I have never cared for the phrase: “We are the #1 veterinary school in the United States.” Not because excellence should not be celebrated, but because I am not entirely sure what, precisely, is being celebrated. What does #1 veterinary school actually mean? And perhaps more importantly, what does it do for a profession that prides itself on care, diversity of practice, and service? What Are We Really Measuring? Most veterinary school rankings are built less on objective outc
Force #4: Decisions made far from the clinic floor. There was a time in academic medicine when most decisions were made within earshot. You walked down the hall. You knocked on the department chair’s door, or the hospital administrator’s door if it was a clinical issue. You talked it through. A new piece of equipment. A schedule change. A clinical protocol. A hire. It wasn’t perfect, but it was human. Decisions were made by the people closest to the work. The people who under
