As a Virginia native and one who plans to start a career here, I highly value the education in this state. By not allowing students and veterinarians to make the decisions on our abilities to be able to treat patients, you are severely negatively impacting our ability to become proficient in all skills necessary to be successful in this profession. Many students are forced to go elsewhere to gain hands-on experience and many times this results in the Commonwealth of Virginia losing very intelligent and talented veterinarians. Allowing a relationship to develop between students and mentoring veterinarians that allows the mentors to truly evaluate the students' skills, allows job opportunities to be extended, and more jobs to be accepted in this state. Lifting this regulation will have a domino effect and I truly believe will allow the Commonwealth to be nationally recognized for their veterinary community as one of talent, compatibility, and learning.