Utah legislative committee ponders joint veterinarian program

SALT LAKE CITY — An increasingly dire shortage of veterinarians in Utah — particularly in rural counties — is driving discussion of a potential educational partnership between Logan's Utah State University and Washington State University in Pullman.

Under the proposal aired Wednesday before the Legislature's interim meeting of the natural resources committee, such a regional pairing would be patterned after similar joint ventures already in place among a variety of higher education institutions, including a partnership involving the University of Nebraska and Iowa State University.

The problem, said the state agriculture department's Bruce King, is that urban practices are often more lucrative for budding veterinarians, who may face student loan repayments of as much as $150,000.

When it comes to rendering expensive medical care, urban households have pets for whom they're willing to plunk down dollars, while pigs, sheep and cows are considered "economic entities," King said.

"Someone from San Juan County, who wants to come back there and live — not only because they like it, but because they have family there — are going to end up in Provo or Salt Lake City, or not even coming back to the state," he said.

A university partnership — which would cost the state $1.7 million — would thrust USU into status as a "professional" school because of its ability to offer veterinary medicine as a discipline, said Kenneth White, with the university's veterinary sciences department.

The state, he added, lacks any doctoral program on the clinician science of animal care, even though the demand is there among students.

A pre-selection process instituted at the undergraduate level would allow the university to target those students who indicate a willingness to practice in Utah and in underserved rural counties.

While the first two years of education would be accomplished in Logan, the remainder of the program's educational requirements would be fulfilled in Washington. Washington State already has a partnership in place with Oregon.

"The aim is not just trying to decrease the shortage, but to increase the educational opportunities for Utah students," said Rep. John Mathis, a R-Naples, and a veterinarian by profession.

Under the program as it is envisioned now, 20 Utah students would be accepted into the discipline, as well as 10 out-of-state students.

The first students would be admitted in fall 2012, the same year USU's new agricultural sciences building is scheduled to open.

At the unanimous urging of committee members, Mathis was directed to pursue drafting a bill on the joint venture for consideration next legislative session.

Rep. Jack R. Draxler, R-North Logan, said that, given the state's tough fiscal condition, there would be "no way we could consider establishing a veterinary program in our state. Yet for a fraction of the cost, we have the opportunity to do just that."

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