Ohio State’s mentorship programme aims to combat rural vet shortages with farm-animal training

Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is expanding its mentorship scheme to boost rural large-animal practice and address significant veterinary workforce shortages in underserved communities.

Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is leaning on mentorship to widen the pipeline into rural large-animal practice, where shortages continue to leave livestock producers and communities with patchy access to care. Through its Large Animal Rural Veterinary Mentoring Programme, students are placed alongside experienced practitioners to see the clinical demands of farm-animal work as well as the commercial realities of running a practice.

Dr Allison Gardner, the college’s interim associate dean, says mentorship is often decisive in shaping where veterinary students work after graduation. That emphasis fits a wider Ohio effort to tackle workforce gaps in rural and food-system medicine. A report from Ohio’s Department of Agriculture, Ohio State and the Farm Journal Foundation found that nearly one-third of the state’s 88 counties are USDA-designated rural veterinary shortage areas.

The mentoring scheme sits within Ohio State’s broader Protect OHIO initiative, which combines student support, rural immersion and more hands-on large-animal training. The college’s Veterinary Medical Center also provides farm-animal services within a 60-mile radius of Marysville, underscoring the practical need for more practice-ready veterinarians in underserved areas.

Image Source: Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine