Veterinary colleges build educational pipelines to food animal, rural medicine

Many rural communities across America responsible for producing the livestock that feed the country need for more food animal and public health veterinarians.

Addressing this challenge requires effective strategies for attracting and retaining veterinarians in rural and food animal practices. One major reason boils down to this: Most U.S. veterinary students have their sights set on a career caring for cats, dogs, and other pets-not animals destined to enter the food supply.

Data from the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) over the past few years show about 20% of first-year students come from rural backgrounds. A similar percentage express interest in rural practice.

All veterinary colleges are recruiting students interested in food animal and rural medicine, says Lisa Greenhill, EdD, chief diversity officer for the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges. (Courtesy of American Association of Bovine Practitioners)

Yet, smaller percentages of veterinary graduates actually pursue rural veterinary practice, which includes production animal, equine, and mixed animal veterinarians, all of whom play vital roles in strengthening the rural veterinary workforce.

Among the Class of 2024, approximately 3.3% entered food animal exclusive practice, 9.6% pursued mixed animal practice, and 5.9% entered into equine practice as either associates or interns, according to data presented at the 2024 AVMA Veterinary Business and Economic Forum by Dr. Chris Doherty, AVMA assistant director of strategic business research and outreach.

Getting rural experience

Veterinary colleges are employing a variety of strategies to support the future rural and food animal veterinary workforce. One notable example is Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine, which will graduate its inaugural class in the spring of 2025. Located in Amarillo, Texas, the veterinary school was established for the express purpose of graduating veterinarians trained and educated to work in rural America.

"We take this seriously, and it has informed all that we do," said Dr. Guy Loneragan, dean of Texas Tech's veterinary school.

For example, Texas Tech recruits and admits students who can demonstrate "deep life experiences" in rural and regional communities.

"This is far more than 'I want to be a rural veterinarian,'" Dr. Loneragan explained. "Successful applicants have shown through their accumulated life experiences that they know how smaller communities work, the diverse roles of veterinarians in smaller communities, and that they understand the profession."

Texas Tech's veterinary curriculum focuses on veterinary practice in rural and regional communities, meaning that in many situations, students have to practice far from referral centers.

"An example of this is that in the first week of first semester, we assign every student a handheld ultrasound device," Dr. Loneragan said. "They take it home, to labs, et cetera, for the next four years. We want them to be at a point that an ultrasound is a natural extension of the diagnostic toolbox.

"More broadly, we have fully embraced the AAVMC competency-based veterinary education framework and designed our four-year curriculum around it. And lastly, our clinical year is in the context of rural and regional communities. Students spend most of their time in four-week rotations in a select set of practices that serve these communities."

Creative solutions

Texas Tech is not alone in its work, according to Lisa Greenhill, EdD, chief diversity officer for the AAVMC, as all veterinary colleges are recruiting students interested in food animal and rural medicine.

"They do this in a variety of ways, including participating in national organizations, such as Future Farmers of America and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences, as well as local and state-orientated programs," Greenhill said.

Earlier this year, Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine and Louisiana State University of Alexandria (LSUA) announced a partnership in which up to 10 LSUA graduates can achieve early admission to the veterinary school each year, provided they meet specific eligibility criteria focused on rural and agricultural commitment.

Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine demonstrated its commitment to animal agriculture with the July opening of a $4.3 million state-of-the-art food animal section in the school's large animal hospital. (Courtesy of LSU)

"We recognize that there are certain parishes in our state that have very few or no veterinarians, least of all veterinarians in food animal and equine practice," said Dr. Oliver Garden, dean of LSU's veterinary school. "Food animal veterinarians are essential in securing our food supply, in pandemic preparedness, in all sorts of One Health considerations, so we recognize the need in our state."

LSU's veterinary school, like many others, has also completely re-envisioned the way it does admissions.

"We now have a much more broad-based, holistic approach in which, of course, academic rigor is taken into account, but life experience is also considered," Dr. Garden explained. "And we absolutely encourage those from rural backgrounds with food animal or equine interest to apply because we know that they are needed."

North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine launched this summer its Randall B. Terry Jr. Rural Veterinary Scholars Program.

The 10-week program provides six, second- and third-year veterinary students with individualized mentorship and hands-on experience working in large and production animal medicine. Students spend several weeks at up to three rural practices, mostly located in federally designated veterinary shortage areas.

Maintaining the pipeline

Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine recently instituted its Production Animal-Veterinary Early Acceptance Program (PA-VEAP) to prepare students early in their academic career, during their second semester as an undergraduate at Iowa State University. Candidates who successfully complete PA-VEAP graduate with a bachelor's degree in animal science and are guaranteed admission to the veterinary college.

"We started the program because we were seeing really promising students that showed interest in veterinary medicine go a different way, not because of poor grades, but because other opportunities would arise for them. By implementing this program, we can guarantee them a spot in veterinary college early on and hopefully retain those individuals," explained Dr. Justin Brown, assistant professor of swine production medicine at Iowa State.

PA-VEAP accepted its second cohort of ungraduated students this year, Dr. Brown said. Each student is paired with a faculty mentor from the veterinary college who prepares them for what's ahead.

Iowa State University (ISU) College of Veterinary Medicine, like other veterinary colleges, have programs in place to encourage students to pursue mixed and production animal medicine. Dr. Justin Brown, assistant professor of swine production medicine at ISU, says, "Hopefully, we'll see soon the benefits of that."

Dr. Michael Capel, immediate past president of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, says these programs are more likely to succeed if they provide students with expert faculty who provide real-world experiences as a food animal practitioner.

"They need to get students into the field early in their academic career, so they truly experience a day in the life of the private practitioner and really get a feeling for what that looks like," Dr. Capel said.

The transition from veterinary student to veterinary employee isn't easy, Dr. Capel noted, and owners must mentor and support new associates during this challenging time.

"It's not just getting them into the pipeline, but also keeping them there," he said. "We used to lose a significant number of veterinarians within the first couple of years. We're a little bit better now, but it really depends on the academic institution giving them that real-world experience to make sure that they have an easy transition once they get out of veterinary school."

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