USDA OKs aid for state veterinarian shortage
May 17, 2010
CLEMSON, SC – May 17, 2010 – South Carolina’s shortage of food-supply veterinarians may get some aid from Washington. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials are offering to help pay off school loans for veterinarians who agree to practice in one of three shortage areas identified in the state.
“I am very pleased that all three of South Carolina’s nominated shortage situations were selected, said Boyd Parr, state veterinarian and interim director of the Clemson University Livestock and Poultry Health unit, which oversees animal health statewide.
The USDA asked Parr, as state veterinarian, to nominate up to three areas in which there is a shortage of veterinarians. The S.C. Association of Veterinarians and the S.C. Farm Bureau were among the groups consulted by Parr to identify the areas.
“We encourage veterinarians who may be interested in applying to review the requirements and apply by June 30,” said Parr, whose unit needs one of the veterinarians. “A position announcement for one of the positions, a pathologist for Clemson Veterinary Diagnostic Center, has been posted and applications are already being received.”
The other two eligible positions would provide for a veterinarian working at least 50 percent of the time with food animals in a nine-county area in the Piedmont and another working at least 30 percent of the time with food animals in a nine-county area in the Pee Dee.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture would accept applications from veterinarians willing to participate in the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program, which addresses veterinary shortages in rural America by repaying the student loans of qualified veterinarians in return for their services in areas suffering from a lack of veterinarians.
The lack of adequate veterinary services, especially in the area of food animal medicine, creates hardships for producers and endangers livestock throughout rural America, said Vilsack. This program will help alleviate the shortage of trained professional veterinarians that serve our producers, improving the health of the livestock industry and helping ensure a safe food supply.
In return for a commitment of three years of veterinary services in a designated veterinary shortage area, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture may repay up to $25,000 of student loan debt per year. Loan repayment benefits are limited to payments of the principal and interest on government and commercial loans received for the attendance at an accredited college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or the equivalent. Applications will be due June 30 and offers will be made by Sept. 30.
The institute recently designated more than 150 vertinarian shortage areas in the United States. These areas were nominated by the chief animal health officials in each state and insular area and by appropriate federal animal health officials.
A leading cause for this shortage is the cost of four years of professional veterinary medical training, which can average between $130,000 and $140,000.
