Possibly a tangent, but it seems to tie into a lot of what you've said here and elsehwere:

Just yesterday I was reading this New York Times article, High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vet(erinarian)s.

What really struck me -- and I don't even own a pet -- is that a 30-year-old vet has $312,000 in student loans. Median cost of vet school is $63,000 a year for out-of-state; starting salary afterward is $45,575.

Yet more vet schools are opening, and there are shortages in areas -- but the vets can't earn a living in, say, rural Colorado.