Altenderfer ME, West MD. How Medical Students Finance Their Education: Results of a Survey of Medical and Osteopathic Students, 1963–1964. US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; 1965.
Hanson M. Average medical school debt. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://educationdata.org/average-medical-school-debt
AAMC Report reinforces mounting physician shortage. AAMC. Accessed November 2, 2021. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/press-releases/aamc-report-reinforces-mounting-physician-shortage
Greysen SR, Chen C, Mullan F. A history of medical student debt: observations and implications for the future of medical education. Acad Med. 2011;86(7):840–845.
Robert Graham Center. Specialty and geographic distribution of the physician workforce: what influences medical student & resident choices? Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.graham-center.org/dam/rgc/documents/publications-reports/monographs-books/Specialty-geography-compressed.pdf
American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges. Cost comparison tool. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.aavmc.org/becoming-a-veterinarian/funding-your-degree/cost-comparison-tool
Bain B, Ouedraogo F, Hansen C, Radich R, Salois M. 2021 AVMA Report on Economic State of the Veterinary Profession. AVMA; 2021:5.
Bain B. Employment, starting salaries, and educational indebtedness analyzed by gender for year-2020 graduates of US veterinary medical colleges. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2021;258(8):865–869.
Maccabe AT, Matchett KE, Hueston WD. The need for public-health veterinarians as seen by future employers. J Vet Med Educ. 2008;35(2):269–274.
King LJ. Veterinary medicine and public health at CDC. MMWR Suppl. 2006;55(2):7–9.
Bain B, Ouedraogo F, Hansen C, Radich R, Salois M. 2020 AVMA Economic State of the Veterinary Profession. AVMA; 2021:17.
Hansen C, Ouedraogo F, Salois M, Dutton B, Bain B. 2018 AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinarians. AVMA, 2018:26.
American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges. Funding your degree. Accessed February 10, 2022. https://www.aavmc.org/becoming-a-veterinarian/funding-your-degree
Army medical scholarships. US Army. Accessed February 4, 2022. https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/specialty-careers/health-care/amedd-scholarship.html?iom=BCX4–21-NMTFOPT1_N_PSEA_71700000088696567_700000002153587_43700067466613465_58700007498613808_military+veterinary+school&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvOPBhDXARIsAKzLQ8EbeEVGbbQmAd3LpurXlcYFYMhSxCFwTRJB9vBI8u9VKsnkih0sFeEaApF4EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Hoblet KN, Maccabe AT, Helder LE. Veterinarians in population health and public practice: meeting critical national needs. J Vet Med Educ. 2003;30(3):287–294. doi:10.3138/jvme.30.3.287
Student loan forgiveness and repayment programs. AVMA. Accessed November 12, 2021. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/personal-finance/student-loan-forgiveness-repayment-programs
Public service loan forgiveness. Debt.org. Accessed November 7, 2021. https://www.debt.org/students/public-service-loan-forgiveness
Friedman A. Why 147,000 people were rejected for student loan forgiveness. Forbes. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2020/06/02/student-loan-forgiveness-rejected/?sh=37ea471038bb
Minsky AS. First wave of borrowers gets $715 million in student loan forgiveness under new program expansion. Forbes. Accessed November 11, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2021/11/10/first-wave-of-borrowers-gets-715-million-in-student-loan-forgivenessunder-new-program-expansion/?sh=6f5eca6957e5
Bain B, Ouedraogo F, Hansen C, Salois M. 2019 AVMA Economic State of the Veterinary Profession. AVMA; 2019.
Advertisement
To determine whether career choice and starting salary of new DVM graduates in the US were associated with their educational debt accrued during veterinary school.
Up to 48,527 fourth-year students at US veterinary schools who responded to the AVMA Senior Survey in 2001 through 2021 and accepted a full-time position or advanced education opportunity.
To determine whether career choice was associated with educational debt, multiple linear regression was performed, controlling for graduation year, gender, age, marital status, having children, tuition level, and school location. The correlation between educational debt and starting salary was also determined.
On average, mean educational debt increased by $6,110 each successive year. A mean of 60.5% of respondents accepted positions in private practice (public practice, 3.3%; advanced education, 36.2%). Respondents choosing public practice had a mean of $24,913 less debt than those choosing advanced education, controlling for other factors. Respondents choosing public practice also had less debt than those choosing private practice, but debt did not differ significantly between private practice and advanced education. The correlation between educational debt and starting salary was significant but low (r = 0.177).
Findings suggested that the amount of debt incurred during veterinary school was associated with new veterinarians’ career paths. Notably, graduates with higher debt levels appeared to seek higher paying jobs or clinical training that might lead to higher paying jobs, leaving public practice—a field in which critical needs have been identified—underrepresented despite the availability of loan forgiveness programs and other incentives.