The following message was distributed to Colorado veterinarians by the State Veterinarian’s Office on October 9, 2020. CVMA is sharing the message on behalf of the State Veterinarian’s Office.
Dear colleagues,
The USDA’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA), helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of the debt incurred in pursuit of their veterinary medicine degrees in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage situations. This federally funded loan repayment program is separate from the state funded program recently created in Colorado.
Shortage situations are geographical areas that have a shortage of veterinarians practicing in the following areas: food animal medicine, public health, and epidemiology and food safety. It is the role of the State Veterinarian’s office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture to submit nominations of shortage areas to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) by November 9, 2020.
We are soliciting your input to assist in identifying areas with the highest priority as well as potential VMLRP applicants whom we can provide guidance to during the application process. Your input will help us establish which areas of the state may be designated as shortage areas. Our ultimate goal is to help those veterinarians who are interested in food animal practice, have educational debt, and want to practice in the state of Colorado.
More information on the program can be found at the following website:
http://nifa.usda.gov/program/veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program
Information or input that would be helpful in the shortage area decision-making process:
- Geographic areas where a veterinary shortage situation exists
- Why this area should be considered a veterinary shortage situation?
- Consequences of not securing/retaining a veterinarian in this area
- Results of past recruiting efforts
- Recent or potential hires to identify possible VMLRP applicants
- Licensed veterinarians (DVM) with:
- Qualifying educational loan debt
- Full-time veterinarian position or have accepted an offer of veterinary employment in an identified shortage area of the state
- Licensed veterinarians (DVM) with:
You may provide feedback by November 1 to:
Becky Hoffman (Programs Coordinator)
303-870-5494; [email protected]
OR
Keith A. Roehr, DVM (State Veterinarian)
303-869-9130; [email protected]
If you know of any colleagues who would be interested and are eligible for the VMLRP, please forward this information on to them or have them contact the State Veterinarian’s Office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
Thank you in advance for your assistance,
Keith A. Roehr DVM
State Veterinarian, Colorado Department of Agriculture Animal Health Division
