The College of Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University is one of 27 vet schools in the country. Other than being a learning center, it is also a fully operational animal hospital. The dean of the vet school, John Thomson, said the “two plus two” curriculum of the CVM requires that vet students spend two years in the classroom and two years working directly with animals in the college’s clinic.
“Our students are as well prepared, or maybe better prepared than any other vet graduates to enter practice,” Thomson said.
“Vet school is difficult, but well worth it,” Tara Lesley, a second-year student of veterinary medicine, said.
“Being a vet has been a dream of mine for a long time,” Kelly Stephan, vet student, said. “I really like the program at MSU and have learned a lot using the problem-based learning system.”
The average starting salary for a vet graduate is $43,000, and after five years, that increases to $55,000, according to Barbara Coats, student affairs coordinator for the CVM.
Veterinarians earn their keep by performing an important function in society, according to Thomson. He said vets serve society by assuring the safety of food and by providing guidelines for the proper use of animal medicines.
Animals can pass on diseases to humans, and vets are often the first ones called on when a disease outbreak is eminent.
“There are over 300 different pathogens transferred between people and animals,” Thomson said.
“Veterinarians wind up being the first line of defense against West Nile virus, ebola, chronic wasting disease and mad cow disease,” Thomson said.
“Veterinary medicine provides a very unique opportunity to serve society in many ways,” Thomson said. “The professionalism they (vets) bring to the community is something you can’t measure.”
The CVM has resources student veterinarians need to become professional vets. The animal hospital in the college has cows, horses and dogs in need of medical attention. The large-animal wing of the clinic has massive chambers where horses and cows rest after surgery.
The college’s vision statement is to have an outstanding research program that addresses important animal diseases and public health concerns. The college participates in research geared toward environmental health sciences, which involves toxicology.
Other areas of research evaluate fish diseases. Thomson said there is a new vaccine for catfish that utilizes herpes by inserting antigens in the virus to deliver the vaccine. Common surgeries that the college performs include orthopedic surgeries, which Thomson said are “complicated and require specialty.”
For horses, the college routinely performs colic surgeries and major abdominal surgeries that are not easily performed by local practitioners.
The college is competitive with local veterinary clinics due to the high-tech equipment and specialists it has. A weakness of the clinic is the lack of personal interaction that clients get.
With all the resources the vet school has, Thomson said they need more money-millions of dollars-to keep up with advanced medicine.
“The cost of staying current keeps escalating,” Thomson said.
Nearly $10 million in equipment is needed to bring the CVM to the level of modern medicine.
Despite being short on funds, Thomson said he is very appreciative of the money the state Legislature has granted the college.
“In the past year, we have bought over $1 million in equipment, including radiology equipment and a diagnostic ultrasound machine,” Thomson said. “We are making some major headway.”
The college works to be a leader in veterinary medical education. The three major emphasis areas are the departments of clinical sciences, pathobiology and population medicine and basic sciences.
“They (vet students) are going to spend the first two years looking at physiology, anatomy, microbiology, immunology, embryology; you name it,” Jerald Ainsworth, department head of basic sciences, said. “Their basis for stepping off and understanding all the clinical aspects is the basic sciences-how the animal works.”
Pathobiology and population medicine is an important field in agricultural states. This emphasis area concentrates on disease surveillance and diagnosis for the purpose of ensuring animal and human health, according to department head Lanny Pace. Poultry, catfish, cattle and swine are animals that the department concentrates on.
One of the requirements of a vet school is to have a teaching hospital, according to the department head of clinical sciences, Robert Cooper Jr.
“The teaching hospital gives our students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience with surgery, anesthesia and medicine,” Cooper said.
The most popular career field for veterinarians is private practice, and the largest employer of veterinarians is the government. With the government, vets have the opportunity to work in national parks and in the nation’s rivers, lakes and oceans.
Other possible employment opportunities for students include research, industry, regulatory officials and teachers. Vets can also go on to be specialists.
Though the CVM is physically the largest college on campus, it only has 196 currently-enrolled students. With that many students enrolled, class sizes average around 50 students.
Vet students’ fourth year is an externship in which they can do anything in the field of veterinary medicine. Some students choose to bounce from one private practice to another while others study exotic animals overseas.