Finding enough large-animal veterinarians is becoming an increasing challenge across farm country, regardless of state. Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine Dean, Dr. Dori Borjesson, says one of the biggest deterrents for the next generation of veterinarians is student debt.
She noted that many states are studying the issue, and she says data suggests that it is not loan repayment that serves as the silver bullet, but rather preventing these students from getting into deep debt in the first place.
“So, states like Kansas have done this by paying those students,” Borjesson explained. “They identify them at enrollment. They do cohorts of four, six, to eight students. They pay for their tuition. There is a return to work, so the tuition gets returned. In fact, the state investment at that time was only like $500,000 because once that cohort graduates, they start paying back into it again because they have to return to that place. So, those types of scholarship programs allow students to have choice. If you get in debt $125,000 or $150,000, and then you tell students that they need to take a job that makes $50,000 less, even if they want to do it, they may at that point now be married or have a child or whatever.”
Borjesson added that the industry needs to start thinking about preventing students from going into debt and investing in them beforehand. Many people do not realize how important large-animal veterinarians are to food safety, food security, and animal supplies. The average farm is already experiencing significant fluctuations and changes, and lacking veterinary care puts extra pressure on an already fragile system.
“One of the other things that we see is that farmers and ranchers then start asking for requests from the legislature for things like more access to drugs, more access to telehealth, more access to things that may not be as effective as having a one-on-one relationship locally with your veterinarian,” Borjesson said. “And so, things like we have to be stewards of our antibiotics, and the less that people have access to those, the more kind of alternative ideas, you know, float up.”
Borjesson added that the issue of veterinary shortages is too important to the farming community as a whole not to have difficult conversations now and try to address the problem for the future.
Here in Oklahoma, state leaders and academic institutions are directly answering that call by eliminating financial barriers before graduation. Through House Bill 3196, the Oklahoma Legislative and Executive branches established the Rural Veterinary Practice Scholarship Program, operated through the Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
The state-funded initiative provides eligible OSU veterinary students with up to $25,000 per year for up to four years to cover tuition, books, travel, and training expenses. To qualify for the program and secure ultimate loan forgiveness, preference is given to Oklahoma residents focused on large-animal medicine who commit to establishing their practices in rural communities with a population of 25,000 or fewer. Alongside specialized training in livestock biosecurity, public health, and regulatory medicine, students complete an externship and mentorship program with established rural Oklahoma veterinarians.
Grassroots agricultural organizations are further boosting these efforts. The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture provides a targeted $15,000 Large Animal Veterinarian Scholarship specifically for OSU College of Veterinary Medicine students in their final year. Recipients sign a letter of intent to provide essential large-animal services in areas facing critical veterinary resource shortages.
By investing heavily in students while they are still in the classroom, Oklahoma is building a sustainable pipeline of specialized professionals to safeguard livestock health, support rural economies, and protect the regional food supply.
