Over the years, large animal veterinarians have become few and far between, leading to shortages in many areas of rural America. According to a 2023 Johns Hopkins study, since the end of World War II, the United States has lost 90 percent of its large animal veterinarians.
To help introduce young people to the veterinarian career path, Shelby Carlson, 4-H Youth Development Educator partnered with the Recharge Teen Center to offer a Veterinarian Medicine Camp.
“There is a shortage of large animal veterinarians, and we know that considering a career in veterinary medicine is something that’s important to a lot of young people. So I wanted to combine those two needs and just create an opportunity where where kids could explore those skills skills, and find maybe an interest and a passion for them,” says Carlson. “So we did some information on wildlife rehab, we focused on large animals, we focused on small animals, and we and we talked about veterinary medicine careers.”
In April, the University of Illinois announced a new program that allows college sophomores to apply for early acceptance into the Food Animal Veterinarian Early Acceptance Program.
