American Veterinary Medical Association Celebrates 150 Years, Looks Back at Evolution of the Industry

AVMA press release

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) celebrates its 150th Anniversary with top vets sharing the latest information about the veterinary profession, medical innovations, trends and tips to benefit pet lovers and their four-legged friends.

Veterinarian and AVMA member Dr. Bernadine Cruz recently spoke with Hal Abrams of Animal Radio:

Hal Abrams (HA)

 

Dr. Bernadine Cruz (BC)

HA: I understand that it’s the AVMA’s 150th anniversary.

BC: So much has changed in that 150 years, it’s been an amazing change to the profession. And it’s fun, because this is a small profession. There are only 91,000 veterinarians practicing in the United States, and there’s over a million lawyers.

HA: How many of those 91,000 are females?

BC: I know there are more females now in veterinary schools, it’s about over 50%.

HA: Now that I think about all the vets I know, most of them are females. So what are you guys doing to celebrate the 150th?

BC: The American Veterinary Medical Association over its past 150 years has really been an advocate of promoting animal health. It started off that veterinarians were taking care of horses. The number of veterinarians involved in equine medicine was 80% in 1900, but when the car came along in 1920, it was down to 10%. In 1954, about 10% of all veterinarians took care of small animals, and by 2011 over 50% were taking care of small animals. It’s changing, but veterinary medicine is still really taking care of animals, the people that take care of the animals and the world.

HA: Is it a career you’d recommend to your daughter?

BC: I’d definitely recommend it to my daughter or to my son, because there’s so much that’s going on. We know that over three-quarters of the emerging diseases are ones that affect animals and people. So veterinarians are not just taking care of the cats and dogs that we see on Animal Planet, that we talk about and that I take care of all the time, but now veterinarians are actually astronauts. They’re going into space. They’re involved in research. They’re taking care of human health and world health.

HA: I see a lot of applications for humans come from the canine world, especially medicine.

BC: There is so much research that’s being done called translational medicine: things we’re learning about in dogs and cats that we can immediately use in human medicine. For instance, you could give a mouse cancer, but if it’s naturally occurring, the disease process is much different. All animals can get cancer, but when it happens in a dog or a cat, we can treat them, we can see how they respond, and we see that bone cancer in a golden retriever is very much like bone cancer that could happen in a young human. We translate that to how it could be used in people. Animal research has really gotten to the point where we’re trying to reduce the numbers, refine what’s going on, and make sure there are ways of changing it. But sometimes you need that tissue, and when it’s naturally occurring, it’s a win-win, because we’re helping the animal and we’re helping the human.

HA: A lot of the media vets, like you, all belong to the AVMA, [which is] celebrating their 150th Anniversary. What can you find at the website, avma.org? Is it for veterinarians, or for your average pet owner?

BC: There is something for everyone. If you have questions about how to take care of your cat or dog, there will be information there. How to choose the best bunny? The information is there. They have English and Spanish, and it’s quite user-friendly. If you have young children at home that want to learn about becoming a veterinarian, there are links you can go to and find that information. It’s very public and veterinarian friendly.

For more information on the AVMA and its 150th Anniversary, visit www.avma.org.