Action | Elimination of restriction on practical training only in final year of veterinary school |
Stage | Final |
Comment Period | Ended on 7/27/2016 |
I strongly opppose veterinary students working on animals without the consent and/or knowledge of the pet parents. I find it hard to understand how this can be considered good medicine.. and I have personal experience with a student working on my pet, that nearly killed him. I took my dog to the emergency vet because he was unable to breathe and had bubbles of blood coming out of his mouth. The "vet" that was assigned to us didn't have a clue what was wrong but pretended that she did. I found out later that she was a student. She did many unnecessary tests on my dog, which sky rocketed the bill as well. I repeatedly asked what was wrong and she gave me a list of possiblities but clearly, didn't have a clue. When the shift changed happened, I spoke to a real vet. She asked me a few questions, and knew immediately what was going on, and saved my dog's life. The student obviously didn't have the knowledge or experience to handle this difficult situation, and had it not been for the real vet coming in, my dog would have died. It is irresponsible to allow these students to treat our pets. And of course there is always the issue of cost..the same cost is assigned to the procedures as when the regular vet does them, and in my case, as stated above, many of the procedures were unnecessary and/or inappropriate. Allowing students to treat, without supervision is not allowed in any other medical practice, and I know this because I am a medical professional. Do the right thing.. don't allow students to treat our pets.. only a licensed vet, or a student under close supervision should be allowed to practice medicine...or the quality of care and our animals, will suffer.