AVMA commits $200,000 to manpower study

SCHAUMBURG, ILL. — The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) allocated $200,000 to a study designed to explore veterinary medicine's labor force as well as future societal needs.

The National Academies Manpower Study also is projected to bolster the Veterinary Workforce Expansion Act, which lingers in Congress. AVMA's donation, approved by Executive Board members last month, matches a contribution by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, which also promises to raise the remaining funds needed for the $608,000 project.

The results, slated for release in 2008, likely will provide concrete data that shows the nation's 28 veterinary institutions aren't equipped to output more graduates. Such information is needed to boost support for the expansion act, which seeks $1.5 billion during the next 10 years to expand infrastructure at the nation's veterinary institutions via competitive grant programs. It also calls for creating a new institute at the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Comparative Medicine, and would authorize a competitive grants to be administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for building veterinary education infrastructure.

"If we're really serious about getting any federal funding for the manpower shortage, we need some scientific proof of a shortage for Congress to buy into it," Executive Board Chairman Dr. Bud Hertzog says.