Financing veterinary education: Grabbing the bull by the horns!
THIRTY MILLION dollars! That’s the approximate cost for a Jamaican to become trained as a veterinarian in the Caribbean region. Venture to mainland USA or Europe and that figure easily doubles, unless one enjoys the benefit of citizenship which provides some relief.
It goes without saying that as ‘Veterinarians are essential workers’ then, restricted access to veterinary training is inimical to the requisite provision of services by these professionals. Ironically, in an era of unprecedented Veterinarian shortages globally, the affordability of veterinary education remains a major hurdle and many a dreams are dashed or journeys truncated when financing flounders.
Not to open a can of worms however, our own local situation needs a re-look following on the Government of Jamaica’s 2016 Cabinet Decision to discontinue subsidizing veterinary training at the University of the West Indies (UWI).
To date this decision remains in stark contrast to that of our Caribbean neighbours, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Bajan citizens receive 100% tuition coverage while Trinidad and Tobago provide 50% to 100% support to its citizens who pursue veterinary training at the University of the West Indies School of Veterinary Medicine (UWI SVM), the leading provider of veterinarians in the region.
There is an elephant in the room. The ‘enactment’ of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas is imminent and with it will come the easier and welcomed movement of CARICOM professionals intra-regionally. This avenue will make it easier for our Caribbean colleagues to practice here and vice versa but think of the inherent unfairness to Jamaicans who are not comparatively assisted by our government in accessing requisite veterinary training. This playing field is not only not level, but also a very uneven path to the finish line. As citizens of a ‘contributing country’ to University of the West Indies ( UWI), why should Jamaicans seeking to pursue veterinary training at this institution not enjoy a reasonable level of government financing as is done by other contributing countries?
While many CARICOM sixth-formers are busy as bees applying to veterinary schools, a Jamaican wishing to study veterinary medicine can only access partial boarding grant or a loan up to $2m annually from the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB). Further complicating the matter is the unavailability of a veterinary training in Jamaica, which tethers financial planning to ever fluctuating foreign currencies. In the words of current veterinary student, Keret Watts, “it is mentally taxing to not know if I am going to make it to the next level, not knowing where the money is coming from. It is challenging to have this on your head while going through this rigorous programme.” Indeed, since the ill-advised wholesale removal of the subsidy there has been a decline in the annual number of Jamaicans completing training at UWI SVM. This trend does not augur well for ensuring the vital services provided by veterinary doctors.
With the GOJ no longer providing routine clinical veterinary care, or subsidising veterinary training, or planning the establishment of a local veterinary college, there is growing need to ‘bell the cat’ and craft sustainable avenues for training veterinarians. Thankfully, our largest training provider is fully supportive. Dr Karla Georges, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), UWI, St Augustine, assures that “the SVM is willing to lobby for CARICOM countries to support veterinary education”. Added to this must be strategic financial planning by parents and industry-funded initiatives to target niche solutions.
The following are recommended as short to medium-term solutions: 1) The GOJ can consider: a. Subsidising the training of at least three suitable candidates annually, mirroring that of our CARICOM partners in Barbados and Trinidad but with the added requirement to be bonded to work in Jamaica after completion. Those who wish to ‘stare a gift horse in the mouth’ would then need to repay. As the largest single employer of veterinarians nationally, the GOJ should seek to provide formal paid externship and internship opportunities to these candidates thereby expediting their initiation to the demands of service, while allowing trainees to contribute to their training through their earnings.
b. Directing the SLB to provide full boarding grants in special consideration of veterinarians having to access training overseas; there is no veterinary college in Jamaica.
c. Reviving and exploring scholarship partnerships with other countries which have veterinary colleges and are willing to provide training to Jamaicans. It is highlighted that Cuba and Russia have been willing partners in the past and graduates remain key players in our veterinary cadre.
2) Veterinary Scholarships/ Grants should be provided by industries and agencies which rely on the expertise of veterinarians. This model has served the horse-racing industry well and should be replicated in our poultry, livestock, fishery, and tourism industries.
3) Parents/ caregivers are legally required to support their children up to age of 23 years once they are in tertiary training. As such families must plan to be the primary financiers of veterinary education.
4) Trainees must be prepared to contribute through workstudy programmes and soliciting scholarships, grants, loans, and crowdfunding.
Veterinarians are essential workers and veterinary education is essential to productive outcomes. We need to grab the bull by the horns and put the financing of veterinary education on steadier footing.