Kentucky has 15 veterinarians who are at least 85 years old; they're helping to offset the shortage in rural areas

At 85 years old, Dr. Gary Tran continues to practice.
(Photo by Michael Clevenger, Courier Journal)

The national veterinarian shortage could be even worse if it weren't for a number of people who continue practicing long past the traditional retirement age. "There are 15 licensed vets in the Bluegrass State over 85 years old . . . .These are doctors who have stayed with it as the shortage ballooned to plague more than 72% of rural Kentucky," reports Maggie Menderski of The Courier Journal. Three longtime veterinarians answered The Courier Journal's request for their professional insights.

"Being a vet certainly isn't a glamorous profession," Menderski reports. "The payoff never quite matched the hours they spent working or the schooling needed to become a veterinarian." All agreed that the profession's long hours and changes in veterinary educational costs have contributed to the country's rural vet shortage.

Dr. Gary Tran, 93, has kept his Marshall County practice going and adapted it to the needs of his community. "Tran, who immigrated to the United States during the Vietnam War, and his wife lived in a small house and raised five children. She worked in a factory and a restaurant to help make ends meet," Menderski writes. "After watching the hours their father kept at the emergency clinic, none of his children had any interest in studying veterinary medicine. Instead, all five became engineers."

Dr. Luel Overstreet in Henderson County is roughly eight years younger than Tran, and he has kept doing surgeries. "Working as a vet isn't just a career to him at this point. He's been treating animals and helping pet owners in Henderson, in some cases, for four generations," Menderski writes. "Overstreet doesn't recall just how much it cost for him to attend Auburn University in the 1960s, but in between semesters, he was able to make enough money to pay for his schooling by working in tobacco fields, baling hay and raising cattle. . . .The most dedicated veterinary student wouldn't be able to pay tuition off doing those same jobs today."

For Dr. Robert McCrory, who still practices in Benton County, "There were times he'd travel 20 miles to deliver a calf for $6," Menderski writes. "He worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday and then split shifts on Sundays." McCrory told Menderski: "Back then, you didn't think anything of it because farmers work from daylight to dark."

Many new graduates do not want to work those schedules. "The schedule is one of the biggest changes they've seen in the modern generation of veterinarians," Menderski reports. "Vets today often have a mound of debt to pay off while starting their careers. The average student debt for all veterinary medicine graduates was $147,258 in 2022, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Tran, Overstreet and McCrory all graduated and started their careers decades ago debt-free."