Addressing the issue of veterinary shortage in rural areas, specifically in the food animal industry, is at the heart of a recent funding.
Granted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), the $246,000 funding aims to support a faculty team of Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in their efforts to recruit veterinarians to shortage areas and support existing veterinarians already serving the areas.
“Auburn is committed to solving the rural practice problem,” says Glen Sellers, MS, MBA, practice management director at Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and member of the grant team. “They need veterinarians in rural communities.”
According to Sellers, attracting new veterinarians to practice in rural production agriculture faces several challenges. Two key factors are salary and well-being. Working in a suburban clinic with dogs and cats often offers higher pay, shorter, more regular hours, less time on the road, and fewer emergency calls, leading to a better work-life balance.
Further, in a statement released by the university, it was cited more than a dozen Alabama counties have a shortage of food animal veterinarians.
To address the issue, Sellers and a team of Auburn University veterinarians have created a program for rural practitioners and current DVM students, which focuses on the financial sustainability of rural veterinary practices. Additionally, the program looks into post-graduate work opportunities for students.
“We’re trying to look at the problem [with a] very broad brush … almost from a holistic point of view,” says Sellers. “But my point of view has always been that it starts in those rural practices.”
For more information, visit the Auburn University’s website.