This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English AgricultureReport.
When people feel sick, doctors treat them. So, who treatsanimals? Veterinarians are doctors for animals. But they alsoprotect human health.
Veterinarians are the first line of defense against animaldiseases that can spread quickly. Diseases, like some kinds of birdflu, can spread to humans. Others, like foot and mouth disease,cause economic damage.
Some veterinarians in the United States inspect animals raisedfor food. Some study diseases. Others work for drug companies andmedical companies. And about half of all veterinarians care for morethan one-hundred-million cats and dogs that Americans keep forpleasure.
Becoming a veterinarian is hard work. Students take two years ofpreparatory studies in college. They must learn in the classroomabout animal biology, diseases, medicines and treatments.
Then, they attend four years in a college of veterinary medicine.There, students work in laboratories and treatment centers to gainreal experience with animal health. They also learn to performmedical operations.
There are twenty-eight schools of veterinary medicine in theUnited States. More than eight-thousand-five-hundred students studythe subject. Seventy-five percent of the students are women. Abouttwo-thousand new veterinarians enter the job market each year.
States give veterinarians official permission to treat animals. Aveterinarian must take a test to receive a license from any statewhere he or she works.
A number of groups help veterinarians. The American VeterinaryMedical Association is one of the oldest. It started ineighteen-eighty-nine. The organization officially approves schoolsthat teach veterinary science.
The Department of Agriculture established the National VeterinaryAccreditation Program in nineteen-twenty-one. The program wasdesigned to teach veterinarians how to work with federal and stateofficials supervising animals raised for food. The program givesveterinarians extra training.
Veterinarians have always been important to agriculture andpublic health. They set broken bones, treat infectious diseases,perform operations and help animals give birth. Many also areinvolved in the study of diseases that spread among animals.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Steve Ember.