A Needed Boost

Rural practice is getting extra attention in Kansas courtesy of the Kansas legislature

“HB 2605 expands and clarifies the requirements for the Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine and creates an advisory committee to oversee the Program.”

The Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas (VTPRK) was established by the legislature in 2006 to provide a financial incentive for K-State DVM graduates to practice in rural Kansas communities. Over the last 20 or 30 years, the nation, including Kansas, has been dealing with shortages of rural veterinarians. Reports from the U.S. Census

Bureau indicate a potential national shortage of 15,000 veterinarians by 2025, with the bulk of those to be needed in rural areas. The VTPRK helps address this issue in Kansas.

The problem had become severe enough that federal government has also created the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, or VMLRP. The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture maintains a website that maps out Veterinary Shortage Situations: www.nifa.usda.gov/ vmlrp-map All states except three have reported at least one designated shortage areas.

While Kansas may have been ahead of the game in terms of addressing the shortages early through the VTPRK, changes over time were prompting the need for re-examination by the state.

“The original annual state appropriation of $400,000 [$20,000/year per student, 5 students/class, 4 classes] has not been adjusted to account for tuition increases since the program began,” says Dr. James Roush, associate dean student programs and academic affairs. “Now, with the passage of HB2605 by the Kansas legislature, there are upgrades that should help sustain success.”

Keeping graduates in Kansas

Currently, upon completion of their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, each student is required to work at a fulltime veterinary practice in one of 92 Kansas counties with fewer than 40,000 residents. For each year the student works in rural Kansas, up to $25,000 per year of qualifying students’ loans are forgiven over a period of four years.

“I am grateful for the financial freedom that the VTPRK program provides,” says Grace Luebcke, a fourth-year student from Marysville, Kansas. “With good money management, I hope to pay off my remaining veterinary student loans before my 30th birthday. As a native Kansan, I am proud to call this state my home and had always intended to remain here after graduation.”

To date, 98% of graduates are completing or have completed their loan obligation through service. Graduates who do not complete through service are required to repay the loan. The funds are reinvested through the addition of students to the program.

The lightened burden on my student loans will allow me to look for potential ownership opportunities sooner after graduation than may have otherwise been possible.

- Boyd Roenne, Class of 2023

Top: The original group of VTPRK students from the class of 2025 included (from left) Chandler Rogers, Emma McClure, Chelsey Bieberle and Bryant Karlin. Bottom: Dr. Brad White, VTPRK director and Hodes Family Dean Dr. Bonnie Rush welcomed Violet Biggs and Jayden Hann as two additional VTPRK students for the class of 2025.

Ninety-four percent of previous graduates who completed their four-year obligation remain in a qualifying county. Seventy percent remain in the original practice and community they entered after graduation.

Part of the required training includes the completion of a Food Animal Veterinary Certificate. The student scholars also spend time during the summer and breaks in the academic year learning about foreign-animal disease preparedness, natural disaster response, rural sociology, small business management and public health.

“There has also been additional training related to owning and operating a successful practice from a business aspect,” says Boyd Roenne, a fourthyear student from Meriden, Kansas.

“The lightened burden on my student loans will allow me to look for potential ownership opportunities sooner after graduation than may have otherwise been possible.”

After graduating in May 2023, Boyd will be employed with Atchison Animal Clinic located in Atchison, Kansas. This is a mixed animal practice and home for other VTPRK alumni.

Additional changes to the program include the creation of an advisory board consisting of two representatives from the Kansas Department of Agriculture, two members of the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association, the Kansas Animal Health Commissioner and two representatives from the College of Veterinary Medicine. A subgroup of these board members now serves as the selection committee that chooses the student recipients.

“We appreciate the guidance and input from our new advisory board,” Dr. Rush says. “In the spring semester, we plan to choose seven students for the VTPRK program for the class of 2026, so we are also thankful to the members of the selection committee for their efforts in choosing these new students.”

“The VTPRK helps retain some of the brightest and best veterinary students in Kansas,” says Hodes Family Dean, Dr. Bonnie Rush. “The participants — past, present and future — join a unique community of supportive colleagues and represent the future of rural veterinary practice in Kansas.”

Program requirements include newly created certificate

Each student in the VTPRK must complete the requirements to receive the Food Animal Veterinary Certificate, or FAVC. This new certificate is available to all veterinary students, not just those who have been chosen for the VTPRK. The FAVC complements the educational background for students who are interested in pursuing careers in food animal medicine.

To earn the certificate, sutdents are expected to complete 14 credit hours in the following classes: Issues in Rural Practice, Rural Practice Management, Rural Business Management and Production Medicine.

FAVC students must pass a technical skills assessment and present a capstone seminar. They also must attend K-State’s Annual Conference for Veterinarians, held each year in June, and encouraged to attend other veterinary Continuing Education conferences (also available to all veterinary students). Each VTPRK student should attend the June conference and initiate networking with other Kansas practitioners.

Monthly meetings involve VTPRK students from all stages of the program and allow interaction among classes and peer discussions for relevant topics.

There are required monthly meetings that expose VTPRK students to a variety of topics including visiting with current rural practitioners, discussing aspects of business management, regulatory medicine and other timely topics.

The VTPRK students are expected to participate in special summer activities that help complement their classroom education.

VTPRK students are taken on a one-week tour of Kansas agricultural production facilities potentially including dairies, cow-calf operations, purebred operations, feed yards, packing plants and rural veterinary facilities. Other activities have included visits to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, the USDA-APHIS facilities in Riverdale, Maryland, and Ames, Iowa, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, as well as mentored training with various industry professionals.

2022-2023 VTPRK Advisory Committee

KVMA Representative: Executive Board Member: Dr. Brian Hodes KVMA Representative: VTPRK Alumni: Dr. Tera Barnhardt Kansas Animal Health Commissioner: Dr. Justin Smith KDA Representative: Matt Teagarden KDA Representative: Mary Ann Kniebel KSU CVM Representative: Associate Dean for Student Success: Dr. Jim Roush KSU CVM Representative: Director VTPRK: Dr. Brad White

BY THE NUMBERS

80 Total students admitted to the program

33 males

47 females

80/80 are Kansans

Where are they now?

98% Have fulfilled or are currently fulfilling their obligation to practice in a rural community

94% Currently practicing in a qualifying county

77% Remain in practice of origin