"I don't think I could do that."

"I'm just not prepared enough to do surgery."

Jeremiah Pouncy hears these words constantly from his classmates, smart, hardworking, genuinely excellent students. Pouncy is a third-year DVM student at Cornell University, and he is watching capable future veterinarians talk themselves out of the OR before they have ever really tried it. From the other side, practice owners are telling him the opposite: why can't I find a new grad who wants to get in there?

In a recent opinion piece for AAHA Trends, Pouncy argues that both groups are pointing at the wrong cause. The reluctance is not a character flaw, not a generational softness, and not a lack of ambition. It is the entirely rational response to not having done the thing before. And the reason new grads haven't done it before is that the curriculum was not built to get them there.

One Spay. Four Years. That Is the Standard.

Most vet students share essentially the same surgical experience before graduation: a cat spay in third year. At most schools, three students rotate through the roles of primary surgeon, assistant, and anesthetist. It is, as Pouncy describes it, genuinely meaningful. It is also one data point. "You don't build a skill set on a single data point," he writes.

The clinical rotation year might offer more surgical time, or it might not. A lot of fourth-year exposure still involves standing and watching. There is no consistent floor for how much hands-on surgical experience a student actually accumulates before graduating. Some students reach the end of four years having operated once. That is not a problem unique to one school or one graduating class. It is a curriculum design issue that repeats across institutions.

Neena Lynton, a third-year student at Iowa State, named the specific gap plainly: "I don't feel prepared to perform surgery after graduation without a mentor by my side. We've learned a lot of advanced surgical procedures in lecture, but our surgery handling skill and opportunity to practice those learned techniques are very limited. My confidence is linked to the opportunity to practice."

Dogs are a glaring gap within that gap. Most of the caseload in general practice is dogs. Most students graduate without having operated on one. A dog spay is not a fringe procedure. Walking out of school without having done one creates an immediate deficit in the first week of work.

The Externship Problem Is Not One Size Fits All

Students who want more can pursue externships, shadow surgeons, and find hands-on programs outside their standard curriculum. What that actually requires is a network, financial flexibility to travel unpaid, and geographic access to make it work. Not every student controls all three at once.

Programs like FARVets at Cornell offer high-volume surgical experience, including primary surgery on dog and cat spays. But not every school has an equivalent, and not every student has a travel budget. HBCUs like Tuskegee and the upcoming University of Maryland Eastern Shore veterinary school are chronically underfunded relative to peer institutions, and that shows up directly in what their students can access. The result is a system where getting more reps depends heavily on who you already knew and what you could already afford.

For students who are introverted, and a significant portion of the profession is, the externship path is even steeper. Cold-calling practices and building surgical mentor relationships requires comfort with self-promotion that does not come naturally to everyone. Pouncy, who describes himself as an extrovert, acknowledges this openly.

What Practices Can Actually Do About It

The frustration on the practice side is legitimate. Dentals drive revenue. Surgical capability is production. A new grad who can get into the OR faster earns more and, in some cases, becomes a viable succession option for a practice owner ready to step back. The interest is not unreasonable. It is practical.

But the bridge has to be built from the practice side, because the school-side floor is not high enough yet. A few things that work:

  • Surgery bootcamps before production pressure. Cy-Fair Animal Hospital runs structured hands-on ramps for new hires before anyone is expected to operate independently. That model works because it separates skill-building from revenue pressure.
  • Mentorship as structure, not atmosphere. Knowing they can scrub in with a senior vet on their first ten procedures is different from being "encouraged to ask questions."
  • Realistic job postings. If a role requires surgical readiness on day one, say so, and describe what the first ninety days of support actually look like. Candidates who need more time are not lesser candidates. They are candidates who went to a school with one surgery slot.

As Pouncy puts it, the willingness is already there on both sides. What is missing is the bridge.

Find the Right Fit for Your Team

When you are hiring a new graduate, knowing what they actually received in school matters as much as knowing what they can do on day one. Post a job on Hound and connect with candidates who are honest about where they are and ready to grow.