IVET - Food Animal Veterinarian Program

• Are you a second-year veterinary student with a passion to work in food animal medicine?

• Do you need help financing your education?

If you answered yes, Illinois Farm Bureau's^® (IFB's) Illinois Veterinary Education Training (IVET) Program might be a good fit for you!

IFB realizes the financial barriers that veterinary students face. Our IVET Program helps offset the high cost of veterinary education while encouraging the next generation of veterinary professionals to work in Illinois. IFB established IVET in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $610,000 to 29 veterinary students who focus on caring for food animals in Illinois.

How does the IVET loan program work?

The IVET Program offers low interest loans up to $50,000, to as many as three veterinary students each year. Loans are paid to recipients for a period of two to three years and are payable over 5 years after graduation. IVET also awards recipients a $1,500 stipend during their fourth year in school to help pay expenses associated with clinical rotations. Eligible applicants must be attending an accredited college of veterinary medicine in the U.S. and must commit to an Illinois food animal practice and work in this field for five years.

Additional Details:

• Applications open in March and are due May 15.

• The selection committee interviews applicants each spring.

• Successful applicants will be notified by mail.

• Loan disbursements begin in August.

For more information about the program, contact Tasha Bunting at 309-557-2993 or tbunting@ilfb.org.

Congratulations to this year's candidates: Emma Frank and Grace Pollitt.

Growing up with livestock inspired two young women from western Illinois to become veterinarians, and both are receiving support from IFB during their education.

Grace Pollitt of Rushville and Emma Frank of Atkinson have been accepted into IFB’s IVET program, which aims to support the next generation of veterinarians focusing on caring for food animals.

Both recipients will receive the full $50,000 loan provided through the program.

“Illinois Farm Bureau is proud to support veterinary students pursuing a career in caring for food animals,” said Tasha Bunting, IFB director of commodity programs and farm systems. “To succeed, farmers need the services of a food-animal veterinarian to help them care for their cattle, swine, sheep and poultry. It’s an incredibly rewarding career field that has seen an increase in demand in recent years.”

The IVET program provides up to $50,000 to as many as three veterinary students each year to help offset the cost of education. Loans are provided for two to three years, and students in their fourth year are eligible for a $1,500 stipend. Graduates must commit to working in a food animal practice that serves Illinois livestock producers and repay the loan over five years after graduation.

IFB established IVET in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $550,000 to 27 veterinary students focusing on food animal care in Illinois.

Pollitt is a student at the Illinois State University College of Veterinary Medicine. In her IVET application, Pollitt wrote that she fell in love with veterinary medicine from her exposure to the field during her childhood.

“Growing up on a farm taught me a love and passion for livestock production that has only grown as I aged,” Pollitt wrote. “My career goals are to end up back in the west-central Illinois area and practice mixed animal medicine, while hopefully raising beef cattle on the side. We need rural mixed veterinarians badly in our state, and I plan to help fill that gap through my career.”

Frank is a student at Oklahoma State University. In her IVET application, she wrote that her childhood aspiration has grown into a professional passion of becoming a food animal veterinarian.

“My background in food animal medicine has made it abundantly clear that there is a shortage of veterinarians in the industry,” Frank wrote. “I have grown up around the importance of beef cattle, but I have seen a progressive decline in veterinarians willing to work on them. It is my goal to make a difference in bridging this gap with the next generation by working as a food animal veterinarian. I want to give back to the community that has shaped me into the person I am today.” -FarmWeek