When do you anticipate supporting UVM based testbenches? Verilator is definitely very fast, and SV assertions and coverage are powerful, however the lack of native UVM will require existing ASIC teams to develop new stimulus and checkers that they already have developed.
UVM support is a high priority for us, and our current infrastructure should make it basically drop-in once it's ready. Drop me an email if you are interested (email in bio), we will be sure to let you know when it's ready! :)
(edits to fix grammar)
Having been the son of a veterinarian, I'll provide my perspective:
* Veterinarians get into their career because of their love of animals and wanting to take care of them. Working with their owners can be a positive or negative.
* They are limited by what information they can get out of their patients. Example, A dog not wagging its tail could be due to it being scared or internal pain. Dogs instinctually hide pain and will usually cry when they are by themselves. Owners do their best sharing what they know and the vet has to balance what they see, with what they hear from owners, and their experience.
* Modern vet triage relies on medical testing, especially imaging tech. 30 years ago, the vet had simple blood tests, reviewed blood samples under a microscope, XRays on film. They now have access to move advanced lab work, MRIs, etc, digital XRays They have to pay for that equipment as well as their student loans. This equipment is made by the same companies as human medical gear. It's not cheap.
* There is little money in small animal clinics. Increasing the volume of clients improves the cost to client, however no one wants to go to a vet that is rushing them in and out. Like all things, some vets have started corporations to buy up small practices and scaling out.
* There is even less money in large animal care. Vets understand they are impacting the livelyhood of their clients. Many times they have to travel to the client, can be badly injured, and/or may be working on these animals with little help.
* There is more money in specialization, this in turn reduces general practitioners. The same principles in human medicine can apply to animal medicine.
* Vet practices are being controlled more and more by for-profit corporations. This brings some efficiencies but may or may not be passed to the owners. Most vets do not want to run a practice.
* Owners want the same healthcare outcomes for their pets as themselves. This can contradict with their ability to pay. Very few people consider how expensive that puppy or kitten will be towards the end of their life. Would requiring everyone to take a class and sign an 'expected lifetime' worksheet help with this? No, it wouldn't but it would be nice if owners better understood what they were getting into.
* Pets are considered property by the state. Owners think of them as family. They do not have the same rights as people. Vets and their staff have to deal with difference.
* It's not surprising some veterinarians utilize euthanasia solution when commiting suicide. Human doctors utilize whatever pain meds they have access to and would use euthanasia solution if given access to it. Making it harder for vets to use the solution would only get in the way of doing their job. There is room for improvement here (whether its consoling, changes in regulations, etc).
* Owners under stress are not enjoyable to work with. The vet staff didn't create the situation the owner is in and has to comfort both the owner and the animal. Some owners can be downright terrible. This was one of the reasons I didn't follow in my parents footsteps.
I was listening to an interview program several months ago about suicide in veterinarians and they spent quite a bit of time talking — not all of the time, or even most of the time, but more than I thought — about takeovers of vet clinics by private equity firms. Basically they were saying that older veterinarians will get an offer from a private equity firm, sell the practice to them, and then retire early, and the stress on the remaining practitioners would go up.
It seems like this pattern might not apply everywhere (or might), that the problems are broader than the US.
