Become a Dr. Dolittle

Veterinary science involves interdisciplinary research offering multiple career paths for those who have a love for animals.

July 31, 2016 05:00 pm | Updated 05:00 pm IST

Healing touch. Photo: Special Arrangement

Healing touch. Photo: Special Arrangement

Currently, there exists a huge gap between the availability and requirement of veterinary graduates in the country. At present, 75 per cent of veterinary science students are girls. The admission process for Bachelor in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry course is through entrance examinations at the State and national level. The Veterinary Council of India is the regulatory body of veterinary education in India. Fifteen per cent of seats in veterinary colleges of the country are filled through the national-level entrance examination — All India Pre Veterinary Test. Rest 85 per cent is through State-level entrance examinations. There are a few veterinary colleges in the country which allocate five per cent of their seats through NRI quota. Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are some such States.

There are 42 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, among others.

Veterinary science graduate programmes in India are of five-year duration. Students who have completed Plus Two with physics, chemistry and biology can apply for the programme. The 10-semester programme includes one semester for internship.

Diverse disciplines After graduation, students can work as veterinarians in government, academia, civil services (IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc.), Indian Forest Service cadre, research institutions and public sector or private institutions. They can also associate with milk co-operatives, industry, pharmaceutical companies, corporate, banks, insurance and IT-enabled sector. Veterinary science has huge higher education and research prospects across the world. Developed countries such as the U.S., the U.K., EU, Australia and others are giving more importance to veterinary science research. The success rate for veterinary science graduates in civil services and Indian Forest Service examination is comparatively higher, compared to other disciplines. It has several prospective areas which include large animals, small animals and pet animal care.

Various disciplines in this field 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, wildlife science, conservation, food safety, entrepreneurship, food technology, sustainability issues, marketing, value-addition, animal welfare, veterinary nursing, trade related issues, residue monitoring, organic farming, and so on.

This sector is closely related to public health and control of zoonotic diseases. So, there are huge prospects for interdisciplinary research. Graduates can work with dairy, poultry and other livestock farms and value-addition units or industry.

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is emerging as one of the potential areas in veterinary science and startups are beginning to emerge in this sector. Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University’s Directorate of Entrepreneurship has launched a startup village to promote production of safe-to-eat livestock products and e-Vet connect for 24x7 veterinary services in the State. Several super speciality veterinary clinics are coming up in the country. Ophthalmology, orthopaedics, breeding, cardiology, internal medicine, canine medicine, nephrology and so on are emerging as some of the super speciality areas.

As part of agribusiness, livestock sector is emerging as one of the potential areas with the annual growth rate of 4.5 per cent in the country. For every one per cent growth in agriculture, livestock sector needs to grow 2.5 per cent per annum. This sector contributes one-third of the total GDP in agriculture in the country.

Food security/safety issues Livestock sector plays an important role in rural livelihood, employment and income generation. Major livestock products like milk and milk products, meat and eggs contribute around one-sixth of the calories and one-third of the proteins in the per capita food supplies of the world. Animal husbandry is the second largest economic activity of rural India. Animal husbandry is a growth engine and the annual growth rate in dairying is 5 per cent and in poultry 10 per cent. This would alleviate rural poverty and uplift the farmers. If the country has to sustain economically, the livestock sector has to be strengthened. With regard to production and consumption of milk, it is a golden era in the dairy sector. Organised sector grows more than 10 per cent per annum. Milk production is increasing in Asia and India and increasing prices are favourable to developing countries. Veterinary professionals have lots of opportunities in India. Among various livestock products, there exists a huge gap between production and consumption. Linking quality production of livestock products with lucrative incentives and popularisation of traditional products technology can facilitate quantum jump in this industry. Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, envisages food safety officers’ post for veterinary graduates.

Demand supply mismatch

A quantitative analysis of the supply and demand of veterinary manpower in India: implications for policy decisions done by P.V.K. Sasidhar (Associate Professor, School of Extension and Development Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi) and P. Gopal Reddy (Associate Dean for Research and Advanced Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, Tuskegee University, U.S.) reveals that India needs 72,000 graduate veterinarians, but the current availability is about 43,000. India has 42 veterinary colleges in the public sector and only two in the private sector.

Consequently, as in the case of education systems in medicine, engineering and management, private entrepreneurs need to be motivated to participate in veterinary education. Recently, the Government of India has started thinking on this line. India needs more veterinarians to look after the huge livestock population and to fill positions in 50,000 academic, R&D, extension and field institutions. As a career-oriented professional programme, veterinary science will assure placements to the students.

The writer is education and career consultant and director of entrepreneurship at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Pookode, Wayanad, Kerala. E-mail: tpsethu2000@gmail.com

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