The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has announced a new student loan debt forgiveness program for new veterinarians who commit to four years of employment in food animal vet medicine.
Depending on demand and the availability of future funds, the new AVMA program hopes to support about 50 rural food animal veterinarians over the next five years. It would provide total payments for each practitioner of up to 100 thousand dollars that can be applied to student loan debt.
According to AVMA, about half of all food animal vets are over age 50 and nearing retirement. At the same time, only about 15 percent of vet school graduates are pursuing a food animal career path. And new vets have an average of 120-thousand dollars in educational debt.
The USDA recently announced a similar federal program, which will soon begin accepting applications.
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