This is Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English
Agriculture Report.
Veterinarians are a first line of defense not only for diseases that affect
animals, but also those like bird flu that can spread to humans. Animal doctors
also help protect the food supply and the agricultural economy. Diseases like
avian influenza and foot-and-mouth disease can cause huge economic losses.
In the United States, there is growing demand for veterinarians. A recent
study by the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association warns that
there could soon be a shortage. Some experts worry that there will not be enough
veterinarians specially trained to inspect animals raised for food.
The journal says half of all state and federal veterinarians are close to or
already at the age when they could retire.
In 2004, the United States had about sixty-one thousand
veterinarians. But most of them work in areas other than the care of food
animals.
Some study diseases. Some work for drug companies. And about half of all
veterinarians care for the more than one hundred million cats and dogs and other
pets that Americans keep.
To become a veterinarian, students take two years of preparatory studies in
college. They learn about animal biology and treatment of diseases.
Then, like a medical doctor, they attend four years in a college of
veterinary medicine. They work in laboratories and treatment centers and learn
to perform operations.
There are twenty-eight schools of veterinary medicine in the United States.
Three out of four of the students are women.
Currently about two thousand new veterinarians enter the job market each
year. Veterinarians must pass a test to get a license to treat animals in the
state where they want to work.
The American Veterinary Medical Association is one of the oldest groups in
the profession. It started in eighteen eighty-nine. The organization approves
schools that teach veterinary science.
The United States Department of Agriculture established
the National Veterinary Accreditation
Program in nineteen twenty-one. This program gives
veterinarians extra training. They learn to work with federal veterinarians and
state animal health officials.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written
by Mario Ritter. You can download transcripts of our reports at
voaspecialenglish.com. To send us e-mail, write to special@voanews.com. This is
Shep O'Neal.
veterinarian
:獸醫
accreditation
:鑒定資格
（來源：VOA 英語點津姍姍編輯）
