Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

KiaKia said:

I'm looking over the list of accredited/affiliate school and noticed that there's an affiliate school in Mexico City. I haven't seen any activity on this board about UNAM, are there any thought about this?

I do speak Spanish, so this might be a possibility for me...

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This school recently lost an appeal to gain AVMA accreditation, so it is not currently accredited. Although it has been seeking accreditation (reportedly with the assistance of Banfield), it has been controversial.

Warning: This may not be of use :]

My uncle went to this veterinary school in Mexico and actually met his wife, another vet student, there. My uncle felt that he was constantly living in the shadow of my dad ( a vet from WSU) so he didnt apply to any vet school in the USA. He got into a few international schools but decided on Mexico because he seemed to like the school the best. He went there for the full 4 years and moved back to the US only to find out he needed a few more classes before he was even allowed to practice in the USA. He did an extra year at WSU but then was a full fledged vet, and had no problems passing the Washington and Arizona boards. He is a vet in Arizona with a completely flourishing practice, that is actually doing better than my dads ( go figure :}) He loved the school, loved his experience and would not trade it for anything. He needed one extra year of classes but that might have changed by now and you might only have to pass certain tests. My uncle learned Spanish, had an awesome cultural experience and achieved his goal of becoming a vet. So my opinion, which is mostly heresy, is: Unaccredited is not the end of the world....but does make things much harder. And apply to the US schools also if you actually want to go there but dont want to apply just because you think you might not get in!! And mostly go for your dreams :]

the problem is not just the education. A huge part is banfield using them as a source of debt free cheap labor. Banfield will import them due to the national shortage of vets even though none of the vets will work in the lacking areas(rural large animal). They can then pay them the bare minimum since these students graduate with essentially no debt. And they are then tied to banfield because quitting will get them deported if they dont have a new job lined up.

Banfield could essentially import hundreds of these debt free vets a year. This could have major negative affects on the US job market where the average student graduates in excess of $130,000 in debt.

parietal said:

This school recently lost an appeal to gain AVMA accreditation, so it is not currently accredited. Although it has been seeking accreditation (reportedly with the assistance of Banfield), it has been controversial.

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Allow me to illustrate the extent of Banfield's "assistance" with UNAM's accreditation (taken from http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/may10/100515a.asp):



I apologize for the small picture (I can't find anything bigger), but if you're having trouble seeing it, that is a giant Banfield logo interspersed between the lines containing the school's name.

"The Portland, Ore.-based small animal veterinary hospital network built a full-service, 12,000-square-foot small animal teaching hospital on the school's campus, completed in 2005. The primary care facility is designed to handle a high volume of patients and offer 24-hour care. It has nine examination rooms, an in-house laboratory, and a large surgical suite.

Banfield also funded the renovation of UNAM's teaching hospital, which was developed into a specialty hospital, and a language laboratory for the school's students to learn English as a second language."

Anyone who thinks US students are going to be unaffected by this is wrong - Banfield built a school to train Mexican veterinarians and teach them English, and presumably the only reason they would need to know English is to pass the TOEFL and practice in the US. And yes, their education is paid for by the Mexican government = zero student loans. The school is not accredited at present, but Banfield is lobbying for full accreditation so the grads won't have to pass the PAVE or whatever.

Sorry, I get a little fired up about this!

And the Mexican government is paying big bucks so these folks can come to the US and work for peanuts here. It's a lose-lose situation, unless you happen to be Banfield. I don't understand why the Mexican government isn't as upset about this as American veterinary folks.

whatever you do, PLEASE don't apply to UNAM!! I am originally from Mexico City, so I am well aware of what the quality of education is like down there. Instead of taking the easy way out and getting my DVM in 4 years instead of 8 (yup, no pre-vet needed) I decided to move to the states and get the real deal.
First off, the instructors at the school are BAD- they are like those teachers who don't really care whether you learn something or not. Secondly, the school is in the middle of a terrible neighborhood. Paved roads end several miles before you hit the campus, and there is significant poverty all around. You would have to drive several hours in the oh-so-amazing Mexico City traffic in order to get from an apartment to the school. Thirdly, like people have already mentioned, the school is kinda iffy when it comes to accreditation.
The list goes on an on, but I think I'll stop now. Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll address them individually!! 🙂

I've read quite a bit about this lately. Some are concerned that Banfield is pushing for UNAM's accreditation so that they can hire veterinarians at their hospitals in Spanish-speaking locations in the US for lower salaries. This could certainly be detrimental to US graduates. Our salaries are already diluted enough. Basically Banfield has bad news written all over it, and I have vowed to never work for them.

VeganSoprano said:

And the Mexican government is paying big bucks so these folks can come to the US and work for peanuts here. It's a lose-lose situation, unless you happen to be Banfield. I don't understand why the Mexican government isn't as upset about this as American veterinary folks.

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"peanuts here"= bank there. The Mexican government has no need to be offended by this.😳

I found this article on VIN....it speaks about UNAM and how the AVMA is being scruitinized regarding accreditation of foreign vet schools....it was pretty intersting....

http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=16129

Hi
I´m a Veterinary student at UNAM, in Mexico City, and I was reading the discussion about the AVMA's accreditation to my university, it was very interesting to read different opinions about this, many of them are similar to mine, sorry if i don´t write very clear, it´s because I have many time without practicing my english, but I´d like to talk with American students about this and to try to make a good impression to you about the students in UNAM. 👍
I hope someone like to talk with me. i´ll try to tell some friends to join this forum.

mpob said:

Hi
I´m a Veterinary student at UNAM, in Mexico City, and I was reading the discussion about the AVMA's accreditation to my university, it was very interesting to read different opinions about this, many of them are similar to mine, sorry if i don´t write very clear, it´s because I have many time without practicing my english, but I´d like to talk with American students about this and to try to make a good impression to you about the students in UNAM. 👍
I hope someone like to talk with me. i´ll try to tell some friends to join this forum.

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Hi I would like to talk to you as an American that speaks fluent Spanish, I have mixed feelings about how everyone feels. In the end I believe we chose the veterinary career, to work with animals. I for one end up spending many hours translating the issues a pet may have to an owner who understands some English or not at all because the doctors only speak English. There is a huge need of bilingual doctors.

What is the difference of Ross University where 98 % of the students happens to be American, does that make them bad doctors because they study abroad?

Unam has been around for 150 yrs plus, it is a great school. Look at Western University in Pomona, you have some good doctors come out of there and some really bad ones too. I have worked with both. Just because they are accredited in USA by AVMA doesn't make it the "school" to go to.

In the end you either study, learn and practice good medicine no matter where you go. I think if there are bilingual doctors that apply to UNAM they will make a good choice. Because in the end, however you learn vet medicine no matter what college you get your degree from, will show up in your practice.

Que viva la revolucion Mexicana! Que Viva!

I seriously doubt a ton of Mexican veterinarians are going to all of a sudden get work permits to come work in the US after they graduate. Sounds like "terk ur jerbs" scare tactics to me. My father moved from Mexico to the US 40 years ago and I have several relatives who have moved here legally and without ease. My half-brother is an accomplished architect working for the State Petrol agency in Mexico and has not been able to even get temporary visas because it is much tougher now. And no, he's not the leader of some drug gang. Immigration is just plain tough.

Dr. Pion admits that he has never even visited UNAM and thinks that there are no jobs for veterinarians in Mexico, which is a load of BS. Mexico is facing hard economic times but the country still needs veterinarians for food animal and companion animal treatment. My relatives aren't rich landowners, but they aren't 3rd-world impoverished people wearing rags and I resent Dr. Pion's take on the matter without having first-hand experience at the university. If you go on to read the link you will see that he has said similar things about Tuskegee in the past.