Raising The Steaks

Shortage of Veterinarians: Who will serve Rural America?

By: Leticia

One great thing about the news is how easy it is to tell what is a “hot topic” by how many different newspapers and magazines will cover the same story.  Just a couple of weeks ago, the Las Cruces Sun News, which is my local newspaper, issued a story about the shortage of rural veterinarians out in the west.  Another article in Drovers talked about how the amount of veterinarians serving agriculture is shrinking.  On campus, there is constant talk about offering incentives for student pursuing a veterinarian degree.  Now, when most people hear about the lack of an adequate amount of vets, there is only one logical question:  Why?  Well, while I am by no means a rural veterinarian, I believe that I can help answer this simple question.

Since I was a freshman in high school, I can remember spending my summers running around with our local veterinarian.  Our day would start about five o’clock in the morning, I would meet her at her house, and we would drive anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour and a half to get to the dairy of our destination.  For the next two to four hours, she would spend preg-checking cows and heifers, while I would help read tag numbers and record information.  The afternoons would vary between different surgeries, c-sections, calvings, or ranch work.  All of which was done outside in a chute.  Thursday afternoons were special because instead of the bovine work, we would work on horses.  Depending on the day, we would come home anywhere between five to some times eleven.  The job wasn’t easy.  And to add to it, there was always a long list of calls, soaring temperatures, and the occasion “problem patient.”  So I ask you, could you do this?

I always have to laugh at my dad.  When I call back home to ask what his plans are for the weekend, sometimes I can get a response like “Well if I could ever get the vet out here, we would test some cows.”  It seems that, as people, we can never appreciate what other people go through until we’ve spent a day with them.  I have to remind him, and sometimes myself, that we are not the only ranch that Dr. Kincaid goes to.  In fact, she, along with the three other vets in the practice, cover three counties and some of Texas!  That is a lot, especially when you consider that this includes Chaves County, which is the largest dairy county in the state of New Mexico.  So, while he is a concern for the vet, he definitely is not her only customer.

The state of New Mexico and several other states are working to make-up for the shortage of vets in the area.  This includes scholarships, programs that pay for out of state tuition in states where students can not obtain a vet degree, and making contracts with existing vet practices to help students pay student loans, which is a big reason why many students do not pursue a vet degree.

All of this, however, can not make up for the passion and drive that a rural veterinarian must posses.  I myself have no desire to enter the field, but I still enjoy the experience of learning and work during the summers that I do get.  The vets I have worked with, like many across the nation, have no regular nine-to-five job.  The cows still get sick, get hurt, and need checking despite holidays, time of day, or weather.  While my parents raised me and my brother to work hard, they also told us to go to college and get a degree so that we won’t have to work long, hard hours in the weather.  The veterinarians of rural America work harder than most people I know, and have a doctorate degree…something doesn’t seem to add up!  It’s not an easy job, and it’s easy to see why there is such a decreasing number of them serving American agriculture.  I tip my hat to each of one of them.  They are just another vital part that makes the agriculture industry what is today.