Career paths of alumni of the Cornell Leadership Program for Veterinary Students

Abstract

The Cornell Leadership Program at Cornell University, USA, aims to assist talented veterinary students to embark on careers in research, academia, government agencies or industry. Over 400 students have participated since the Program began in 1990 and their subsequent careers have been followed. In this study, five sources of data were analysed: application documents of the participants; audio recordings of interviews with each participant from 2000 to 2007; annual tracking records of alumni after graduating with a veterinary degree; spontaneous comments from alumni about how the Program influenced their career plans; and a list of published scientific papers by alumni. Analysis revealed that about 50 per cent of veterinary graduates were establishing themselves in careers envisaged by the Program, although many of them experienced conflicts between a vocational commitment to clinical practice and a desire to solve problems through research. Many alumni asserted that the Program had influenced their career plans, but they had difficulty in accepting that rigorous scientific training was more important in acquiring research skills than working directly on a veterinary research problem. One career of great appeal to alumni was that of veterinary translational science, in which disease mechanisms are defined through fundamental research. It is concluded from the data that there are three challenging concepts for recently qualified veterinarians aiming to advance the knowledge of animal disease: research careers are satisfying and rewarding for veterinarians; a deep understanding of the chosen field of research is needed; and a high standard of scientific training is required to become an effective veterinary scientist.

EACH year, since 1990, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, USA, has hosted a 10-week residential programme for veterinary students who are selected from universities around the world. The Cornell Leadership Program for Veterinary Students provides research experience, group workshops and career guidance for talented students who have ambitions for careers outside traditional veterinary clinical practice. From their expressed desire to advance veterinary knowledge, these individuals have the potential to be leaders of their profession. A number of Program workshops provide experience in leadership skills such as critical analysis of information, decision making, effective teamwork and planning to achieve specific goals. The nature and aims of the Program have been extensively described (Fraser and McGregor 2002, McGregor and Fraser 2002, 2006a, b).

Following the participation of 408 students over 18 years, sufficient information was available to analyse the careers pursued by Program alumni. It should be noted that, because there is no control group of non-participating veterinary students, direct statistical analysis of any influence the Program had on the subsequent careers of alumni is not possible. Nevertheless, by interpreting all available data, this report attempts to answer three main questions. What were the career paths of participants in the Program? Is there a relationship between any of the characteristics of the students selected for the Program and their subsequent career paths? Is there any evidence that the career paths of the alumni were influenced by their participation in the Program?

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five sources of data about the alumni were available for analysis. The first was information obtained from the dossiers of successful applicants (307 students from 1990 to 2003) who applied for admission to the Program. The second data set was audio recordings of structured interviews with each student in the Program from 2000 to 2007. The third data set was compiled from extensive tracking records, updated each year, for every former participant after they had graduated with a veterinary degree. The main source of this information came from responses to letters sent to each alumnus by the Program organisers, inquiring about the individual's current occupation and future plans. The fourth source of information was spontaneous comments by alumni in these response letters about experiences of the Program they believed had influenced their career plans. The careers of 307 alumni (1990 to 2003) were followed. The fifth source of information was a list of published scientific papers by Program alumni (1990 to 2006), obtained from the database of the US National Library of Medicine.

Although 307 alumni from 1990 to 2003 form the central study group, the actual number of alumni varies according to the nature of the analysis. For example, data were available for only 137 individuals 10 years after graduation, whereas information was available for 336 alumni in their first year after graduation. This information has been included in the report to emphasise the professional activities of alumni in the early years of their careers.

Application documents

When applying for a place in the Program, each student supplied: an official transcript of their academic record; up to four confidential letters of reference; a one page statement about their current career goals, and how participation in the Program would assist in achieving those goals; and a curriculum vitae. This documentation for every participant in the Program from 1990 to 2003 was reviewed by one person (D. R. F.) and the information was quantified in tabular form. The criteria assessed are listed in Table 1. A scale from 1 to 4 was used to evaluate many characteristics, with 1 being the lowest score and 4 the highest. Because much of the coding depended on the subjective assessment of one person, a number of records were also evaluated by two other people (D. D. M. and Y. T. G.) to confirm consistency in the allocation of scores.

TABLE 1.

Classification of data obtained from application documents of participants in the Cornell Leadership Program, 1990 to 2003

Characteristics assessed for each applicant	Scoring type (scoring range*)
Sex	Male or female
Age at time of Program	Age in years
Name of university – undergraduate degree	Name of university
Undergraduate grade point average	Grade point average score (1–4)
Name of university – veterinary degree	Name of university
Stage of completing veterinary degree	Stage of degree (1–4)
Veterinary grade point average	Grade point average score (1–4)
Graduate record examination	Graduate record examination score (1–4)
Academic research experience	Bachelor Honours, Masters or PhD degree (1–4)
Technical research experience	Laboratory assistant experience (1–4)
Number of publications	Publication record (1–4)
Personal achievements – sport	Sporting achievements (1–4)
Personal achievements – artistic	Artistic achievements (1–4)
Personal achievements – community service	Community service (1–4)
Personal achievements – other	Individual achievements (1–4)
Stated career goal	How specific, and training plan (1–3)
General support by letters of reference	Level of support (1–4)
Assessment of leadership potential by referee	Leadership potential (1–4)
Assessment of personality by referee	Personality score (1–4)

^*1 Modest, 2 High, 3 Very high, 4 Outstanding

Structured interviews

Each individual in the Program from 2000 to 2007 was asked a series of standard questions by one interviewer (D. R. F.) about their career ambitions and the factors that influenced them. An audio recording of each interview was made for subsequent analysis. The information from interviews of 204 students was reviewed to determine their general career goals and other characteristics at the time of their participation in the Program.

Tracking records

Information on career progression was collected for each Program alumnus every year after graduation. In many instances, this information was obtained directly from the alumni in response to letters or e-mails, inquiring about their current career activity and plans for the future. The letters often served as a mentoring aid by providing encouragement, information or advice from the Program organisers. Where direct contact was not successful, reliable information was obtained from fellow participants, family members or from internet databases. The overall success of this career tracking exercise was high, with only 10 of 307 alumni (3.3 per cent) for whom follow-up information could not be obtained. Data from the annual surveys were categorised into various career activities (Table 2) for the purpose of statistical analysis.

TABLE 2.

Occupations of Cornell Leadership Program alumni after graduating with a veterinary degree

One-year internship

Three-year residency

Graduate research student, Masters

Graduate research student, PhD

Graduate student, Master of Public Health

Postdoctoral research fellow or research assistant

Clinical fellow (no postgraduate qualification)

Academic clinician/service specialist (with postgraduate qualification)

Faculty member, tenure track

Faculty member, non-tenured

Academic tutor, temporary appointment

Government epidemiologist

Government research scientist

Government service specialist

Industrial epidemiologist

Industrial research scientist

Industrial service specialist

General clinical practice

Private speciality (discipline) practice

International veterinary practice

Exotic animal veterinarian

Aquatic animal veterinarian

Avian veterinarian

Non-veterinary activity

Non-veterinary training

Influence of the Program on career choices

Because a matched control group of veterinarians who had not participated in the Program was not available for comparison, it was, in principle, difficult to draw conclusions about whether the Program had any influence on the career choices of the alumni. Nevertheless, some indication of influence could be found in the views of alumni who attributed an impact of the Program on their career paths. These written opinions were considered in the preparation of this report.

Statistical analysis

To overcome varying follow-up periods for individual alumni, two different approaches were used. The first approach was based on contingency table analysis with a chi-squared statistical test (PROC FREQ; SAS). Different time windows after graduation (for example, five and 10 years after graduation) were created. Relationships between variable characteristics at the time of participation in the Program and career activities at the different points after graduation were investigated using contingency tables. The statistical significance of the relationships was determined by chi-squared test at an alpha level of 0.05.

The second approach was based on a survival analysis technique (PROC LIFETEST; SAS), to study the time until a certain career stage was reached (post-DVM research fellow, residency, PhD, post-PhD research fellow, faculty, government, industry, academia or practice). The advantage of the survival analysis technique was that it also allowed inclusion of those individuals who had not yet reached a career stage because the study had ended (these are considered censored observations). The analysis was stratified by attendance at a US veterinary college versus attendance at a non-US veterinary college. A 5 per cent significance level was used. The number of observations varied from study to study.

RESULTS

Study population

A total of 359 veterinary graduates had been participants in the Program during its first 16 years, from 1990 to 2005. This comprised the main study group of 307 graduates whose career paths were followed, plus 52 recent graduates, whose careers were at too early a stage for definitive analysis. The Cornell committee responsible for the selection of students ranked applicants solely on their documentary evidence of academic merit, research experience, career goals and personal leadership qualities. The basic characteristics of sex and country of origin for these participants are shown in four-year cohorts in Table 3. The ratio of males to females remained at approximately 1:2 over the 16 years. However, it is evident that the number of male students in the Program has been gradually declining, reflecting the worldwide decline in the proportion of male students enrolled in veterinary schools (American Veterinary Medical Association [AVMA] 2006). About half of the students were from the USA (52.4 per cent), with international students coming from Australia (18.1 per cent), the UK (11.1 per cent), Germany (7.5 per cent) and other countries (10.9 per cent). There has also been a gradual decrease in the ratio of US to international students.

TABLE 3.

Sex and country of origin of Cornell Leadership Program alumni, in four year cohorts

				Number (%) of students
Years	Total	Male	Female	USA	UK	Germany	Australia	Other*
1990 to 1993	74	26 (35.1)	48 (64.9)	45 (60.8)	9 (12.2)	2 (2.7)	11 (14.9)	7 (9.5)
1994 to 1997	90	29 (32.2)	61 (67.8)	48 (53.3)	6 (6.7)	2 (2.2)	18 (20.0)	16 (17.8)
1998 to 2001	91	33 (36.3)	58 (63.7)	45 (49.4)	9 (9.9)	12 (13.2)	19 (20.9)	6 (6.6)
2002 to 2005	104	30 (28.8)	74 (71.2)	50 (48.1)	16 (15.4)	11 (10.6)	17 (16.3)	10 (9.6)
Total	359	118 (32.9)	241 (67.1)	188 (52.4)	40 (11.1)	27 (7.5)	65 (18.1)	39 (10.9)

^*Other countries: Austria (1), Canada (15), Estonia (1), Mexico (1), The Netherlands (10), New Zealand (3), Poland (1), South Africa (1), South Korea (1), Spain (3) and Switzerland (2)

Characteristics of students in the Program

Information on career aspirations was obtained from recorded interviews with the 204 students who were enrolled in the Program from 2000 to 2007 (Table 4). Program participants from US veterinary schools had completed one or two years of a four-year veterinary degree. In contrast, most international students were only one or two years away from completion of a five- or six-year veterinary degree. Compared to the postgraduate DVM degree in the USA, international students enter veterinary school at undergraduate level. International students were therefore often younger, but more advanced in their veterinary training, than their American colleagues. Despite these differences, the career goals of participating US and international students were remarkably similar.

TABLE 4.

Career goals, on entry to veterinary school/at time of participation in the Cornell Leadership Program, of 204 students, 2000 to 2007

	Percentage of students
	Uncertain	General practice	Specialist practice	Research	Public health	Clinician/researcher
US students (n=84)	15.5/26.2	29.8/2.9	16.7/28.6	25.0/28.6	6.0/7.1	7.1/28.6
International students (n=120)	15.0/30.8	57.5/0	8.3/10.0	15.0/30.8	0/1.7	4.2/26.7
Total (n=204)	15.2/28.9	46.1/1.0	11.8/8.8	19.1/29.9	2.5/3.9	5.4/27.5

In agreement with a commonly held perception, most students (71.6 per cent) had a clear ambition to become veterinarians long before entry into veterinary school, and many (45.1 per cent) had aspired to this career from early childhood. So strong was the ambition to simply gain entry into veterinary school, that the type of career that these students might follow after qualifying had often received little consideration. At the start of their veterinary education, many of the students (46.1 per cent) had an expectation that they would become general practitioners (Table 4), while some aspired to become veterinary specialist practitioners (11.8 per cent). However, some students (19.1 per cent) declared that the idea of a career in research was already formed on entry into veterinary school, while others thought they would work in veterinary public health, and some had an idea that they might become both clinicians and research workers.

At the time of their participation in the Program, a greater proportion of the students (28.9 per cent) were uncertain of what their future career would be. The percentage of students who identified `research' as their career on entry to veterinary school rose slightly from 19.1 per cent to 29.9 per cent at the time of Program participation. It was also clear that general practice was no longer an expressed goal and that a higher proportion (27.5 per cent) was now attracted to the idea of combining clinical practice and research. When a workshop on `translational science' was introduced into the Program in 2005, many students focused on this concept, which encompasses animal patient care and basic hypothesis-driven research, as their favoured career path.

Comparison of personal attributes with subsequent career activities

The characteristics of the alumni, assessed from their Program application documents (Table 1), were compared with their subsequent career activities (Table 2), by contingency tables. When every career option was included in the analysis, the number of individuals in each comparison group was small; therefore, it was not surprising that significant associations were not found between the personal attributes of those in the Program and the careers they followed. In a subsequent analysis, postgraduate activities, five years after receiving a veterinary degree, were combined into just two categories: private veterinary practice; and all other non-private practice activities. Even with the larger numbers of graduates in the consolidated groups, there were still no significant associations between their personal attributes, with the exception of the stage of veterinary education at the time of participation in the Program, and their career activity five years after graduation (P=0.013). The number of individuals who were not in private practice was greater than expected (41 [32.1 expected]) and the number in private practice was lower than expected (19 [27.9 expected]), for students who had completed 75 per cent or more of their veterinary degree programme at the time of entry to the Program. This trend was not apparent in individuals who were at an earlier stage in their degree. Because students from US veterinary colleges did not participate at such a late stage in their veterinary education, the observed trend may have been a characteristic of international students rather than of veterinary students in general.

Career progression of Program alumni

The career paths of Program alumni, at five or 10 years after graduation, are shown in Fig 1. At five years after graduation with a veterinary degree, 24 per cent of the alumni were on a postgraduate degree programme (PhD, MS or MPH), whereas about 8 per were in specialist training residency positions (Fig 1a). At 10 years after graduation only 3 and 1 per cent of alumni, respectively, were either studying for a higher degree or in residency specialist training positions (Fig 1b). Evidence of career development can be seen, with the proportion of alumni in academic appointments rising from 7 per cent at five years to 23 per cent at 10 years after they had received their veterinary degree. The proportion of Program alumni in private veterinary practice increased slightly from 45 per cent at five years to 47 per cent at 10 years after graduation. This increase can be ascribed to a rise in those in specialist practice (after completing residencies) from 5 per cent at five years to 12.4 per cent at 10 years.

FIG 1.

Occupation of Cornell Leadership Program alumni (a) five and (b) 10 years after graduating with a veterinary degree

The education profile of alumni in the Program from 1990 to 2006 is shown in Fig 2. The number of individuals in each year declined as the interval between graduation and assessment increased. A total of 336 individuals included in the study had completed one year as a veterinary graduate, compared with 137 who had reached the 10th year after graduation. The maximum proportion in both residency positions (24.6 per cent) and in higher degree studentships (27 per cent) had been reached by the third year after graduation, while the highest proportion in short-term post-DVM or post-PhD research fellowships (13.8 per cent) had been reached seven years after graduation.

FIG 2.

Education profile of Cornell Leadership Program alumni for 10 years following graduation with a veterinary degree

A large proportion of alumni participated in various types of postgraduate training (Table 5). Approximately 25 per cent of alumni completed one-year internship programmes. Nearly half became specialist residents, PhD students, or both. Smaller proportions pursued Masters degrees or non-degree research.

TABLE 5.

Number of Cornell Leadership Program alumni who undertook postgraduate training, 1990 to 2006

Postgraduate training	Number of graduate alumni
Internship	100
Residency	99
MS research student	25
MPH graduate student	7
PhD research student	101
Post-PhD research fellow	26
PhD and residency	30
Total	388

Career paths stratified by attendance at US v non-US veterinary schools

Of 408 students participating in the Program over 17 years, 104 undertook at least one year of residency after graduation. Of these, 67 had attended a US veterinary school and 37 had attended a non-US veterinary school. The median time to finish a residency was five years after graduation for both groups; however, students attending US veterinary schools were more likely to complete residencies in both early and later years, compared with students from non-US veterinary schools.

A total of 103 students had completed at least one year of PhD studies after graduation; 32 of these had attended a US veterinary school and 71 had attended a non-US veterinary school. The median time to complete a PhD was six years for students from a US veterinary school, and five years for students from a non-US veterinary school. Students from non-US veterinary schools were more likely to pursue PhD studies, in both early and later years after graduation, compared with students from US veterinary schools.

Among the 40 students who became research fellows, nine had attended US veterinary schools and 31 had attended non-US veterinary schools. The median time to become a post-DVM or post-PhD research fellow was six years for both groups. Students from non-US veterinary schools were significantly more likely to do research, in both early and later years after graduation, compared with students from US veterinary schools.

Fifty-three students (25 from US veterinary schools and 28 from non-US veterinary schools) took up faculty (tenure-track or non-tenured) positions. The median time to achieve faculty status was eight years for students from US veterinary schools and nine years for students from non-US veterinary schools. There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to the time to appointment to a faculty position.

Twenty-nine students (15 from US veterinary schools and 14 from non-US veterinary schools) worked for the government at some point after graduation. However, many of these were employed in government agencies for only a short period. Those who appear to have established careers in government represent only 2 per cent of the total (Table 6). The median time to begin working for the government was four years after graduation for both groups; there were no significant differences between the groups.

TABLE 6.

Career paths of veterinary graduates, from surveys undertaken by national veterinary professional bodies, compared with Cornell Leadership Program alumni

	Percentage of graduates
Employment	USA*	UK†	Australia‡	Program alumni
Clinical practice	84.5	80	79	54
University	7.2	8	8	26
Government	2.2	13	4	2
Industry	2.8	4	–	13
Other	3.2	3	9	4
Number in survey	54,704	4504	1367	205

^*Employment and age survey of male and female AVMA members in 2003 (AVMA 2006)

^†Survey of employment in the UK veterinary profession in 2002 (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons [RCVS] 2002)

^‡Survey of 1367 veterinarians by the Australian Veterinary Association in 2000 (Heath 2001)

^–Data on veterinarians in industry was not collected (individuals in this category are included in `other')

Among the 32 students who worked in industry at some point after graduation, 12 had attended US veterinary schools and 20 had attended non-US veterinary schools. The median time to begin working in industry was six years for both groups. Students from non-US veterinary schools were significantly more likely to work in industry, at both early and later times after graduation, compared with students from US veterinary schools.

Sixty-two students (27 from US veterinary schools and 35 from non-US veterinary schools) worked in academia. The median time to start working in academia was seven years for students from US veterinary schools and nine years for students from non-US veterinary schools. Students from non-US veterinary schools were significantly more likely to work in academia at later times (that is, more than 10 years) after graduation, compared with students from US veterinary schools.

Among the 194 students who worked in practice at some point after graduation, 108 had attended a US veterinary school and 86 had attended a non-US veterinary school. The median time to begin practising was two years after graduation for both groups. Students from US veterinary schools were significantly more likely to go into practice at later times after graduation, compared with students from non-US veterinary schools.

Among a subset of alumni (n=205), there were striking differences between those from the USA and Canada, and those from other countries, with respect to career paths (Table 7). A higher proportion of students from other countries pursued academic research, academic clinical work, and work in industry, compared with those from the USA and Canada. The opposite was true for specialised and general practice.

TABLE 7.

Career paths of Cornell Leadership Program alumni, comparing North America with other participating countries

	Number (%) of alumni
Career path	USA and Canada	Other countries
Academic research	18 (14.5)	20 (24.7)
Academic clinical	7 (5.6)	9 (11.1)
Speciality practice	20 (16.1)	4 (4.9)
General practice	63 (50.8)	24 (29.6)
Government	2 (1.6)	3 (3.7)
Industry	12 (9.7)	14 (17.3)
Other	2 (1.6)	7 (8.6)
Total	124	81

Table 6 shows the general career paths of veterinary graduates from the USA, UK and Australia, and graduates who had been participants in the Program. A smaller proportion of Program alumni went into practice, while a larger proportion were affiliated with universities. However, the proportion of alumni working in industry, government agencies or in other careers promoted by the Program, were not very different from the national averages shown in Table 6.

Scientific publications of alumni

A search of the database of the US National Library of Medicine revealed that 500 scientific papers authored by alumni from the Program years of 1990 to 2006, had been published between 2002 and 2006 (Table 8). The publication rate per alumnus over this five-year period was clearly greatest for those who had participated in the early years of the Program (more than two publications per alumnus) than in those who were more recent alumni, at an earlier stage of their careers (less than one publication per alumnus). When categorised into country of origin of alumni authors, the five-year publication rate for those from the USA, Australia and combined group of other countries was about 1.1 per alumnus. However, the publication rates were higher for alumni from Germany (2.25 per alumnus) and from the UK (1.70 per alumnus). Because publications from those with PhD degrees were in the majority (64 per cent) over this five-year period, it is possible that the higher publication rates from the UK and Germany reflected a higher proportion of alumni with PhD degrees from these countries. Nevertheless, it was notable that alumni who did not have any further formal training after their veterinary degree were also publishing papers over this five-year period. Although there are no data for comparison, it seems that a total of 500 publications over five years, from a group of 386 Program alumni, indicates a higher level of scholarly activity than might be expected from veterinary graduates in general.

TABLE 8.

Publications over five years (2002 to 2006) of Cornell Leadership Program alumni, per Program year (1990 to 2006)

Program year	Total number of publications	Mean number of publications per alumnus per year
1990	56	3.50
1991	55	3.24
1992	49	2.45
1993	24	1.00
1994	50	2.38
1995	36	1.57
1996	27	1.13
1997	33	1.38
1998	20	1.05
1999	37	1.68
2000	17	0.68
2001	29	1.16
2002	15	0.60
2003	21	0.78
2004	13	0.54
2005	14	0.50
2006	4	0.14
Total	500

DISCUSSION

There were three reasons for the establishment of the Cornell Leadership Program for Veterinary Students. The first was the recognition that few veterinary graduates participate in research that aims to understand the basic mechanisms of disease in domestic animals and human beings. Although considerable research is undertaken in this broad field, much of it is conducted by scientists without veterinary qualifications. It is appropriate for such people to use their investigative skills to help solve disease problems; however, if veterinarians with good scientific training are not actively involved, it is likely that many intractable problems of disease, relevant to veterinary medicine, will not be investigated in a manner to produce improved strategies for prevention and treatment.

A second reason for establishing the Program was the observation that veterinary graduates can have a special aptitude for research. Many graduates in the basic sciences are neither trained to consider diseases in a comparative context, or to connect diverse facts and ideas in ways that enable them to formulate testable hypotheses to explain disease phenomena. Yet veterinary graduates, with their broad training in animal biology and comparative medicine, routinely use these skills as clinicians in practice. With additional scientific training, veterinary graduates can acquire the skills to define disease mechanisms at a basic level, thereby revealing new strategies for disease control.

The third justification for the Program arose from the realisation that veterinary students in general know little about veterinary careers, other than private clinical practice. The vast range of knowledge that students need to acquire, and the intensity of their training in the clinical sciences, leave little time in most veterinary curricula to inform students about the different careers that are open to them. Highly talented students in particular might choose alternative careers to private veterinary practice if they had access to skilled career guidance.

The Program aims to address these three aspects of veterinary career development by imparting knowledge that might not be obtained from other sources.

Because of the underlying research rationale, it is made clear to potential applicants that the Program seeks students who are already strongly oriented towards non-traditional veterinary pursuits, and who demonstrate in their application that they have had prior research experience. The selection process downgrades students who are simply curious about careers other than clinical practice or who might see the Program merely as an enjoyable summer activity. During their 10 weeks in residence on the Program, participating students engage in exercises aimed at reinforcing their expressed vocational ambitions. From their comments, it is clear that many students have been influenced by the Program in the way in which they envisaged their career paths. One feature of the Program that contributed to this perception was the formation of a closely knit community, in a shared residence, where every student could explore the possibility of a research career and freely discuss their ambitions with like-minded individuals. The expected outcome of this positive enhancement of pre-existing goals would be that alumni would follow careers advocated by the Program. Yet in many instances this is not what happened.

The occupation profiles of alumni, five and 10 years after graduating with a veterinary degree, show that 45 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively, were engaged in the traditional career of private clinical practice (Fig 1). Despite this, there is evidence that some alumni had gained further qualifications, with 24 per cent in training for higher degrees at five years and 25 per cent in residency training at three years after graduation (Fig 2). The proportions of Program alumni from 1990 to 2006 who had gained or were enrolled in PhD degrees (101 individuals), or who had completed or were undertaking specialist residency training (99 individuals), or both (30 individuals), were likely to be greater than those in the general population of veterinary graduates at that stage in their career development (Table 5). Furthermore, the proportion of alumni who achieved an academic appointment rose from 6 per cent to 20 per cent during the five- to 10-year period after gaining their primary veterinary qualification. Clearly some alumni realised the ambitions they expressed during their participation in the Program (Table 4).

From the tracking records of alumni, 205 individuals appeared to have established themselves in long-term careers. They included alumni who had completed residency training, or Masters or PhD degrees and who were employed in occupations where these qualifications may have had some advantage. The group also included alumni who had been in private practice for several years, without any further formal training, and who might have been expected to continue as private practitioners. Alumni who were still in training were not included, because their future career paths were still uncertain; the profile of those in long-term careers is likely to change as more alumni complete further education beyond their veterinary degree.

When the 205 alumni were divided into two groups, those from the USA and Canada, and those from all other countries, differences were seen in the proportions of alumni in various occupations. The main finding was that nearly 70 per cent of the North American alumni were in private practice compared with about a third of those from other countries. In contrast, approximately 35 per cent of alumni from outside North America had academic appointments compared with only 20 per cent of North American alumni. In addition, although the numbers were small, it appeared that a greater proportion of alumni from other countries had careers in government or industry when compared with their counterparts from North America. The reasons for these differences were not readily apparent, but contributing factors could be the longer time required to obtain a veterinary degree, the greater age, and a higher educational debt burden of North American alumni compared with those of other countries. The availability of residencies and other opportunities for advanced clinical training in North America may be additional factors that encouraged alumni from the USA and Canada to follow more traditional, practice-based careers.

When all 205 alumni in established careers were compared with data from surveys of the general veterinary populations in the USA, UK and Australia (Table 6), it appeared that a greater proportion of the Program alumni were in university appointments. The question posed was whether participation in the Program was among the factors that influenced the students' career choices.

At least six explanations can be proposed for why so many students, who were so distinctly oriented towards research, subsequently selected a traditional practice-based career.

First, the Program helped participants to find their true vocation.

Secondly, most students, even those with a strong commitment to a non-traditional career, still wished to gain some short-term experience of private practice, for the frequently stated aim of `consolidating their clinical skills'. As a consequence of positive experiences, they may have decided to make becoming a skilled practitioner their goal.

Thirdly, one of the difficulties professional people often face is the need to coordinate their career progression with that of their partner. Program alumni frequently explained their change of career path as a consequence of limited work opportunities when they had moved to meet the career objectives of their partner.

Fourthly, the debt accumulated during a veterinary degree imposes a heavy financial burden before a student's professional career has begun. Students may have abandoned their original goals in favour of a secure income from private practice.

Fifthly, a small number (13/205 alumni) who undertook postgraduate training subsequently returned to private practice. From the comments of some alumni, the absence of good mentoring could be a factor influencing why highly qualified alumni abandoned a career in which they had made considerable intellectual investment.

Finally, over the 19 years that the Program has been offered, it has become evident that the provision of guidance about veterinary research careers is no easy task. Program students often have great difficulty in accepting the relevance of basic biomedical research, encountered in the Cornell laboratories, to their veterinary interests. The viewpoint of a number of students appeared to be that if they were to be serious about a career in research, then both their research training and their subsequent research careers needed to be directly linked to problems of disease and should directly involve investigations with the animals concerned.

The concept of translational science, where specialist clinicians use their scientific training and skills to investigate problems relevant to the aetiology of animal disease, had great appeal to many Program students. However, they had difficulty grasping the distinction between the process of translational science and the use of technology as an aid in describing the natural history of disease.

In general, Program students could be characterised as having a strong interest in research careers, but with considerable uncertainty as to whether to follow this goal or that of their competing interest in applied clinical practice. It may be that, if more veterinarians are to be recruited for research, ways need to be found to help them resolve this conflict in career ambition. The Program appears to have been only partly successful in this regard.

Other studies have assessed the particular problems that veterinary graduates may face in approaching research careers. An inquiry in 1997 into veterinary research in the UK expressed concern that `undergraduate veterinary education is so focused on preparation for practice that it does not give students a proper understanding of the roles of research in advancing veterinary science' (Selborne Committee 1997). Ogilvie (1998), in advocating an increase in veterinary research in the UK, pointed out that the perception veterinarians have of their own profession must change in order to support research as an attractive career option. There have also been calls for more veterinarians to be trained with specialist skills to contribute to public health (Hoblet and others 2003, Whittington 2006) and to national security (Pritchard 2006). Therefore, there are a number of other specialised veterinary careers, as well as veterinary research, where effort is required to persuade more veterinary graduates that these are significant alternatives to private veterinary practice.

The Selborne Committee (1997) considered that a limited availability of `suitable' postdoctoral positions (that is, post-PhD positions) may result in young veterinarians with PhD qualifications abandoning their goal of pursuing research careers. Because postdoctoral positions are plentiful in most biomedical research fields, it is suggested that there might have been some restriction of the type of postdoctoral experience the PhD graduates in question had been seeking. It is possible that the suitability of postdoctoral positions was being evaluated in terms of their relevance to clinical practice.

Another investigation of veterinary research careers in the UK found that veterinarians were more likely to follow research careers if they had undertaken an intercalated research degree or had experienced a vacation research programme (such as the Program described) while still studying for their veterinary degree (Murray and others 2005b). Nevertheless, apart from the perception that research was an unattractive career path for veterinarians, the low salaries and the lack of job security of veterinary graduates in research in the UK were found to be further disincentives for the recruitment and retention of veterinary researchers (Murray and others 2005a). Comments from students on the Program in group discussions revealed similar concerns.

These reports point to the need for more research in veterinary science and for recently qualified veterinarians to be better informed about research careers. They call for a greater awareness about the personal satisfaction of such careers and about how the contributions of veterinarians to biomedical science can benefit the profession as a whole. Yet this is only part of the challenge. Perhaps an even more important message to promote is the need for prospective veterinary scientists to receive postgraduate research training of the highest quality (McGregor and Fraser 2006a). To reach their full potential as scientists, veterinary graduates need to acquire the knowledge and skills in their particular fields of interest, and to learn from leaders in biomedical discovery how to undertake scientific investigations.

Regardless of the impact of the Program on the future careers of the participating students, it seems likely that some other long-term benefits are acquired from the experience. One of the activities scheduled early in the 10-week Program is a scenario-based role-playing exercise where each student is challenged to take a leadership role without preparation and with incomplete information (Fraser and McGregor 2002). The intention of the module is to develop communication, teamwork and critical thinking skills and to promote confidence in the expression of ideas and in seeking answers to questions. Although many students are apprehensive in approaching the exercise, all report that it was enjoyable and rewarding. An immediate consequence of this experience is that students demonstrate enhanced skills in both team-work, and in preparing and delivering presentations later in the Program.

Another unforeseen outcome, but one which is repeated every year, is the creation of a closely knit community, which is maintained even after the students have dispersed to their home universities. A characteristic of this community of alumni was an eagerness to help the Program in future years, to provide guidance and advice to recent veterinary graduates seeking non-traditional careers, and to assist each other in their own career development. A mutual support network of alumni was claimed by many to be a major long-term benefit from participation in the Cornell Leadership Program.