La COVID-19 evidencia la necesidad de incrementar las competencias en economía de los estudiantes de veterinaria

The Covid-19 pandemic led to extreme control measures around the world aiming to halting the number of new infections. Non-essential activities closures and population confinement had an economic impact on the small ruminant sector, highlighting the need for veterinarians to have some skills to assess the economic impact of diseases on flocks. Firstly, this study analyzed the economic training received by the veterinary students at the Spanish faculties, also comparing it with the ones received by students of the agricultural engineering degree. Secondly, a survey in reference to the acquisition of this type of competences and its application for animal health was designed and applied for graduates and final-year veterinary students. The data showed that the ECTS taken to acquire the economic skills of veterinarians is less (3-6 ECTS in 5 years) than that of agricultural engineers (12 ECTS in 4 years). The results of the survey also showed that, although there are significant differences between graduates and students, both them are largely in agreement on the little training received to assess the impact of diseases, and on the need for an additional training after completing their studies. Therefore, these skills should be reinforced in the degree. Among the graduates, the opinion is similar, regardless of the years of professional experience.