title: Demographics and career path choices of graduates from three Canadian veterinary colleges.
abstract: The classes of 2007 from the Atlantic Veterinary College, Ontario Veterinary College, and Western College of Veterinary Medicine were surveyed to determine what factors influenced the respondents' career path choices. Seventy percent (166/237) of those contacted participated in the survey of which 89.1% were female, 62.7% had an urban upbringing, and 33.0% expected to be employed in a small center (population < or = 10,000). Half (52.5%) of the respondents reported that they were interested in mixed or food animal practice at the time of entry into veterinary college, but this proportion declined to 34.2% by the time of graduation. Three factors were significantly associated with choosing a career in mixed or food animal practice: having been raised in a small center, being a male, and having a good to excellent knowledge of food animal production at the time of entry into veterinary college, as determined by a self-assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4. murray.jelinski@usask.ca
authors.forename: Murray D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jelinski
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lissemore
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002170:Canada; D002321:Career Choice; D003710:Demography; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012582:Schools, Veterinary; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018634:Veterinarians / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce