Veterinary Science-opportunities ahead

Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan     

Recently Veterinary Science has acquired as one of most wanted professional courses for higher education and research across the globe. There exists huge gap between availability and requirement of Veterinary graduates in the country. Currently more than 72 percent of Veterinary Science students are girls. Admission process for Bachelor in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry is based on entrance examinations like National eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) at the State and National level. It has emerged as the launching pad for bright students in the country. Veterinary Council of India is the regulatory body of Veterinary education in India. Fifteen percent of seats coming under all India quotas in Veterinary colleges of the country are filled through NEET. 85 percent seats are filled through NEET or State level Entrance examinations. States which allocate five percent of their seats through NRI quota include Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

There are 47 Veterinary colleges including Veterinary Universities in the country. Some of the premier institutions include Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Sri Venkiteswara University, Karnataka Veterinary and Fisheries Sciences University etc. Veterinary Science graduate programme in India is of five year duration. Students who completed plus two with Physics, Chemistry and Biology can apply for the programme. The 10 semester programme includes one semester for internship.

Diverse disciplines

Students after graduation can work in Government, Academia, research institutions, Civil services (IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc), Indian Forest service cadre, Public sector or private institutions. They can also associate with private veterinary clinics, milk unions, industry, Pharma & biotech companies, Biologicals, corporates, Banks, insurance and IT enabled sector. Veterinary science has huge higher education and research prospects across the world. Developed countries like United States of America, UK, EU, Australia, etc are giving more emphasis to Veterinary Science education and research. Success rate for Veterinary Science graduates in Civil services and Indian Forest Service examination is comparatively higher when compared to other disciplines. Various disciplines for post graduation include Veterinary Physiology, Biotechnology, Anatomy, Clinical medicine, Preventive medicine, Dairy Science, Meat technology, Livestock production management, Biochemistry, molecular biology, anatomy, Microbiology, Parasitology, Animal breeding, Genetics, Animal reproduction, Veterinary Surgery, Animal nutrition, Pharmacology, laboratory animal production, animal welfare, zoo animal medicine, wild life science, Conservation, food safety, Entrepreneurship, food technology, sustainability issues, public health, Animal welfare, Veterinary nursing, trade related issues, residue monitoring, organic farming, etc.  One health’ is emerging as one of the areas for interdisciplinary research. Graduates can work in dairy, poultry and other livestock farms including food processing industries.

Entrepreneurship

Livestock and Poultry are the backbone of rural economy in India. 20 million families are involved in this sector with women involvement is around 70 percent. It contributes 6 percent of the gross National GDP and 25 percent of agriculture GDP of the country. India is the largest milk producing country in the world over the last decade and ranks third in egg production and 5th in broiler chicken production. Entrepreneurship is emerging as one of the potential areas in Veterinary science and livestock sector. During the post Covid 19 phase lot of start-ups and speciality Pet clinics are emerging in the country. Ophthalmology, orthopaedics, breeding, cardiology, internal medicine, canine medicine, nephrology etc. are emerging as some of the super speciality areas. Lot of pet animal and pet bird clinics are emerging in the country.

Quantitative analysis of the supply and demand of Veterinary manpower in India reveals that India needs 72,000 graduate veterinarians, but the current availability is only around 48,000. India has 47 veterinary colleges in the public sector and only two colleges in the private sector. India needs a total of 72,000 veterinarians, in comparison with the current availability of about 48,000 to look after huge livestock population and to fill positions in 50,000 academic, R&D, extension and field institutions. Veterinary graduates can pursue for higher education and research in English speaking countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA. They can also appear for licensing examination to acquire DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) so that they can practice as Veterinarian in developed countries. Countries like Ukraine and Singapore are offering DVM programme for international students.

(Dr.T.P.Sethumadhavan is Education and Career consultant and former Director of Entrepreneurship at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University

 

 

 

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