I think people uh assume that it was
the pandemic that created the shortage of veterinarians,
but it was actually starting before the pandemic.
That certainly was a tipping point.
Uh But the the increased demand for veterinary
services has been growing for quite a long time
and it's across the profession.
It might be felt most acutely in certain parts of
the country and in certain parts of the state,
it might be uh most felt most acutely in some of the rural areas,
but it's across the profession.
So this this workforce shortage is not limited to any
one particular geographic area or to any particular species.
So we are still seeing increased wait times for certain kinds of services,
especially for emergency services, for vet, for a small animal companion animal
um patients
and that that can has continued beyond the pandemic.
I I would say the the factors that have driven
the shortage are the increased demand for veterinary services.
Uh And because veterinarians can practice on multiple species,
uh an increased demand in one part of the profession can drive the
shortage across the profession when there's
an increased demand for veterinary service is
with pets increased pet ownership and an
increased demand for veterinary services with existing pets
that pulls the demand
away from food animal.
Yeah, the impact of the veterinary workforce shortage really does
threaten the health of not only animals but people.
Because veterinarians uh protect the health of animals,
people and the environment that we share
animals are
are really important to the health of people.
They improve our health both through the human animal bond.
But obviously, many people eat meat and meat comes from animals.
There are diseases that are shared between people and animals.
Those are called zoonotic diseases. And veterinarians help protect the health
of people through protecting the health of animals. Now, we've got a lot going on.
So we are training the next generation of veterinarians.
We are training the next generation of biomedical scientists and
we are training the next generation of veterinary specialists.
So that does keep our faculty very busy for sure.
Our veterinary class size has expanded through
our partnership with South Dakota State University.
Uh We just transferred the first class of 20
students from Brookings to Saint Paul this fall.
And so that increases our class size by 20 students.
So we'll graduate 100 and 25 students
in the spring of 2025.
Yes,
the partnership with South Dakota does increase
our emphasis on training rural and food,
animal and mixed animal practitioner.
Um We also have a program that's been in
place for quite a number of years called Vet Fast
and that stands for Food animal scholars track.
And so that is a program that's geared specifically at recruiting
high ability uh students who are interested in the food animal
um
practice and that's been very successful.
We have been able to recruit and train and mentor students who are
going to go out into uh food animal practice through that program,
veterinary loan repayment programs are a really important piece of the equation.
And that's because uh student debt is a big challenge in our profession.
Uh Training
health professionals is expensive.
Uh whether that be physicians, nurses, dentists or veterinarians.
And uh so loan repayment programs especially to
recruit and retain students in rural practices,
graduates in rural practices is a really important piece of the equation.
Veterinary medicine is an absolutely wonderful profession.
And so I do very much encourage uh young people to consider it.
I think one of the things that young people don't realize or that
everyone doesn't realize about this profession is just how broad it is.
There are so many different ways that uh a veterinarian contributes
to the health of animals people and the environment we share.