State/Territory
Oklahoma
Shortage Location - Must Serve
Beaver, Harper, Woods, Alfalfa, Major, Woodward, Ellis, and Dewey Counties in Northwestern Oklahoma
Shortage Location - May Serve
Texas, Roger Mills, and Custer Counties in Northwestern Oklahoma
Location Center
Intersection of US Highways 412 and 183 in Woodward, OK
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
Equine
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 8 county area in NW Oklahoma that covers 9,554 square miles, there are approximately 559,000 head of cattle on 3,629 premises. These are primarily large farms/ranches that run cow/calf and stocker operations because of the abundant wheat pasture. There are also 14 beef feed yards and four cattle livestock markets in this area that require regular veterinarian services. This shortage area also has over 411,000 head of swine on 106 premises. While primarily focused on commercial swine production, there are also show swine/hobby farms within each of the local communities. Rounding out this shortage area is the growing small ruminant population that accounts for 240 premises and 4,300 head of sheep and goats. Currently, there are only 15 large animal veterinarians that cover this area. Agriculture and animal production play an integral role in ensuring the communities within this area thrive by supporting the economy, providing jobs, and contributing to the food supply. Therefore, the objective of supporting a food animal veterinarian in this area will not only provide critical production animal veterinary services, provide necessary regulatory services to producers, but will ensure the area's entire animal agriculture can continue to contribute to the economic growth and wellbeing.
Veterinarian Medical Activities & Services
The activities of a veterinarian in this area will primarily be focused on beef cattle work (feed yard consulting, cow/calf, stocker operations) due to the large number of cattle within this area. There is a need for a veterinarian to have the skill set to provide services for small ruminants in this area as well as have knowledge of the commercial swine industry as these operations do contract for routine testing and inspections. This area typically hosts junior livestock shows providing an opportunity to become involved and lastly there are four livestock markets in this area that require veterinary services. The veterinarian must be willing to provide emergency services for clients after hours as there are not any emergency clinics within the area to refer cases to for care. It will be an expectation for a veterinarian in this area to have community involvement and build relationships with the local youth exhibition groups. 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
While there are established large animal practices in this area, increasing the number of food animal practitioners for these practices has been difficult. This area has numerous practitioners that are on the verge of retirement and have chosen not to in order to continue to provide critical veterinary services to the producers in this area due to the lack of recruitment of a replacement. This provides an opportunity for a veterinarian to receive mentorship and integration into a community before taking ownership of an established practice. One practice in Ellis County has two practitioners who are in their 60s. If they are not able to hire and retain associates there will be a serious shortage. A practice in Harper County has one practitioner in their late 70s and another in their mid 60s. They have a couple of younger practitioners, but it's critical that they hire and retain practitioners to replace them.
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. 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 could potentially 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 which in turn can contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in human health. Due to the abundant winter wheat pasture in this area, stocker cattle move in from all over the southeastern US in the fall/winter and leave for feedyards in Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas in the spring. Veterinarians are necessary to recognize and report emerging or foreign animal diseases.
Community Aspects
This is a very rural area. The residents tend to be conservative. Many of them farm and ranch on land that has been in their family for generations, since the area opened up for homesteading in the late 1800s. The center of the area is Woodward, OK which has a population of 12,000. There are fun local attractions such as Alabaster Caverns, Boiling Springs State Park, and Little Sahara Sand Dunes. The town of Woodward has the basic amenities, and a person can find everything they need there. I practiced in this area in 1977 and really enjoyed the area and the people. But, for people who wish to have the option to visit larger cities, Oklahoma City is two hours away and is the 20th largest city in the United States with 681,000 population. There are many high quality museums and other attractions there, as well as many shopping and dining options. One can live in a rural, less stressful area and still enjoy "big city life" with a relatively short drive. Amarillo, TX and Wichita, KS are only about three hours away and offer many of the same opportunities that OKC does. The mountains of New Mexico are only six hours away for a long weekend of winter outdoor activities or summer enjoyment.