Only the best for Fluffy and Scruffy

"Dottie Jo is here!" Heather Powers and her peers halt their conversation, hurry to the black white-spotted greyhound, and shower her with attention. Dottie Jo responds with a few happy wags of her tail.

As a fourth-year student at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, Ms. Powers is on duty at the university's Foster Hospital for Small Animals, a place where she gets hands-on experience with four-legged friends and their owners.

"We try to get students involved with the owners, asking them the history, going into the exam room first. Then they'll come back to us and go through the whole history and we'll see if there is anything they missed," says Elizabeth Brown, a second-year resident, who oversees several students each week.

As more pet owners treat Fluffy and Scruffy as members of their family, bringing them to the hair salon and to church services, vet schools are shifting with the times and looking beyond the traditional medical and surgical classes.

"There's no doubt that there's more emphasis on companion animals [dogs and cats] in schools," says Larry Heider, executive director of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. "That's been driven by the economics."

Although students are still examining slides under microscopes and pursuing traditional medical studies, additional skills are being taught as well: grief counseling, animal behavior, how to relate to pet owners, and team-building skills. The University of California at Davis, Cornell University, and Tufts even have pet-loss support hot lines staffed by students.

"It wasn't too many years ago where you'd be telling me about losing your cat, and I might say, 'Why don't you get another cat?' Now I wouldn't think of such a thing," says Dr. Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University's Veterinary School. "That's new for veterinary medicine.

There are full-time social workers on the floor in the clinics at University of Pennsylvania and University of Colorado. The very fact that we at least entertain grief counseling clearly reflects the human social value of animals."

The typical student in veterinary school today grew up with a pet in an urban area and knew a small-animal practitioner, so it's not surprising that 70 percent of graduates choose companion animal practice, says Mr. Heider.

The field is also expanding. Besides treating cats and dogs, veterinaries are expected to treat birds, rabbits, snakes, and reptiles. Only about 30 percent work in state and federal health departments, agriculture, the military, and teaching positions, according to the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges.

Because a majority of students choose small animal practice, this has left a significant void on the farm.

At the University of Minnesota, for instance, the percent of graduates entering either large animal or mixed animal practice has dropped from 35 percent in 1991 to 13 percent in 2003.

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