Can we grow more rural veterinarians?
Ideas to reverse the decline of rural veterinary care.
By Alan Newport
Missouri Farmers Association
This spring when Dr. Chuck Dake started looking for another veterinarian to work in his rural clinic, he knew it would be a challenge.
Dake has shared the practice with his father in their clinic near Mount Vernon, Mo., since he graduated from vet school. However his father recently won a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. The problem Dake now faces in replacing his father is that it’s a rare young veterinarian these days who wants to treat farm animals.
Instead, new-crop vets usually prefer nights and weekends off and labor in a warm dry office instead of cold, muddy corrals or sweltering hot barns. Most also prefer not to be kicked and stomped by their patients. Hence, most new veterinarians—the kind Dake needs to hire—aren’t interested in working with him.
FULL STORY
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