OSU’s Vice Provost Dr. Jim Hess provided an update on the probation status of the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine during the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Winter Policy Meeting. Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke directly with Dr. Hess to bring you the details of that update.
According to Dr. Hess, the initiatives to improve the College of Veterinary Medicine are three-fold. One is the ability to recapitalize the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Stillwater which is currently operating in a 43-year-old facility in need of significant improvements.
“What we actually need is a new facility to create a training environment that will attract students and faculty members,” he said. “A new veterinary teaching hospital is critical for the college, but also critical for food-animal producers so we can place new large animal veterinarians in rural Oklahoma.”
The new facility is projected to cost around $295 million. Opportunities for financing from the Oklahoma State Legislature are being considered.
With only 33 veterinary schools in the nation, competition for students and faculty members is very aggressive. A new, state-of-the-art facility is a good beginning component to compel both to Stillwater.
Additionally, OSU is asking for the Lee Denney Scholarship Program to be recurring. The program offers scholarships to students who commit to practicing large, food-animal veterinary medicine in rural Oklahoma.
They are also seeking an incentive to change the number of in-state and out-of-state students entering the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Hess explained, “We would like to be able to admit more in-state students and not be so reliant on out-of-state tuition revenue, so an appropriation to make that happen would have a huge impact on our ability to produce large and food-animal veterinarians for rural Oklahoma.”
Dr. Hess believes that the key to getting more large animal veterinarians begins with recruiting rural-based students. While it is a fact that small animal practices make more money than large animal practices, Dr. Hess believes that a veterinary student’s decision on where to focus their studies will not be economical in nature.
“A student is not going to choose large food-animal veterinary medicine because of an economic decision,” Dr. Hess said. “They are going to make it based on a lifestyle choice because they either grew up in a rural environment on a ranch or a farm and they love large animals and are familiar with them or they have worked with a large, food-animal veterinarian. Their experiences and where they come from really will make the difference. It has to be their passion.”
Dr. Hess believes that opening more opportunities for middle school students to be exposed to large, food-animal work is where it begins, and then ongoing mentorship of the students will continue to feed their passion.
