State/Territory
Oklahoma
Shortage Location - Must Serve
Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Garvin, Grady, McClain, and Stephens County in Central Oklahoma
Shortage Location - May Serve
Location Center
Intersection of State Highway 39 and US Highway 62 in Grady County
VSGP Status
Open
VMLRP Status
(Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program)
Open
Priority of shortage
High
Fiscal year
Percent FTE
(Full Time Equivalent, based on a 40hr work week.)
40
Type of Shortage
(Veterinary Practice Area / Discipline / Specialty)
Type II Shortage: Private Practice – Rural Area Food Animal Medicine
Must serve
Beef Cattle
Swine
Small Ruminant
Other Must Serve
May serve
Dairy Cattle
Poultry
Other May Serve
Employer
Position Title
Other disciplinary area
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
Within this seven-county area in central Oklahoma that covers 6,144 square miles, there are approximately 511,000 head of cattle on 6,409 premises. Larger ranches dominate the area, but there are also a lot of smaller farms and ranches that are owned by producers who have jobs in town and their cattle are a secondary or tertiary source of revenue. Most of the operations are cow/calf businesses, but the western portion of this area has a lot of winter wheat which is used for grazing stocker calves in the winter and spring. There are five livestock auction markets in the area, including the second largest cattle auction in Oklahoma. These markets require regular veterinary services. This shortage area also has over 64,000 head of swine on 329 premises. One of the commercial swine companies that operates in Oklahoma has several farms in the western portion of the area. The remainder of the swine are in show pig herds that require dependable veterinary services. Small ruminant production is becoming more important in this area, accounting for 928 premises with 15,700 head of sheep and goats. The largest dairy in Oklahoma in in this area. Currently, there are 95 veterinary practices and 181 veterinarians in the area, but the majority of them are urban companion only practices. 26 of the veterinarians provide food animal services. Agriculture and animal production play a very important role in ensuring the communities within this area thrive by supporting the economy, providing jobs, and contributing to the food supply. Therefore, food animal veterinarians are critical in this area to not only provide essential production animal veterinary services, provide necessary regulatory services to producers, but will ensure the area's entire animal agriculture industry can continue to contribute to its economic growth and wellbeing.
Veterinarian Medical Activities & Services
The activities of a veterinarian in this area will primarily be focused on beef cattle work. This will be mostly cow/calf practice. There are some stocker and backgrounding operations, and one feedyard so a veterinarian must be able to service those clients as well. Show swine and small ruminants are very important, so the veterinarian must be comfortable working with them and their owners. There is a large dairy in the area and there may be opportunities to perform services for it. Some of the largest County livestock shows and fairs, except for our State Fairs, are in this area, so veterinarians here should prepare to be involved in 4-H and FFA programs and be able to provide services to the exhibition livestock. Getting to know the students and their parents is a great way to build one's practice. The five livestock markets in this area are required to have a veterinarian on staff, and this can lead to a steady weekly income for the veterinarian who does the market work. The veterinarian must be willing to provide emergency services for food animal clients after hours. Community involvement and civic organization volunteerism is very important in this area and lends itself well to becoming a trusted member of the community. The veterinarian will be expected to provide guidance on animal care, judicious use of antimicrobials, public health, biosecurity practices, and foreign animal disease preparedness to the producers in the area. The veterinarian will need to be knowledgeable about foreign animal, zoonotic, and emerging disease and serve as a sentry and report cases to State and Federal Animal Health Officials.
Historical Efforts of Recruiting/Retaining a Veterinarian
Most of the 95 practices and 181 veterinarians in this area are devoted to companion animals only, as they are in the general Oklahoma City metroplex. There are 26 veterinarians who do food animal work, but only 20 of them do a significant amount of food animal practice. There are several good, stable practices with multiple doctors. They have had success in recruiting and retaining associates. But there are other practices that have struggled to retain associates to provide food animal services. There are six veterinarians in the area who are in their 60s and 70s who don't plan to practice much longer. If their practices are not able to recruit and retain associates it will create a severe shortage of food animal practitioners. The veterinarians who are preparing to retire are for the most part good veterinarians who will stay in the area and be happy to serve as mentors for new practitioners.
Consequences of Not Securing/Retaining a Veterinarian
Animal agriculture is critical to the livelihood and economy in this shortage area. Failure to secure and retain adequate veterinarians in this area causes a negative impact to the livestock, public health, and ultimately the food supply. If the number of food animal practitioners is allowed to decrease, the health of the livestock both individually and collectively will suffer. The winter wheat pasture brings cattle to this area from all over the southeastern USA, and they leave to go to feedyards in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, so the potential to introduce and disseminate foreign animal diseases is high. With fewer trained practitioners to recognize and report foreign animal, zoonotic, and other diseases of economic and public health significance, our ability to detect and respond to these diseases in a timely manner is negatively impacted. This could be catastrophic to the livestock industry and compromise human health. An outbreak of a foreign animal disease would cause a loss of international trade of our agriculture products which has a negative effect not only on the individual producer but on the entire agriculture industry of the United States. A lack of practitioners also creates a hardship for producers to receive timely care of ill livestock or to coordinate services required for interstate commerce like regulatory testing and issuance of Certificates of Veterinary Inspections needed to maintain Animal Disease Traceability. It can also hinder a producer's ability to use antimicrobials judiciously when they are unable to obtain a Veterinary Feed Directive or injectable antibiotic prescription, which in turn can contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in human health. The livestock markets offer the potential to spread disease to many other states rapidly, so it's important to have veterinarians to recognize diseases and report them.
Community Aspects
This area lies just to the southwest of Oklahoma City, and includes Norman, so there is easy access to the entertainment, shopping, and dining experiences the combined metroplex has to offer. Norman is home to the University of Oklahoma, so college sports are easy to access. Oklahoma City is truly becoming a destination with NBA Basketball and many highly rated restaurants and other attractions. There are several State Parks and Recreation areas in the region for people who enjoy hiking, biking, fishing, and other outdoor activities. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is just southwest of the area. It has wild herds of bison, longhorn cattle, and elk that can be viewed along with camping and hiking. Anadarko in Caddo County has several exhibits and museums dedicated to Native Americans, especially the Apache Tribe, which is headquartered there. Just outside the area to the southeast is the Chickasaw National Recreation Area where people can hike, camp, visit the nature center, and enjoy the creeks that originate from an underground aquifer. The Chickasaw Cultural Center is very enjoyable to visit to learn more of the history and culture of the Chickasaw Nation.