Insights into the Future Generation of Veterinarians: Perspectives Gained From the 13- and 14-Year-Olds Who Attended Michigan State University’s Veterinary Camp, and Conclusions about Our Obligations

Veterinary medicine is at a crossroads: the future of the profession will be determined by those who join it and by those who select who will join it. Veterinary schools are the gatekeepers of the profession, and the entire veterinary profession is responsible for ensuring that the image it presents to those who will join it matches the social needs that it must serve. The application process for a Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine (MSUCVM) academic summer camp provided an opportunity to discern attributes of the 314 eighth-grade students who attended in 2000-2002. A re-reading of their application essays allowed clustering of similar descriptions and comments about motivations to attend the camp, interests in science, interactions with animals, and exposure to veterinarians and veterinary medicine. Many veterinary camp attendees will be undergraduate students by 2005/2006 and will be applying to colleges of veterinary medicine between 2008 and 2010. There-fore, an understanding of their attributes is germane to discussions about desirable characteristics of veterinary college applicants. Although the camp was designed to attract eighth graders interested in science and curious about veterinary medicine, attendees frequently described veterinary medicine as their career goal. These students (89.5% female, 95.6% residents of Michigan) enjoyed science, but their interest in veterinary medicine related to emotions such as a love of animals and sympathy for sick or injured animals (96.1%). They discussed having pets in their homes (75.5%), involvement with horseback riding (20.7%), experiences with animal-related projects and activities in 4-H (17.2%), and husbandry experience at farms or stables (16.2%). Although 22.6% had already shadowed a veterinarian and 12.8% described receiving other forms of veterinary mentoring, 22.9% commented on their inability to gain shadowing exposures prior to age 16. Based on the results of this survey and years of working with adolescents interested in veterinary medicine, the author offers conclusions about mentoring youth with an interest in veterinary careers.