Buffalo, NY — Another New Vet School?

I was pretty astonished reading news articles that reported plans to open a new veterinary school in Buffalo, New York in coming years.

I am a former New Yorker, and I cannot truly understand why they would want to open a veterinary school in Buffalo – isn’t Ithaca cold and snowy enough? All jokes aside, I genuinely wonder whether there is really going to be a demanding enough caseload in Buffalo to support a diverse and quality education in veterinary medicine? I am skeptical. Aside from that, there is the more obvious issue – the fact that there aren’t enough job openings for veterinarians or growth in the field to support new school openings. Keep in mind that we are also expecting a new veterinary school to open in Arizona in the next few years in addition to existing schools expanding their current enrollment to allow more students to attend each year. As much as I would like to see each and every person who wants to become a veterinarian have their dream come true, there is an economic component to this that we must not overlook. Students are going into an overwhelming amount of debt to receive a doctorate in veterinary medicine only to face the prospect of not having a job to help pay that debt back. Even if graduates do find jobs, the pay isn’t sufficient to make loan repayment easy.

Here are some articles about the new veterinary school that is hoping to open in Buffalo, New York:

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/buffalo/former-gates-hospital-to-be-vet-school

http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/Whats-the-Need-for-a-Vet-School-in-Buffalo-168890946.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/blog/miner-business/2012/09/vet-schools-such-relative-few.html

My favorite quote from the last article, “Note, though, that demand for veterinary education doesn’t necessarily mean demand for veterinarians.”

Well said.