Emerging issues in veterinary practice and veterinary education

1. EMERGING ISSUES IN
VETERINARY
PRACTICE AND
VETERINARY
EDUCATION
• Radhika Vaidya
• BVSc&A.H.
• DGCNCOVAS
• Palampur

2. Antibiotic resistance in veterinary
medicine

3. Veterinary use and antibiotic
resistance
 Glo bally, an e stim ate d 50 % o f all
antim icro bials se rve ve te rinary
purpo se s.
 Bacte ria that ine vitably de ve lo p
antibio tic re sistance in anim als
co m prise fo o d-bo rne patho g e ns,
o ppo rtunistic patho g e ns and
co m m e nsalbacte ria.
 The sam e antibio tic re sistance
g e ne s and g e ne transfe r
m e chanism s can be fo und in the
m icro flo ras o f anim als and

4.  Veterinary antibiotic usage as a growth
promoter or for prophylactic and therapeutic
indications is a major contribution to the
resistance scenario, as majority of these
antibiotics are also used for disease control in
humans.
 The re are clinicaland e pide m io lo g ical
e vide nce s that re sistant bacte ria o r re sistance
de te rm inants m ig ht be passe d fro m anim als to
hum ans dire ctly o r indire ctly via fo o d,
e nviro nm e nt, o r during anim alhusbandry
practice s.
 Themagnitudeof veterinaryantibiotic usageis

5. Privatisation of veterinary
services

6.  As per FAO/OIE estimates, in 1996
there were1055 PVPs in India and
there had been 200% increase in the
number of PVPs in India from 1985 to
1993.
 O IE (20 0 1 ) re po rte d that in 20 0 0 , the re
we re 1 8 0 0 PVPs in India.

7. Constraints
 Not many young veterinarians dare to
venture into the field of private practice,
especially in semi-urban and rural areas,
probably due to the unfair competition
between private and government
veterinarians.
 However, the urban areas are
increasingly offering opportunities for
younger veterinarians to venture into

8.  In1976, theNationalCommissiononAgriculture
recommendedtheGovernment of Indiato
encourageprivateveterinarypracticeby
providingsuitableincentives to theveterinarians
(GOI1976).
 However, theGovernment of India, facedwith
budgetaryconstraints, has now decidedto
encourageyoungveterinarians to start theirown
privatepracticethroughtheprovisionof agri-
clinics as envisagedinthebudget 2001-2002.
 Projects likethediversifiedagricultural support
project (UPDASP) initiatedinUttarPradeshand
financedbytheWorldBankinwhich180private

9. Current scenario
 PrivatepracticeinIndiais inthedomainof
mainlyretiredveterinarians who ventureinto
privatepracticeafterretirement fromthepublic
sector.
 Thoughprivatepracticegenerates asubstantial
amount of money,veryfew PVPs relyonit as a
solesourceof income. Privatepracticeis viewed
primarilyas anadditional sourceof income.
 Privatepractitioners aremostlyrestrictedto
urbanbelts andveryfew practiseinrural areas.

10. conclusion
 the animal health service sector may not be
fully privatized in developing countries like
India, as these services under government
provision still have a strong role.
 But, the private sector can play a
complementary role to the public sector
veterinary services by bringing in vast areas of
the country under modern veterinary health
care which are till the present date uncovered.

11. Gender shift

12. Gender shift
 Explanations that have been put
forward for the feminization of the
veterinary profession include the
following:
 (1) elimination of discrimination at
admission based on gender;
 (2) improvement in chemical restraint
for large animals;
 (3) an increase in the number of
female role models, especially in
physically challenging aspects of the
profession; and (4) the caring image
of veterinarians portrayed in books

13. Is thereaproblemwiththe
veterinaryprofessionbecoming
feminized??????
 Some say it will lead to
declining veterinary incomes
and the establishment of
practices primarily centered on
small animals.
 Others have expressed the
concern that women will not
participate fully in professional
life, including practice
ownership.

15. Women veterinarian in
india In India, it was in 1948, Madras Veterinary College at
Vepery, Chennai , opened its portal for admission to
girls for the Bachelor of Veterinary Science course.
 Dr. SakkubhaiRamachandranthe first woman Vet of
India graduated in 1952 and later assumed many
prestigious posts and retired as Scientist from IVRI,
Bangalore in 1971.
 Following her foot steps, Dr. Pushpa Ranaparkhe,
Dr. AmrithaPatel and many stalwart lady vets have
shown the way to the youngsters and at present
there has been an increase in the number of girls
preferring this profession .
 it is estimated that there are more than 3000 lady
vets in the country registered with different State
Veterinary councils of India.
 Women vets of India have formed an Association
called Indian Association of Lady Veterinarians which
was started on 2nd October 1985 at Veterinary

16. Change in agricultural practice

17.  Accordingto theDepartment forEnvironment,
FoodandRural Affairs (Defra), thegradual
declineinlivestocknumbers witnessedbythe
agricultural sectorhas beendevelopingover
recent decades (Defra, 2010).
 Agradual declineinincomefromtraditional
farmingactivities has forcedmanyfarming
businesses to diversifyinorderto remainviable.
 All of this has hadanegativeimpact onthe
veterinarycommunity, as thetrendtoward
smallerfarms withfewerlivestockand
diversifiedactivities has resultedinless demand
forveterinaryservices overall.

18. EMERGING ISSUES IN
VETERINARY
EDUCATION

19.  There is an increasing perception among many stakeholders
in the livestock sector that the graduates are not equipped
enough to face the emerging challenges and fast changing
needs of the sector.
 The graduates are generally believed to have little
appreciation of indigenous knowledge, herbal medicine,
livestock environmental interactions, participatory
techniques, farmers’ traditional wisdom etc.
 graduates in the 21st century face an increasingly
competitive and volatile employment market and it is critical
that they are equipped with skills that enable them to
maximise their full potential.

20.  In the recent past, issues like
internationalization of curriculum and global
core competencies for veterinary graduates
have been advocated
 The World Organization for Animal Health
(OIE) is working to provide guidelines and
tools to enable all countries to apply a
standardized approach to improving the
quality of veterinary education

21. Major issues in veterinary
education
Lo w Fie ld O rie ntatio n
Im balance d o rie ntatio n o f
curriculum
Alte rnate practice s and ho m e
re m e dy no t put o n the
curriculum .

22. Veterinary education in india
 Within the last decade, changes in society
have placed the VCI curriculum at the forefront
of many contemporary challenges.
 Students now need training not only in basic,
production, para-clinical and clinical aspects,
but also on issues like climate change, animal
welfare and modern biotechnological
approaches for profitable livestock production.

23.  Privatiz atio n o f Ve te rinary Educatio n and
Manpo we r Planning
 Im balance in Co urse Cre dits and Faculty Ratio
 O utdate d Mo de l, Urban Bias and Brain Drain
 Re g io nalBarrie rs

24. Conclusions and Recommended
Action Plan
 Review curriculum at least once every five years by
consulting all stakeholders for needs assessment,
quality assurance and to establish standards on par
with global norms.
 Remove overlapping course content, rearrange
courses based on prior knowledge requirements
and integrate courses by merging related
disciplines.
 Provide more practical, contextual and discovery-
based learning experiences to students for optimum
learning outcomes and to help graduates to either

25. Thank you