Hill’s Pet Nutrition expands veterinary training with four new clinical nutrition residencies in US universities

United States: Hill’s Pet Nutrition funds four three-year clinical nutrition residencies at leading US universities to address the small pool of board-certified veterinary nutritionists, supporting specialist care, education, and evidence-based feeding practices in veterinary medicine.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition is widening its support for veterinary training by funding four clinical nutrition residencies at leading US universities. The move comes as the pool of board-certified veterinary nutritionists remains small, limiting specialist care for complex cases and creating commercial value in education, referral networks and evidence-based feeding advice.

The sponsored three-year programmes will run at The Ohio State University, the University of California, Davis, the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee. They are designed to move experienced veterinarians towards board eligibility in clinical nutrition, with residents spending much of their time in teaching hospitals, assessing patients, building diet-led treatment plans and working alongside university specialists.

Dr Chelsie Estey, Hill’s US chief veterinary officer, said the company sees training as central to its mission and expects each resident to influence colleagues long after the sponsorship ends. A Hill’s-sponsored resident at Georgia, Dr Phantira Krisadasima, said the opportunity was helping her develop both as a clinician and as a future nutrition specialist.

The residencies add to a wider academic push. Hill’s has also backed Kansas State University’s veterinary college with a $1m endowed professorship, while the university’s Hill’s Pet Health & Nutrition Centre supports teaching, research and practical training. For Hill’s, the strategy helps embed nutritional science deeper into day-to-day veterinary practice.