Dr. Donna Almondia, second-year radiology resident, gives a dog a sonogram. The number of women in the vet school has increased. PHOTO BY EMILY KAROL

“Man’s best friend” might not be so accurate a saying anymore, as an increasing number of women are pursuing careers in animal medicine.

Sheila Allen, dean of the University’s College for Veterinary Medicine, said the college’s applicant pool has been 80 percent female in recent years.

“I don’t know exactly what year it was, but I got here in ’81, and we were already approaching 50-50. Sometime in the ’80s females exceeded males,” she said.

Allen said this phenomenon might be part of a larger trend in women planning for careers in the health field.

“More and more women are attracted to many health professions — nursing, pharmacy, medicine, physician’s assistants, veterinary medicine — I could go on. I don’t know why that is. I think men and women are equally-suited for the profession,” she said. 

From her experience working in a private practice veterinary clinic, Kelly Cummings, a junior biological sciences major from Marietta, said she believes more women are attracted to veterinary medicine for the flexible hours and the increased family time a veterinarian’s schedule allows.

“Out of the five vets [at the clinic], four were women, and each vet worked about three of the six days we were open so they could be with their families,” she said. “It’s also been shown many women are

more empathetic, so maybe more of that could transfer to the animals in some way.”

Cummings said she sees more female than male students involved in her veterinary interest activities outside of the classroom, such as Forgotten Friends, a student organization dedicated to helping companion animals and raising awareness about local rescue organizations.

Andrew Durden, a junior animal science major from Loganville, recently applied to veterinary school. 

He said he sees more female students in his classes and veterinary activities.

“There’s a lot more females, but then there’s honestly a lot more females at UGA in general,” he said.

Keith Bertrand, department head for animal and dairy sciences in the College of Agriculture, said his department has seen an increase in female enrollment over the last few years — students studying animal science are also 80 percent female.

“Our undergraduate department is growing — we had 75 women in 2005 and 214 in 2009, and the men’s percentage isn’t growing as fast, but we do have more males, too,” he said. “We have a large number of students in our department planning to get into vet school and be veterinarians.”

Allen said the vet school is taking steps to equalize the gender ratio.

“We would like to see a more balanced applicant pool to reflect society in all aspects,” she said. “We are reaching out to alumni to mentor more young, talented boys in the veterinary fields. Our recruiting efforts are broad. It’s not only gender. We’d like to see more applicants from rural Georgia as well.”

The College of Veterinary Medicine does not offer any financial aid geared specifically toward male applicants.

“Our scholarships are gender-neutral,” Allen said. “Occasionally we have some for a particular region, but that’s it.”

Cummings said she believes male applicants may receive preference during the admissions process.

“They do get a little boost,” she said. “But as long as they’re qualified, I don’t think anything needs to change.” 

But Allen said that’s not so. Admissions are gender-blind, with males receiving no preference, she said. 

“They all have to be qualified,” she said. “Men have to meet the same criteria as women do.”