I found the current issue (Sept. 2015) of DVM360 (formerly DVM Newsmagazine) fascinating.
The pg 30 commentary BLASTS the “distributive model” (e.g. Western University Vet School) in the title, “The rise of anti-intellectualism in veterinary education.” When “Identifying the culprits” he includes the AVMA, the Council on Education (COE), and the Assoc. of American Vet Colleges (AAVMC). Section subject headings include, “Diminishing the professions’s prestige” and “Stunting education.” The author, Robert Marshak is the former dean of two US Veterinary Schools and now retired from Penn so he can safely give his opinion. He argues for the return to the veterinary teaching hospital model as necessary for quality veterinary education.
A few pages later, the title screams, “Vet-in-a box: Is it coming?” In this article focusing on the future of the profession, Dr. Michael Paul focuses on the human model. He describes how pharmacies like Walgreens now offer primary medical care through nurse practitioners. Apparently Walgreens alone, “has provided more than 24 million patient visits in its in-store clinics with a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating.” Describing the future of veterinary medicine he concludes, “we need to redesign much of what we do and how we do it and where we do it. We must focus on the consumer and not our professional ego. We mush reshape our future or live in the past.”
Here is the real “Vet-in-a-box”. Check out this 40 sf box placed inside a pet store. A vet tech collects pet Wt, Temp, HR, and connects to a DVM via video who (with the tech holding the instruments) can remotely examine the pet’s eyes, ears, skin lesions and blood pressure. I have seen and been inside these high tech boxes, and suspect one is coming to a pet store near you.
Rolan
