State/Territory
Oklahoma
Shortage Location - Must Serve
State of Oklahoma
Shortage Location - May Serve
State of Oklahoma's adjoining States
Location Center
2065 W. Farm Road, Stillwater, OK 74078
VSGP Status
Unavailable
VMLRP Status
(Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program)
Open
Priority of shortage
Critical
Fiscal year
Percent FTE
(Full Time Equivalent, based on a 40hr work week.)
80
Type of Shortage
(Veterinary Practice Area / Discipline / Specialty)
Type III Shortage: Public Practice
Other Must Serve
Other May Serve
Employer
Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine
Position Title
Assistant or Associate Professor - Food Animal
Other disciplinary area
Food Animal Medicine and Surgery
Carry Over
Nominator Name
Rod Hall, DVM
Nominator Title
State Veterinarian
Nominator Org
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
Nominator Email
Nominator Phone
405-522-0270
Importance/Objectives of Veterinarian
This position sees a robust food animal caseload which consists of beef cattle and small ruminants with additional numbers of dairy cattle, swine, and camelids. Total case load typically ranges from 1300 to 1500 cases each year with many cases representing multiple animals. The position served clients from the majority of Oklahoma counties in 2022 and is located in the heart of Payne County. According to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Payne County is home to over 27, 500 cattle with 600 operations, 2,000 head of small ruminants, and 1,000 hogs. Payne County is also home to one livestock market. Approximately one half to two-thirds of the caseload consists of primary care cases drawn from a large geographic area with the balance consisting of referral cases. In addition to Payne County, the food animal service receives referral cases from multiple surrounding states with the entire veterinary teaching hospital serving clients from all 50 states and multiple Canadian provinces in 2022. The food animal service is well known for its work across traditional cases, as well as more unique segments of the industry such as bucking stock, purebred genetics, and show animals with significant financial value. In addition to traditional business hours, the food animal service provides 24-hour emergency services to producers and practices throughout Oklahoma including over ten local primary care veterinary practices. Patients are seen in the hospital as well as through ambulatory services. This position has historically been filled by an individual with the capability to serve both primary care cases and referrals for both medicine and surgery. The food animal service has been without full veterinary faculty coverage for almost two years. Recent hires have multiple opportunities across academic, private practice, and industry so long-term retention in this shortage area are critical for student education, research, primary care service, and referral cases.
Veterinarian Medical Activities & Services
The OSU food animal service consistently ranks among the top veterinary schools for food animal caseload. Responsibilities of the position include teaching and clinical service in the food animal clinic of the OSU Veterinary Medical Hospital, training of residents and interns, classroom lectures, and laboratory instruction for veterinary students. Clinical responsibilities include primary to tertiary care of varied livestock species. Emergency duty is also required along with delivery of continuing education to veterinary professionals and Extension programming for producers. Development of innovative teaching programs is expected for this shortage area. The food animal faculty team is responsible for the instruction of approximately 150 students in the clinical (fourth year) curriculum each year in addition to their teaching responsibilities in the first through third year courses (over 316 students). A veterinarian in this position is also responsible for teaching and supervision of at least one intern and two residents. OSU food animal team has trained nine residents since 2005 with 100% of those sitting for boards achieving diplomate status. These individuals have filled critical academic vacancies at multiple veterinary schools. The veterinarian in this shortage area is also required to lead or collaboratively conduct research focused on food animal medicine, surgery, or production. OSU College of Veterinary Medicine also maintains a continuing education and outreach program to which this veterinarian must contribute by delivering in-person lectures, online programs, and articles for general circulation to producers. The veterinarian for this shortage area must be a collaborative team member with a focus on the huge impact this position makes in the lives of students, veterinarians, producers, and the general public.
Historical Efforts of Recruiting/Retaining a Veterinarian
This area has had voids in faculty for four years due to retirement and moving to other roles in CVM. New faculty have been recruited, but retention is a concern, given opportunities in other areas of the profession. It takes a committed and unique veterinarian to teach, see patients, conduct research, and provide service to the industry. Veterinarians reaching full faculty status usually have significant veterinary educational debt much like private practitioners. However, their capacity for repayment of educational debt is limited due to pursuing residency and/or graduate programs which pay a fraction of private veterinary positions. In 2023, the Oklahoma legislature made a significant financial commitment to the OSU CVM to ensure its future existence. That commitment allowed leadership to offer competitive academic salaries to recent hires. Leadership has also focused on addressing appropriate work life balance and responsibilities for faculty members to increase retention.
Consequences of Not Securing/Retaining a Veterinarian
Unlike many other food animal veterinary positions, this position critically impacts rural veterinary shortage in its ability to educate students, magnifying the importance of the position. The most obvious consequence is the potential lack in training of veterinary students in food animal medicine/surgery, food safety, and public health. Additionally, OSU veterinary hospital has the facilities and expertise to develop advances in production agriculture through research and extension that will not be possible if these positions are vacant, or retention is poor. The training of residents that become future specialists and educators is critical as well due to the amplifying impact of instructing future veterinary students. In addition, there are many risks involved in not maintaining food animal practitioners in this area. There is risk to the health and welfare of livestock both individually and collectively. There is serious risk in failure to recognize and report foreign animal, zoonotic, and other diseases of high importance and public health significance so animal health officials can address an outbreak. Outbreaks of FADs may cause loss of international trade of our agriculture products which has a negative effect on the entire agriculture industry of the United States but on the individual producers as well. Another downside to not having enough food animal veterinarians in the area is that producers will have trouble finding veterinarians to provide certificates of veterinary inspection to document the health and transport of livestock to meet federal and state guidelines for animal disease traceability. Along the same lines, lack of veterinarians will make it more difficult for food animal producers to receive advice and Veterinary Feed Directives to make sure that livestock are being treated properly to prevent and treat disease and to decrease antibiotic resistance. In smaller communities, such as Stillwater, veterinarians are typically one of the most trusted professionals and as such they have the opportunity to hear of health issues early and provide proper advice to their clients. This advice may not only concern the livestock's health but could impact the health of the community as well.
Community Aspects
Stillwater is a town of approximately 50,000 year-round residents where the positive attributes of a small town are combined with many amenities and opportunities usually found only in larger cities. Additionally, Oklahoma is a state of friendly and industrious people, and numerous outdoor recreational opportunities. Two uniquely different larger cities (Tulsa and Oklahoma City) are within an easy hour drive of Stillwater. There are many opportunities for cultural, sporting, entertainment, and recreational activities including Big XII athletics and the McKnight Center for the Performing Arts hosting internationally recognized performers. Stillwater has outstanding public schools and is an excellent place to live with ready access to outdoor recreation including equestrian sports, boating, fishing, and camping. The city has been recognized by numerous organizations for providing a high quality of life and has been named one of the "friendliest" college towns in the United States. Stillwater is also surrounded by several smaller communities offering a rural lifestyle with livestock focused farms and ranches.