Grass is greener 
Table 3: Annual Average Private Practice and Internship Salaries and Indebtedness in Real Dollars (adjusted for inflation)
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The escalating cost of higher education is not a phenomenon unique to veterinarian medicine. Yet salaries in human medicine
and dentistry are healthier by comparison. Eight years ago, the KPMG MegaStudy reported physicians' median income at $160,000
in 1995, compared to $122,860 for dentists and $61,532 for DVM practice owners. More recent statistics compiled by the American
Medical Student Association reveal 2006 public-school graduates incurred a median debt of $119,000, and those who attended
private institutions owed $150,000. Yet mean starting salaries for general internists in 2002 totaled $124,000 and $109,000
for pediatricians — significantly higher than the starting salaries veterinarians reported earning even five years later.
Dentists, on the other hand, owed an average educational debt of $141,836 if they graduated in 2005. An American Dental Association
survey from 2006 also reveals that full-time doctors just two to four years out earned average net incomes of $133,323 a year.
Veterinarians that exclusively practiced small-animal medicine and were three years to four years out of school reported earning
median annual incomes between $70,414 and $74,027 in 2005, AVMA says. Measured against those disciplines, veterinary medicine's debt-to-income ratio does more than negatively influence a graduate's
ability to own a home, buy a practice or marry. It spills into society's collective consciousness, manifesting in a gender
imbalance, flat application numbers, lower-quality candidates and a rush of veterinary students leaving general practice for
higher earning potentials promised by specialty-board certification. Beyond tuition Still, other factors must be considered, such as lack of affordable housing and health-care costs, says Lisa Greenhill, AAVMC
associate director for diversity. "We often think of these as national issues distinct from their impact on students, but they have major consequences for them,"
she says. "DVM students have seen room-and-board costs increase almost 20 percent in the last five years. While average health-care
costs have risen for our students by just over 30 percent since 2002. We often forget that these students not only pay tuition,
but also simply live during their time in their programs." It's a concern Dr. Jim Lloyd, an associate dean at Michigan State University, says he thinks about daily. "There's no question that if this continues, there will be some economic distress, more than there is currently," he says.
"Most students don't choose veterinary medicine to get rich, and with good financial planning, there are ways to repay the
debt. Still, we have a lot of students expressing some great concerns. It's a real challenge." Blame game Lloyd attributes double-digit percentage increases in tuition to shrinking state support. Dr. Timothy Boosinger, dean of Auburn
University's veterinary medical program, adds that virtually no significant scholarships or grant programs exist for DVM students,
who, incidentally, often spend loan dollars on new cars and cable television instead of living the frugal lifestyle of older
generations. "I don't think you can blame it all on that, but it's an influencing factor," he says. "Our costs of heating and health care
also have gone up. And loans are contributing as well. It's too easy to borrow money, and I think there's an element of that
in this complex issue. Certainly, there is no simple fix."
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