As the number of students pursuing careers in veterinary medicine continues to grow, federal funding is becoming available to professionals to help them pay back their students loans. This financial assistance will especially benefit those who have committed to pursue careers in areas that are lacking in sufficient veterinary care.
Russell C. Redding, Pennsylvania agriculture secretary , announced this week that veterinarians who work in several counties located in underserved areas in south-central part of the state are now eligible for the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP). The program helps to repay up to $25,000 in student loans for up to three years.
Eligible candidates include professionals who have worked in designated areas for at least three years and spend at least 80 percent of their professional efforts working as food animal veterinary practitioners. Those who wish to apply must have a doctor of veterinary medicine degree, which they earned from an academic institutions that is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Redding stated that "this announcement is welcome news for our farmers and our veterinary medical students and practitioners."
In the next eight years, the employment of veterinarians is expected to increase by 33 percent, and will create an estimated 19,700 new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
