Veterinary medicine contributes $3.3 billion to New Engla...( NORTH GRAFTON MASS. June 3 2008 Vet...),Health

NORTH GRAFTON, MASS., June 3, 2008 Veterinary medicine contributes $3.3 billion to the economies of New Englandand the region faces a shortage of as many as 658 veterinarians by 2014, according to a study released today by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

The studyundertaken by the UMass Donahue Institute and commissioned by the Cummings School, the only veterinary school in the six-state New England Regionreveals that veterinarians and associated staff comprise over 20,000 jobs in the area. Moreover, for every 100 veterinary medical jobs in the region, an additional 59 jobs are created in related industries, the study indicates.

Clinical practiceproviding medical services for household pets, farm and food animals, and exotic animalsrepresents the largest percentage ($1.1 billion, or 65 percent) of direct veterinary expenditures in New England, which total $1.72 billion. Scientific research and developmentwhich require animal health and husbandry services to test new drugs and devices and better understand animal and human healthcomprises the next-largest category, with a total of 23 percent of veterinary medicine spending and 14 percent of the industry's total employment. Laboratory animal veterinarians are responsible for the welfare of as many as 2 million laboratory animals in New England.

The study also highlights a growing critical need for veterinarians in the region. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, the study found that the region will have 1,036 vacancies for veterinarians by 2014, both through new job creation and retirement of an aging workforce. With an average of 60 percent of Cummings School graduates remaining in New England, trends suggest that 378 of the school's graduates will enter the region's workforce, leaving unfilled 658 new vacancies for veterinarians.

What's more, the study suggests that the region faces a flood of retirements among food anima
'/>"/>