A lack of rural veterinarians puts farms and animals at risk; Congress is considering a plan to address the problem

Student loan burdens can keep new veterinarians
from choosing a rural practice. (AVMA photo)

This narrative appeared in Farm Progress: "445-2511. Long ago, I committed that number to memory," recalls Holly Spangler. "Those were the days well before phones in pockets, when I was a kid with fast legs who could be sent from the lower barn back up the hill to the house with a mission: Call the veterinarian. Near 35 years later, the feel of that number washes over me like an old friend. It's never good when you need a vet. But when they get there? Relief. They'll know what to do."

The "relief" that only a knowledgeable rural veterinarian can give is being threatened for rural areas nationwide. "Rural kids simply aren't applying to vet school," Spangler writes. "Most farm kids dream of being a vet, at least until the reality of biochemistry and eight years of school sets in. . . . At the same time, fewer young people from rural areas want to be large-animal vets. The University of Illinois may be graduating twice as many vet students compared to 30 years ago, but the majority go into small-animal practice instead of large-animal or rural mixed practice."

Besides tough hours and dangerous work, research has found that finances, particularly the burden of student loans, prevent young veterinarians from practicing in rural areas, reports the American Veterinarian Medical Association. "There are veterinarians who want to work in rural areas of America but are unable to do so — for financial reasons. The great news is that legislation pending in Congress would make it more feasible for them," through the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act bill.

If passed, the bill includes "legislation that would extend the reach of the popular Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program to help more food animal and public health veterinarians relocate to rural areas facing veterinary shortages," AVMA reports. 

Currently, the program "helps veterinarians set up practice in locations designated as veterinary shortage areas by the Department of Agriculture. It does this by promising to pay off up to $75,000 of each veterinarian's student loans if they practice in the shortage area for three years," AVMA reports. But despite its benefits, there are still not enough rural vets. "The bipartisan Rural Veterinary Workforce Act would go a long way to rectify the situation. By treating VMLRP awards the same as equivalent awards made to physicians and other human health care providers, it would free up significant funds for new recipients."

To read Spangler's complete essay, "Long live the rural veterinarian," click here. To find out more about the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, including other options, click here.