There’s a great post on Washington State University’s Prospective Veterinary Student blog about the large animal vet shortage. And by “great” I suppose I mean both the article itself and the fact that WSU has a “prospective” vet student blog—not just a vet student blog.
It’s a proactive approach to student enrollment and “Living Large: In search of the elusive large animal veterinarian” puts the vet shortage dilemma front and center. The article features Sam Nielsen and Alexis Campbell—two WSU students who voice a shared concern over hefty student loans and hard working conditions. But they also share a passion for large animals that any prospective vet student can admire, no matter their career track.
That passion is exactly what WSU hopes will help salvage a struggling profession and the article offers up an interesting thought: students working toward a mixed animal practice can help. It’s an ideal option for students who prefer working with large animals, but just can’t see themselves practicing it 24/7.
Iowa State University took note of it a few years ago when it established V-SMART, a mixed animal recruitment team. The program hopes to pinpoint students with an interest in rural practice, agriculture and animal production and its members (ISU vet students) give presentations across Iowa. More mixed animal vets isn’t a complete remedy for the large animal vet shortage, nor is it the ideal situation for producers with large herds, but it is an option. So let’s get a conversation going—what do you think?
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