Veterinary Workforce Solutions Program

We hope you all had a great spring – for our team, it’s certainly been busy! We are happy to share this newsletter with you, which highlights some of our work to address the rural veterinary shortage, including collaborations with many new universities and partners to support the veterinary workforce pipeline.

Our education program lead, Dr. Clint Neill, has traveled to several campuses in recent months to share our new pilot e-learning modules for universities. We've seen strong interest in the undergraduate programs and learned a lot from students pursuing food animal veterinarian careers; however there is still work to be done in providing resources and information, financial planning, career exploration and mentorship support. Overall, the feedback was positive, and we plan to spend the summer further improving these tools.

We are also excited to have some new Veterinary Ambassadors join our program, and we held our first meetings in Washington, D.C. in May to discuss the shortage issue with policymakers (pictured above). In addition, our new program website is ready – check out the link below!

We’re looking forward to continuing this workforce pipeline work and piloting our state and community readiness program during the summer and fall. We welcome your feedback and questions.

Sincerely,

Todd Greenwood

Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Farm Journal Foundation

Visit Our New Website

We recently launched a new website to hold all of our resources in one place. The website includes links to our pilot educational models, thought leadership and research, facts about the veterinary shortage, and information about our partners and Ambassadors.

Be sure to check out the website at this link and let us know what you think!

Meet the Veterinary Ambassadors

We are excited to introduce our Veterinary Ambassadors.

Andy Berry is a sixth-generation cattle farmer from Magee, Mississippi. He's served as the executive director of the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association and the Mississippi Beef Council since 2015.

Dr. Rosslyn Biggs is a second-generation veterinarian, currently serving as Director of Continuing Education for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Beef Cattle Specialist for Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.

Dr. Timothy Goldsmith is a professor within the Ruminant Division at the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine. Prior to his current position, he worked as a private practice large animal veterinarian focusing primarily on food animals, working with clients in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Dr. Jody Kull is an assistant teaching professor in the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Department at Penn State University. She practiced as a mixed animal veterinarian for several years before opening a mobile food animal veterinary practice.

Dr. Brad White is a professor at the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He currently serves as the director of the Beef Cattle Institute.

New Program Consultant

Keith L. Rogers is joining the team as a Program Consultant for the state and community readiness pilots. He led Kentucky’s 18-month initiative to address the rural veterinarian shortage that resulted in the Veterinary Shortage Working Group’s recommendations addressing four specific periods in the career of a veterinarian. He retired from his most recent role as Chief of Staff for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture at the end of last year.

Updates From Our Partner Universities

We have made significant progress this spring in our partnerships with universities:

Pilots implemented in 8 programs, reaching 450 students and early-career professionals.
70% know they want to start a business at some point in their career.
More than 50% know where they want to practice.
Financial and business planning, along with community engagement, are the topics students are most interested in.
More than 60% would like mentorship after graduation.

Education and Champion Building

We welcomed our first group of Veterinary Ambassadors to Washington, D.C., in May to discuss the shortage issue with policymakers. Ambassadors talked to members of Congress and legislative staff about why it's important to support programs including the Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) and Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), to ensure a strong pipeline of food animal veterinarians, especially as Congress works on legislation including appropriations, the Farm Bill, and the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act.

In addition, our Veterinary Ambassadors and staff have participated in speaking engagements to build awareness of this issue. Todd Greenwood highlighted the program and its progress at this year's American Farm Bureau Convention in Salt Lake City. A special thanks to AFBF Economist Bernt Nelson for his interest and involvement in the program.

What's next? Coming up in July, our Veterinary Workforce Solutions Mapping Group is meeting to discuss how best to implement the modules moving forward and how they can be adapted for high school students. In the fall, we plan to kick off pilots for our state and community readiness program.