Ranking The Unrankable: A Veterinary Education Series. Part 6: Competence Without Competition (#594)

Do We Need Rankings at All?

After reputation surveys, global metrics, and carefully constructed formulas, we arrive at a more uncomfortable question:

What if we don’t need rankings at all?

It feels almost heretical to say it.

Rankings are so embedded in academic culture that their absence seems unimaginable.

They guide applicants, shape institutional identity, and provide a shorthand for “quality.”

But step back for a moment.

What is the fundamental purpose of a veterinary school?

The Role of Accreditation

Every accredited veterinary school, whether in the United States or internationally, must meet rigorous standards.

In the U.S., accreditation ensures that graduates are:

Eligible to sit for licensing examinations.

Competent to enter the profession.

Trained across core domains of veterinary medicine.

This is not trivial.

It is a powerful statement:

Every accredited veterinary school is, by definition, capable of producing a competent veterinarian.

And if that is true, then what exactly are rankings adding?

The Threshold vs the Hierarchy

Accreditation establishes a threshold.

Rankings impose a hierarchy.

These are fundamentally different concepts.

A threshold asks: Is this program good enough?

A hierarchy asks: Which program is better than the others?

The first protects the public.

The second satisfies our desire to compare.

The Myth of Better

We assume that a higher-ranked school produces “better” veterinarians.

But what does “better” mean?

Better diagnosticians?

Better surgeons?

Better communicators?

Better advocates for animals?

There is no single answer.

Veterinary medicine is too diverse, too contextual, too human for that.

A graduate’s effectiveness depends on:

Their interests.

Their experiences.

Their mentors.

Their resilience.

The environments in which they practice.

These cannot be ranked.

The Individual Over the Institution

A student choosing a veterinary school is not selecting a number.

They are selecting:

A learning environment.

A culture.

A set of opportunities.

For one student, the ideal school may be a large, research-intensive institution.

For another, a smaller, clinically focused program.

For yet another, the most affordable option

Rankings obscure this individuality.

They suggest that one path is inherently superior.

The Quiet Confidence of the Profession

There is something quietly reassuring about veterinary medicine.

Across the profession, there are:

Excellent clinicians from every school.

Leaders, researchers, and educators from diverse programs.

Practitioners serving communities with skill and compassion.

Excellence is not concentrated at the top of a list.

It is distributed.

Why We Hold On to Rankings

If rankings are not necessary, why do they persist?

Because they provide:

Simplicity in a complex world.

A sense of order.

A way to compare.

They reduce uncertainty.

But in doing so, they may also reduce understanding.

What If We Let Go?

Imagine a different conversation.

Instead of asking:

What is the best veterinary school?

We ask:

What kind of veterinarian do you want to become?

And then:

Which environment will help you become that?

This shifts the focus:

From institution to individual.

From hierarchy to fit,

From prestige to purpose.

A Profession Without a Podium

Veterinary medicine is not a race.

There is no finish line.

No podium.

No gold medal.

There are only:

Patients.

Clients.

Communities.

And the daily work of care.

Final Thought

Rankings attempt to impose order on something that may not need ordering.

Because in the end:

The goal of veterinary education is not to produce the “best” school.

It is to produce the "best" veterinarians.

And that is something many schools, quietly, consistently, and without fanfare, are already doing, wherever they rank!

Coming Next

Part 7: What Are We Really Measuring?

The Values Hidden Inside the Numbers

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