Large Dream

s For Large Animal

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You wake up to your phone ringing at 2:00 in the morning. It is a call from a frantic client. He explains his cow is having major issues giving birth. The client

is not in your normal region, but you are the only large animal veterinarian in a 200-mile radius so you jump in the truck to help. Will you make it in time?

This scenario has become too common for rural veterinarians in this region. West Texas, Eastern New Mexico, Southeast Colorado, Oklahoma Panhandle, and Southwest Kansas are home to a significant portion of the nation’s cattle. In addition, many

rural communities have lost their veterinary practice and to get general veterinary care of our pets requires substantial travel. Our region – and also many rural areas across Texas and the Nation – are faced with a critical and worsening shortage of vets and in many instances, it we are failing to meet the demand for veterinarians that serve the rural communities of America.

Michael Galyean, Ph.D., the dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said the best way to serve this part of the world is to create a comprehensive veterinary medicine program.

“West Texas, from a veterinary standpoint, is underserved,” Galyean said. “So we think there is a

real need there and we think a veterinary school that will focus in that area will meet the need better than

any other option.”Texas Tech University has drafted a proposal

for adding a veterinary program into the curriculum. There will be a series of state and national reviews before

the proposal could be accepted and put into effect. The program will specifically focus on producing veterinarians with the desire, aptitude and skills to serve the growing demand in rural America. Texas Tech has plans to house the program in Amarillo, Texas.

Amarillo is currently home to various programs of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, which shares a common vision with the planned veterinary school. The university realized a need for

more doctors in rural areas, so a targeted selection criteria and curriculum was created to serve this need. More recently, they developed the nationally-recognized Family Medicine Accelerated Track (FMAT) program and its

graduates are overwhelming serving the needs primary care and family medicine. This is

a great example – and a model for the new veterinary school – of how to

build a program that addresses a specific need.

Intensive research has gone into the development of the proposal. Many individuals across campus, including the Health Sciences Center out of Amarillo, have come together and partnered with livestock owners and veterinarians from rural communities to brainstorm

on how the program should address the need.

“A year ago, when we started talking about the

potential, I never thought we would get to this point and be as immersed

in it as we are. It has been something we have been willing to devote a lot of time to,”

Galyean said. “A lot of people have, a lot of people still are and will be… I think it will be great for Texas Tech. ”

Guy H. Loneragan, a veterinarian and Ph.D., and professor in the department of animal and food science, said Texas Tech’s biggest advantage is not being constrained by an existing veterinary program. Since the university does not have a current veterinary program, there are no constraints and we can select and adapt the best models that will serve the need and community. This will allow Texas Tech the freedom to create a plan that is seen as the best fit for the situation and one that still conforms to the standards outlined by the accreditation agency, the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“The interest and the opportunity to build a

comprehensive veterinary program is now greater than ever,” Loneragan

said. “So when we think about what we want the vet school to look like, we have to think about what it is we are trying to serve.”

Qualified students are forced to abandon their dreams of serving rural communities in veterinary medicine due to the lack of opportunity. Dr. Michael Orth, chair and professor in the

My hope is that we

can capture the students

that possess this passion already...

“

”

La

rge Dreams For Large Anim

als

department of animal and food science, said there are students in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources who would be great rural veterinarians. Most of these students come from rural parts of the state, are active on agricultural teams and work long hours with livestock. He thinks many veterinarian schools turn away deserving students and a new veterinary program at Texas Tech would provide these students with the opportunity to serve rural areas.

“My hope is that we can capture the students that possess this passion already, but just need the opportunity to go to vet school,” Orth said.

Loneragan said although grades are important as veterinary school is an intellectually challenging program, there must be more done to determine a student’s likelihood of success and desire to serve in rural America.

The students wanted for the program will be those who have a passion for rural veterinary medicine including mixed animal and food-animal production. The program would be promoted to students who plan to ultimately end up in a rural veterinary setting, like West Texas and surrounding areas.

“With a lack of experience, it will not be a very easy step to take to go out in the middle of the night to pull calves,” Galyean said. “You probably need someone who really is in tune with that and wants to do that from the outset and I think we have a good pool of kids for that.”

A world-class program designed with a concentration in general practice and food animal production will have a particular student market. Dr. Loneragan said there are a

lot of pre-vet students that would fit well into the program, whereas others will fit better in current programs such as Texas A&M University. He said the veterinary schools are, in fact, very complementary serving different needs in animal medicine.

“The need that we are really focusing on is how do we produce a veterinarian who has the desire, skills and aptitude to work in a rural community,” Loneragan said. “What we want to do is think about what is the appropriate rubric for selection and it should not be all about grades. It has to be a number factors that are used to select students who can succeed in the program we develop.”

West Texas and rural areas around the country have a critical need of more veterinarians. There are students who have dreamed of doing this job their entire lives, who are left without the opportunity. Texas Tech is working to ensure the communities’ needs and students’ dreams are met.

“For the community, in my view, this is the last piece of the puzzle in effectively serving the animal industries in this part of the state,” Galyean said.

In the midst of all planning, Texas Tech University is not losing sight of the program’s motive. If this program is accepted and put into motion, it will operate as a service for livestock dependent communities around the world.

“This isn’t something about Texas Tech, this is about a need in the livestock industry and rural communities and providing a solution to address a need,” Loneragan said. “So when Texas Tech builds and ultimately implements this program, then it really adds to our ability to serve society.”

This isn’t something about

Texas Tech, this is about a need

in the livestock industry and rural

communities and providing a

solution to address a need

“

”Jenna Holt-DayLevelland, Texas