New programs at UF Veterinary College target food vet shortage

To help address a critical shortage of food supply veterinarians at the local, state and national levels, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has initiated two new programs aimed at tempting more veterinary students to pursue careers in the field.

For the first time this year, the college made four admission slots available to pre-veterinary undergraduates with a strong interest in food animal veterinary medicine. These students, identified with the help of faculty from the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences' animal sciences department, were required to have met all prerequisite requirements for veterinary school.

"Beyond these four individuals, there were two other animal sciences majors who were on the alternate list for admission and they also wound up being admitted through the standard admissions process," said Owen Rae, D.V.M., chief of the college's Food Animal Reproduction and Medicine Service, or FARMS.

Each year, four more students will be admitted.

The admissions initiative was created through a joint collaboration involving IFAS; the veterinary college's dean, Glen Hoffsis, D.V.M.; Eleanor Green, D.V.M., chairwoman of the college's department of large animal clinical sciences; members of the Florida Cattleman's Association; and FARMS faculty members.

UF also is launching a 16-credit food animal certificate program for students who complete requirements aimed at preparing them for careers in food animal practice or the food systems profession.

"The certificate provides a template for mastering basic skills associated with food animal veterinary medicine, including food animal/systems-oriented courses taught within the UF veterinary college as well as targeted extracurricular experiences," Rae said.

Students will be expected to participate actively in the Food Animal Club within the college, and to take part in weekend wet labs that will provide hands-on learning opportunities as well as the chance to interact more frequently with faculty mentors and other students with similar interests.

In addition, students will be required to become members of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and will be encouraged to participate in the Society for Theriogenology. Both associations strongly advocate student development within those respective disciplines.

Hoffsis said the certificate program will not only enhance students' interest in the food animal specialty early in their veterinary curriculum, but also will position participants as more attractive job candidates in all areas of food supply veterinary medicine.

"Participants in this program will likely be extremely sought after for the very best jobs, due to the cross-disciplinary exposure they will be getting to all aspects of the field, including both practice and industry," Hoffsis said.

However, Green added that ideally, recruitment efforts would start well before veterinary school.

"In local communities, talented young people must be encouraged by local producers, veterinarians, school counselors and others to pursue careers in food supply veterinary medicine," she said. "They must then be mentored well in their pre-veterinary curriculum in order to retain their interest and strengthen their credentials to optimize their chance for admission to and success during veterinary school."

Incoming freshman veterinary student Jason DeLaPaz will complete his master's degree at UF in August. Mentored by Art Donovan, D.V.M., of the FARMS group, DeLaPaz studied how to determine the immune response potential of individual Holstein dairy cows. He plans to participate in the food animal certificate program and considers it a useful tool to help get him "up and running" in a meaningful career after graduation.

"I believe it will serve an important role in increasing students' awareness and that this may trigger interest in food animal medicine for the very same reasons I have chosen this career path," DeLaPaz said. "I was not raised on or near a farm, but was attracted to the greater purpose involved in food animal production. The food supply is very important, and food animal practitioners help to ensure that it is safe.

"Such a small portion of the population has ever been on a farm and are largely oblivious to the research, concerns and practices involved in food production," DeLaPaz added. "Due to the present as well as the projected shortage in food animal practitioners, I believe it was the right decision for the UF veterinary school to proactively address this issue."

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, of its 77,237 member veterinarians, only 1,703 are in practices that exclusively focus on food animals. Another 4,459 are in practices that predominantly treat food animals.