USDA recently hosted the two listening sessions aimed at stakeholders interested in shaping the Rural Veterinary Action Plan, announced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins late in August, which seeks to address long-standing shortages in rural food-animal practice and to strengthen the federal veterinary workforce. They hoped to gather input on the challenges facing the rural veterinary workforce that could be used to shape the next steps of the plan. These sessions provided an opportunity for producers, veterinarians, educators and professional organizations to share their perspectives directly.
USDA members first outlined the current rural veterinary landscape before opening the floor to stakeholders who were given a short time to present while USDA representatives listened.
The backdrop of these sessions is a well-documented and worsening shortage of veterinarians in rural areas, particularly those serving in food-animal and mixed practices. Certain regions of the country face critical gaps, leaving producers without timely access to veterinary care and threatening both animal health and food supply security. These shortages are shaped by economic factors along with geographic demands.
Overview of Top Concerns
Stakeholders spoke on a variety of concerns and priorities spanning financial, educational, regulatory and logistical themes.
There were several main issues that multiple stakeholders brought up during these sessions:
- Lack of veterinary students from rural locations
There exists a difference in education quality in rural versus urban areas, including a lack of availability of AP classes. This compounds into poor preparation for university resulting in lower grades and a lowered chance for admittance into vet school. The lack of a uniform vet school application process was also highlighted, specifically whether an interview was required. Students with lower grades would benefit more from an in-person interview to show their passion and intent.
“There are simply not enough rural kids getting accepted to vet school,” said Dr. Tracy Walker of West Virginia. “I’ve sat with different acceptance committees. When you look at the calculations of how they’re scoring these kids, rural kids are at a complete disadvantage.”
- Complicated grant application process
Federal grant applications can be cumbersome and time consuming. Stakeholders suggested streamlining and simplifying this process, along with being clear about what portions of these grants would be taxable.
“As a Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program recipient last year, my application was 80 pages long,” said Dr. E Sabo, the assistant state veterinarian for Utah. “If I were still in private practice where I used to be a dairy veterinarian, I would not have had the time and ability to fill out an application of that length. I started two months early and did not have the full application completed by the deadline.”
- Overhead costs for starting a practice
Because of the sparse distribution of rural veterinary practices, most students would be opening their own business following graduation. This can be very daunting for graduates also managing student loans.
“If we want to set new veterinarians up for success in rural settings where revenue is often lower and practice costs are higher, we must match their passion with practical, long term support,” said Cheryl Day, executive vice president of the Ohio Pork Council. “We need federal tools that help veterinarians start and sustain practices in underserved counties including startup grants, low interest loans and a catalog of resources.”
- Student debt
Compounding the costs of startup for a new graduate is the need to repay any student loans. There is a significant salary gap between rural food-animal practice and companion animal medicine. This disparity can make small animal practice appear more financially viable for new graduates carrying substantial financial burdens.
“Debt relief remains one of the most consistent ways of offsetting salary discrepancies between rural and urban practices,” said Fred Gingrich, executive director of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners.
Takeaways
These sessions showed USDA’s commitment to improving the situation for rural veterinarians. Whether the outcome is incremental change or significant investment, USDA is paying attention to a crisis that affects animal health, producer livelihoods and food security, and it is listening to the rural veterinary workforce to shape policy.
