New Incentives Created For Rural Vet Techs

The Government of Saskatchewan announced this week that they will be enhancing their support for rural Saskatchewan veterinary services.

Beginning in the fall of 2021, Saskatchewan Polytechnic's two-year registered veterinary technologist program will give students the opportunity to begin their studies remotely and complete the program at a partnering clinical practice with local veterinarians in rural areas.

Eight students will be accepted for the fall intake on the new option, whereas the vet tech diploma program usually accepts 26 first-year students per year at the school’s Saskatoon campus.

A number of incentives were introduced to enhance the availability of veterinary services in rural Saskatchewan. These include the development of a new virtual option to train registered veterinary technologists in rural and remote Saskatchewan, as well as a loan forgiveness program that will be offered to new graduates who practice in rural or remote areas of the province.

"Students will be able to study and take their classes at home and do a lot of their clinical work at a local veterinarian shop," told Brent Brownlee, Director of Universities and Advanced Education. "Another element of this is that we're going to work with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon at the U of S and they are going to work to change their admission requirements to take in three students who have an interest in working in rural Saskatchewan. This is the first program of its kind for our province."

In 2021-22, the Ministry of Advanced Education is providing $687,000 for development and operating costs. In addition, veterinarians and veterinary technologists who work in rural and remote communities for up to five years will have up to $20,000 of their Saskatchewan Student Loans forgiven.

"It is modeled after the loan forgiveness program for nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse practitioners. It will forgive up to 20 percent of an individual's student loan debt each year. They do have to work in a rural community for at least 12 consecutive months after January 21st of 2021. So these applications will be able to be made in 2022. If a vet or vet tech stays in a rural community for five years they can essentially have their provincial student loan repaid," explained Kirk Wosminity, Executive Director of Student and Support Services and Advanced Education.

The remote learning and loan forgiveness programs are “important to addressing a labor market shortage in rural Saskatchewan,” Advanced Education Minister Gene Makowsky said in Tuesday’s release.

The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, for one, “has been talking about the challenge of diminished rural veterinary services for years,” association chair Arnold Balicki said in the province’s release.

The association is involved in a preceptorship partnership with Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association, he noted, to help third-year students try out practices in rural Saskatchewan.

The province’s latest steps, Balicki said, “are very welcome in ensuring cattle producers have access to veterinary services across Saskatchewan.”

“The provincial government’s move to target three rural-oriented seats will help encourage even more of our veterinary graduates to choose agriculture-focused veterinary careers,” WCVM interim dean Dr. Gillian Muir said in the same release.

A shortage of veterinarians and vet techs in rural areas hasn’t gone unnoticed in neighbouring Alberta either, where the sector is considering more ways to use vet techs in rural practices, and seeking out internationally-trained vets.

As part of this strategy, the Ministry of Agriculture reaffirms its continued annual support for the provincial Mentorship Program, targeting senior veterinary students, in partnership with the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association.