The future of industrial veterinary medicine

摘要

Veterinarians have long been categorized into three groups: practitioners, government, and academia. The practitioners represented the majority of veterinarians. Early practitioners were referred to as horse doctors but treated other large animals and many food animals, as well. Later, as our urban population grew, and improved vaccines and pharmaceuticals became available, a segment of the veterinary population developed the specialization of pet or small animal practice. Starting with hog choleraantiserum production a small number of veterinarians moved out of the practice-government-academia divisions, becoming involved with commercial companies that produced cholera antiserum. These companies and these efforts grew and expanded into the production of vaccines and the development of human pharmaceutical products for veterinary use. Veterinarians were instrumental in those endeavors and played key roles in research, development, sales, and marketing of products for veterinary use.