+ + Challenges of Veterinary + +

Medical Technology is constantly evolving. Every day new machines that allow the enhancement of medical procedures are crated. In this matter veterinary is obviously behind human medicine. Chile in particular is quite behind other countries. For example some exams have to be done abroad since laboratories here don’t have the sufficient technology.
I think the university needs to invest more money on new technologies that will allow us to improve the quality of both our diagnostics and treatments.

In terms of social matters I think Chile is still a challenged country. A lot of people here still don’t consider animals as beings with rights and animal life remains under valuated. This leads to the fact that a lot of owners opt for the euthanasia of their sick pets despite the existence of other alternatives. Animals also get abandoned very often and clandestine dog fights are still happening. Owners are also not responsible enough with theirs pets. Dogs for example usually leave their houses completely unsupervised and the fact that most of them have not been castrated only serves to increase dog population.
I think this problem is completely related to education. Children should be taught from a very young age to respect animal life, they should also learn about the responsibilities that owning a pet implies.

Our discipline also faces tremendous problems in terms of its education.
In Chile there are currently more than 20 veterinary faculties. The government does not supervise the study plan for any of them. Faculties can then teach whatever they want, and some students finish the career without the proper knowledge. These veterinarians may then prescribe inappropriate treatments to some of their patients (this actually happens a lot).
I consider that once they finish their career, veterinary students ought to present a national test that evaluates how well prepared they are. This way, veterinarians from all over the country will be required to know the same.

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