**6. Conclusions**

This chapter has considered some of the recent changes and emerging trends within the broader veterinary sector and the actual and potential impact of these on the veterinary business landscape. Focusing our discussion on three key areas: the agricultural sector, the gender shift toward a predominately female profession and the evolving veterinary educational curriculum we reviewed the relevant literatures and explored the implications involved for the veterinary business landscape. Essentially, given the dearth of research in these particular areas, our primary contribution in this chapter has been to raise awareness of the potential impact of recent changes on the broader veterinary business landscape. In so doing, we enhance understanding of the business dimension, platform concerns, and encourage debate around future potential strategies that could help alleviate the negative impact of some of the changes we have discussed. This is important, given that little by way of concerted academic attention has been paid to the business dimension of the broader veterinary sector.

We demonstrated that the above changes have created an extremely dynamic and highly competitive veterinary business landscape. In the first instance, changes to the agricultural sector have had a significant negative impact on farm animal veterinary businesses, with fewer 'patients' for farm animal vets. Rural veterinary service providers will have to rethink their service offering and, possibly, diversify to ensure business viability in what is essentially a declining but still competitive marketplace. To some degree, this parallels the measures that farming clients have had to implement in order to sustain their own farm business. Undoubtedly, in the future, we will see significantly fewer farming enterprises and fewer farm animal veterinary practices in the veterinary business landscape. However, those farm animal veterinary service providers remaining in the sector will be offering a much more holistic service much more aligned to the changing needs of their farming clients.

The gender shift toward a predominately female veterinary profession will, as highlighted above, have a considerable impact on the veterinary business landscape. This area, however, has been particularly slow to gain attention in the literature and now requires urgent action if some of the potential negative impacts outlined in the earlier part of our chapter are to be avoided. The impact of career breaks, maternity leave, lower pay and, potentially, a continued trend toward companion animal care only, all suggest a future veterinary business landscape that fails to appropriately cater for farm animal, exotic species or specialist services and procedures. Furthermore, if women make up the majority of the veterinary workforce in the future, then their needs, working behaviours and career aspirations will need to be appropriately catered for and managed. This will have to lead to the introduction of new, more family-friendly working practices. In addition, if, as our discussion suggests, women remain less likely to pursue business leadership roles, then the veterinary business landscape will be 'stocked' with corporate enterprises managed, very possibly, by non-veterinary business managers. While further exploration is clearly needed, this could potentially be detrimental for the veterinary profession as a whole.

With regard to the veterinary curriculum, while the case for business and entrepreneurship education within veterinary medicine has never been stronger, the challenge now for educationalists is to figure out *what* exactly should be taught and *how* best to teach it. In what is already a crowded curriculum with large student groups to cater for, prioritizing the business and enterprise agenda over the more clinical topics or 'ologies' (i.e. immunology, pathology, epidemiology, etc) is not an easy task. Given all the changes that are taking place in the broader veterinary sector, we argue the case for including the full spectrum of business and entrepreneurship education - 'enterprise skills for life', core elements of 'practice management' and opportunities for 'new venture creation' within the five-year veterinary medicine degree programme. Given that relatively few graduates work outside the pure practice wing of the profession, the opportunities to encourage entrepreneurship are significant. Indeed, while a full discussion on this particular topic is outside the scope of this chapter, the potential for innovation and new venture creation in the context of commercialisation of veterinary clinical research, development of new drugs and treatments, and the creation of new products and services for supply to veterinary practices to date has not been fully explored. Developments in these areas could only serve to enhance the veterinary business landscape in the future.

#### **6.1 Future research**

12 A Bird's-Eye View of Veterinary Medicine

This chapter has considered some of the recent changes and emerging trends within the broader veterinary sector and the actual and potential impact of these on the veterinary business landscape. Focusing our discussion on three key areas: the agricultural sector, the gender shift toward a predominately female profession and the evolving veterinary educational curriculum we reviewed the relevant literatures and explored the implications involved for the veterinary business landscape. Essentially, given the dearth of research in these particular areas, our primary contribution in this chapter has been to raise awareness of the potential impact of recent changes on the broader veterinary business landscape. In so doing, we enhance understanding of the business dimension, platform concerns, and encourage debate around future potential strategies that could help alleviate the negative impact of some of the changes we have discussed. This is important, given that little by way of concerted academic attention has been paid to the business dimension of the broader

We demonstrated that the above changes have created an extremely dynamic and highly competitive veterinary business landscape. In the first instance, changes to the agricultural sector have had a significant negative impact on farm animal veterinary businesses, with fewer 'patients' for farm animal vets. Rural veterinary service providers will have to rethink their service offering and, possibly, diversify to ensure business viability in what is essentially a declining but still competitive marketplace. To some degree, this parallels the measures that farming clients have had to implement in order to sustain their own farm business. Undoubtedly, in the future, we will see significantly fewer farming enterprises and fewer farm animal veterinary practices in the veterinary business landscape. However, those farm animal veterinary service providers remaining in the sector will be offering a much more holistic service much more aligned to the

The gender shift toward a predominately female veterinary profession will, as highlighted above, have a considerable impact on the veterinary business landscape. This area, however, has been particularly slow to gain attention in the literature and now requires urgent action if some of the potential negative impacts outlined in the earlier part of our chapter are to be avoided. The impact of career breaks, maternity leave, lower pay and, potentially, a continued trend toward companion animal care only, all suggest a future veterinary business landscape that fails to appropriately cater for farm animal, exotic species or specialist services and procedures. Furthermore, if women make up the majority of the veterinary workforce in the future, then their needs, working behaviours and career aspirations will need to be appropriately catered for and managed. This will have to lead to the introduction of new, more family-friendly working practices. In addition, if, as our discussion suggests, women remain less likely to pursue business leadership roles, then the veterinary business landscape will be 'stocked' with corporate enterprises managed, very possibly, by non-veterinary business managers. While further exploration is clearly needed,

this could potentially be detrimental for the veterinary profession as a whole.

With regard to the veterinary curriculum, while the case for business and entrepreneurship education within veterinary medicine has never been stronger, the challenge now for educationalists is to figure out *what* exactly should be taught and *how* best to teach it. In

**6. Conclusions** 

veterinary sector.

changing needs of their farming clients.

Looking to the future, collaboration and partnership arrangements amongst veterinary service and education providers, both nationally and internationally, is likely to offer considerable mutual benefit for all those involved in the veterinary sector. In this regard, future research should consider how such partnerships might be encouraged and where they might be most beneficial. In addition, and with specific regard to the gender shift, future research should focus on increasing the business leadership and entrepreneurial intentions of female veterinary students. This is particularly important if the veterinary business landscape is to continue to include practices led by veterinary professionals. Finally, from our discussion in this chapter, we posit that there is considerable potential within veterinary educational curricula to enhance students' understanding of the business dimension of the veterinary sector, to ensure they are fully aware of the changes taking place within the sector and how these will impact on the veterinary businesses in which they will work in the future. In this regard, the evolving veterinary educational curriculum needs to continue its trend toward a business orientation.

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**1. Introduction** 

**2** 

Annett Heise

*South Africa* 

*University of Pretoria* 

**Artificial Insemination** 

**in Veterinary Science** 

Artificial insemination (AI) is widely used by veterinarians and veterinary specialists in most domestic as well as wild animal species. Reasons for use of AI instead of natural matings are diverse and different for individual species. As in humans, AI can be used as a tool to increase conception rate in animals that have fertility problems. This is usually performed in companion animals, like horses and dogs, where individuals are important as breeding animals. In these cases, breeding animals are mostly chosen for performance and pedigree instead of breeding soundness. Breeders go through a lot of effort to produce offspring of a

In production animals, AI is a way to increase reproductive efficiency and production. AI has proven to be a very effective reproductive technology that selectively increases genetic gain through increased selection pressure on males. In Holstein cattle, for example, AI supported selection for the milk production trait and within 40 years milk production has nearly doubled. Farm animals, males as well as females, are usually chosen for breeding programs based on breeding soundness examinations (BSEs). These BSEs determine suitability and likelihood of females or males to participate successfully in breeding programs. Animals that do not fulfill certain criteria are identified. These "problem" animals are excluded from insemination programs. Estrus cycles of females can be manipulated to institute efficient insemination programs. With the use of these estrus synchronization programs, large groups of females can be inseminated at the same time. This does not only have the advantage of concentrating work on specific days during breeding, but will ultimately also simplify the herd management before and after the offspring are born. Group feeding of pregnant animals, partus observation, vaccination programs for calves and tail docking of lambs are just a few examples of improved herd management areas

Another reason for AI is to ensure effective use of semen. An increased number of offspring from a superior sire can be produced when AI is employed. For example, a stallion's ejaculate can be sufficient to inseminate 5-10 mares at the same time when split into doses instead of one live cover on a mare. Ram ejaculates can also be split into up to 15 fresh AI doses. Freezing bull semen can provide up to 200 straws of frozen semen from one ejaculate, equaling 200 AI doses. Overuse of males is prevented and commercial distribution

specific female or male animal irrespective of potential reproductive problems.

through the group effect achieved through AI.

*Faculty of Veterinary Science* 

