Island Animal Hospital.

As the first of his family to attend college, Mitch was apprehensive about attending Cornell as an undergraduate. After finding his footing academically in his freshman year, he sought experience in the large animal clinic as a sophomore. Dr. Lawrence Kramer, who had recently been appointed as head of the clinic, offered Mitch a job in the pharmacy dispensary and took a special interest in his development as a prospective veterinary student.

Following his first year of veterinary college, Mitch returned to the practice he had visited years before with his hamster. The new practice owner, Dr. Richard Lange, helped Mitch understand the workup on cases and also shared with him how much fun one can have being a veterinarian.

Dr. Kornet had been among the youngest students in his graduating class, and his youth was recognized by clients when he took ownership of Mid Island Animal Hospital in Hicksville, NY in 1983 at age 28.

“I received a hostile call from a client one afternoon… she proceeded to give me a list of demands that included which employees to retain and hours that I should be open. I listened carefully and was very polite. Then Mrs. Weber said, ‘and one more thing young man…..’ That didn’t sound right to me and I had to take control of the conversation – quickly. So without thinking, I said, ‘That’s enough Mrs. Weber, from now on when you address me, you will call me Dr. Young Man.’”

Mrs. Weber hung up on “Dr. Young Man” that day, but did eventually return to the practice. Mid Island Animal Hospital evolved into a busy American Animal Hospital Association-accredited small animal practice as hours were extended, emergency appointments were invited, and the employee base expanded.

In 1998, Dr. Kornet began volunteering as a member of the Long Island Veterinary Medical Association’s Disaster Preparedness Plan. A far cry from anyone's expectations, the plan was put into action following September 11th, 2001.

Mid Island Animal Hospital, Hicksville, N.Y.

In the ensuing two months, Dr. Kornet assembled teams of veterinarians and technicians who worked 12-hour shifts around the clock at veterinary triage site for search and rescue dogs. For his efforts, Dr. Kornet was honored as Long Island’s Veterinarian of the Year.

As a student in Dean Smith‘s “Versatile Profession” course in February 2010, I took great interest in his reference to Dr. Mitch Kornet, and wondered if his practice would merit a visit. I mailed him a letter and a copy of my résumé, and what followed was one of the most worthwhile summer jobs I’ve ever had, redefining my concept of a model small animal practice.

At Mid Island Animal Hospital, the greatest care and attention is provided to every patient, whether routine or unusual, and the legacy of mentorship that had  begun many years earlier was passed onto my generation of veterinary students, as well as aspiring animal health technicians.  

As Dr. Kornet reminded me: “What’s remarkable to me is that no matter what generation we are in, we are all the same. Veterinarians want to learn, do well, and be good doctors for the sake of our patients. We love animals, and we have unending energy to make the lives of our patients better. And because of the broad scope of our training we are capable of doing some extraordinary things.”

Author Michelle Pesce, Cornell's DVM Class of 2012, and Dr. Mitch Kornet '79

Michelle grew up in Massapequa, N.Y. on the southern shore of Long Island.

Strategies for Success for New Veterinary Students

Donald F. Smith and Jennifer K. Morrissey '13 (Cornell University)

Posted August 9, 2011.

When the members of the Veterinary Classes of 2015 arrive on campus during August, they should be aware that they could be facing a challenging market climate for jobs when they graduate in four years. Because of the continuing national economic slowdown, some veterinary practices have been reticent to take on new graduates to replace retiring veterinarians, and are even more hesitant to expand their staff.

But that is only part of the picture. The number of DVMs entering the market is also increasing as most colleges are expanding their class size and more veterinarians from newly-accredited foreign schools compete for slots traditionally held by graduates of the U.S. colleges. Based upon projected enrollment estimates for fall 2011, the number of students starting their DVM education this year is about 2,950, almost 25% higher than a decade ago. More than 300 additional students are enrolling in the Caribbean schools, and most will return to the U.S. to practice.

What advice do we have for veterinary students in this challenging climate?

Keep an eye on the profession as you learn how to become a veterinarian. Don’t become so immersed in your classes that you lose track of the major market forces affecting the veterinary profession. Have two sets of mentors: the faculty who teach you AND those mentors outside academia who piqued your interest in becoming a veterinarian. It is always best to be aware of both the academic and the clinical sides of the issue, and the differing opinions you hear may help you plan your future.

One of the best web sites on the latest issues affecting the profession is http://www.dvm360.com/. The AVMA’s website is also a great source of information at http://www.avma.org/. If you have a particular species of interest, joining the correlating club at your veterinary college can be very informative—often your membership includes subscriptions to helpful industry-related magazines and websites.

Use your summers wisely. The most important learning experience for first- and second-year students is often what they do during the summers. Start now to plan your summer of 2012. Use it to establish contacts, learn new skills including business management, discern the emerging trends in the profession, and if possible, earn money. Avoid the easy and comfortable job, venture into new territories to expand your vision of the profession. Instead of taking a routine job at your college, start looking this fall into the possibility for jobs in good private practices, in corporate veterinary medicine, in public health agencies, or at other veterinary colleges. Peruse your state Veterinary Medical Association’s web site, and also the AVMA’s veterinary career center.

Establish connections. Being successful requires not only professional competence but also making connections and marketing yourself in a proactive, sincere and honest manner. Take advantage of student trips to industry-related conferences and be sure to make your presence known when you attend—scout out different lecturers, introduce yourself to private practitioners, and visit the info booths where clinics may present information about externships or internships.

Help at your college’s reunions or tours so that you have the opportunity to introduce yourself to alumni and visitors. Subscribe and check websites that allow you to network with veterinarians from different areas of the country. These individuals can act as mentors and advise you during your academic career. If a guest practitioner or resident teaches a class or lab in which you have a particular interest, introduce yourself and ask them how they got to where they are today. And if you create a bond with a practitioner or mentor, be sure to send them a thank you note and stay in touch with them.

Be frugal and don’t put off thinking about your accruing educational debt. For the 90% of students who take out loans to finance their veterinary education, the tendency is often to put off thinking about the realities of pay back until closer to graduation:  the number can be so large that it begins to feel ‘unreal’. However, the better you understand the specifics of your debt as you proceed through your four years of education, the more likely you will be frugal because you know the future compounding impact of a dollar saved today on specialty coffee, or a dollar earned through a part-time job.

Enjoy the ride. Despite the realities described above, keep things in perspective. You are embarking on an educational dream of your lifetime and you are on track to fulfill these dreams. Just keep your eyes open to the greater world of veterinary medicine, as you work hard to master the academic courses and professional skills needed to earn your DVM. 

Dr. Smith and Ms. Morrissey invite comments at dfs6@cornell.edu and jkmorrissey@gmail.com, respectively.

A Veterinary Student's Externship at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Guest Blog by Jennifer Morrissey, Cornell Class of 2013

Posted July 23, 2011

Ms. Morrissey scheduled her observing externship at Johns Hopkins Hospital during the summer between her second and third year veterinary college. She has a career interest in anesthesiology.

As I walked into Johns Hopkins Hospital on my first day of a two and a half week externship in anesthesia, to say I was worried is an understatement. Was externing at a human hospital a big mistake? Was I going to learn anything that would be valid in my own veterinary career? But when I reached the office of Andrea Collins, my coordinator for the externship, I was immediately relieved—her office was in the Blalock building.

Alfred Blalock was a surgeon at Johns Hopkins in the 1940s. He and his assistant, Vivien Thomas, perfected a technique colloquially called the blue baby procedure, in which the heart vessels in the affected infants were rerouted to assist oxygenation of the blood in the lungs.

Why was this story so comforting to me? Because the surgery was developed using hundreds of dogs, and finally perfected in a dog named Anna who became so famous that her portrait hands at Johns Hopkins University. A technique similar to the one developed for Anna is still used in veterinary patients today. It is also a procedure that we study in our first-year curriculum at Cornell. The simple name of the building (Blalock) reminded me that, at the end of the day, human and veterinary medicine are one medicine.

I had the pleasure of spending the next two weeks observing and learning from some of the most diligent and instructive residents I could have imagined. Every day was a learning experience with lessons ranging from how to conduct yourself in the O.R., to airway management and, my favorite subjects as an anesthesiology geek, pharmacology and physiology. The principles were all the same. Don’t touch sterile drapes! Know how to make sure your endotracheal tube is, indeed, in the trachea. Which drugs are best for sedating a patient? Beware polarizing blockers in a patient with kidney disease. Maintain fluid volume. When should we use colloids instead of crystalloids?



Veterinary student Jennifer Morrissey recently completed
an externship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Photo courtest of Ms. Morrissey.



As I rotated among a half dozen residents, I was reminded that medicine (whether human or veterinary) medicine is not just a science, it is an art. Some rules, of course, are written in stone. But I had the opportunity to discuss differing opinions among the residents. Should I start a blood transfusion now, or wait to check the hemoglobin level? Which opiate should I administer to this patient? And there were no wrong answers; it was just a difference among artists. 

It was in these artistic details that I came to grasp some of the important differences between human and veterinary medicine. The most striking difference presented itself on the second day of the externship. While chatting with a man to ease his worry over getting an epidural block, he grabbed my hand, looked me in the eye and said, “I’m not going to wake up from this, am I?”

It may seem obvious, but it is truly striking to realize that human medicine patients can talk. I was completely unprepared for this scenario! Cornell has, of course, educated me on how to talk to animal owners and trainers, and how to project serenity while working around patients. The fact that veterinary patients cannot talk is often taken as a challenge for diagnosticians. It also makes the projection of empathy a more physical practice - a petting hand, a soothing tone.

As this man looked at me, I became fully aware of how different it must be to care for other people. How do you soothe without lying? How do you emotionally separate from someone who is so much like yourself, who can understand your words? Over the weeks, I witnessed many more humbling experiences and watched as the residents dealt with each one with grace and kindness. 

I observed many other differences while at Hopkins. The precautions and monitoring of patients is taken to a whole different level in human medicine. There are also certain drug differences that exist between the two fields, ketamine being a major example. Unlike veterinarians, physicians also have to deal with the nasty 90 degree angle of the human trachea when placing an endotracheal tube―in supine position no less! 

But at the end of the day, the warm welcome and tutoring from the residents and attending anesthesiologists made me feel like I was among colleagues. I was extremely disappointed when my externship drew to a close, but I left feeling better prepared for both the art and science of one medicine.

I want to be a Veterinarian: History of Veterinary Medicine 1940-1970.

By Donald F. Smith, Cornell University

Posted May 5, 2011



This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).

By 1940, only ten veterinary colleges in the United States remained open. Twenty others had closed since 1900, including those at Harvard, New York University, and George Washington University.

World War II created a huge need for veterinarians to serve in food inspection domestically and overseas, for development of vaccines anticipated in enemy attacks, and to accompany pack mules in combat with Japanese forces on the rugged Burma trail.

Male Studenta in Cornell's Veterinary Classes of 1943, 1944 and 1945 were members of the Army Specialized Training Progam.  Courtesy of Cornell University.

Veterinarians were in such short supply that colleges operated year-round. Dr. Morris Povar remembers the experience: Going to veterinary school during the summer was a hideous experience. The room must have been 90 degrees; no air.

After the war, hundreds of thousands of battle-weary veterans returned home and many wanted to become veterinarians, but only a handful of states had programs to educate DVMs. In Minnesota, it was the insistence of veterans with strong political ties who forced the legislature to establish a new veterinary program. In all, seven new veterinary colleges opened between 1944-48.

Glen Nelson was in the inaugural class at Minnesota. Most of us were veterans. We had a B17 pilot who was shot flying over France, a B29 pilot who flew over Nagasaki the day after THE bomb. I was a tank officer under Patten in North Africa. We had a POW, and another who was shot up pretty badly on Saipan. Going to the student center was like sitting around the American Legion Club.

Prior to 1945, only about 70 African-Americans had ever received DVM degrees, mostly from northern univerities like Iowa State, Kansas State and Cornell. But that all changed when Frederick Douglass Patterson, DVM, PhD became the third president of Tuskegee Institute and not only founded a veterinary college that continues to this day, but also was the principal force in establishing the United Negro College Fund.

Women, though sporadically admitted to veterinary colleges since 1910, were vastly underrepresented in the post war years when so many men squeezed them out of the few slots previously available.

Even through the 1960s, women were evaluated differently than men. Linda Reeve Peddie sat through her grueling interview at Cornell in 1961, They asked me if I cooked, if I sewed, if I danced. Did I date?  And then the question, ‘If you were to marry someone who had a vocation out in the desert somewhere and there weren’t any animals, just what would you do with this degree?’ I did not think there was a prayer that I would be accepted.

Fulfilling the desire to become a veterinarian is the dominant theme of my second article in a four-part series on veterinary education in the United States (1940-70). It is published in the Spring 2011 issue of the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Volume 38 (1), pages 84-99, and should be available in veterinary or medical libraries, or online services provided by these libraries.

For those how do not have access to the article and would like a copy, please contact me at the following e-mail address.

Comments are welcome at dfs6@cornell.edu

When Washington, D.C. had Two Veterinary Colleges

By Donald F. Smith, DVM, Cornell University
Posted February 12, 2011



This historical blog is in recognition of the 150th anniversary 
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (1863-2013).



After 33 years of operation and educating almost 500 veterinarians, the United States College of Veterinary Surgeons in Washington, D.C. shut its doors forever in 1927.

“The passing of the horse sounded the death knell of the veterinary profession”, was the opening line of the June 16^th 1927 article as The Washington Post announced the closure.

The other institution was the National Veterinary College, established in 1892 by Cornell University graduate, Dr. Daniel Salmon (the man credited with discovering the Salmonella organism). The college later became part of Columbian University, which was renamed George Washington University in 1904.

Which Veterinary College is Best for You?

By Dr. Donald F. Smith, Cornell University; posted February 5, 2011.

This is the time of year when members of the veterinary class of 2015 who have more than one offer of admission are making their final decision on which college to attend.

Should you choose the in-state school where tuition is lower, or the out-of-state college that has a program that better meets your academic goals? How highly do you value an established college with the enhanced career opportunities that come from a large and geographically dispersed alumni base? How important is weather, proximity to family, size of city, employment opportunities for your spouse or partner?

Here are the things that I suggest you consider.