June 3rd - Texas A&M (w/ West Texas A&M) celebrate opening of veterinary buildings

1,859 Views | 8 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by CanyonAg77
aggiejohn
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Texas A&M University System, with West Texas A&M, celebrate opening of veterinary related buildings

For those of yall who live in the area, how is this project going? How are we doing in regards to the TTU effort? I saw the following tweet earlier today and it made me think about this "little" competition with Texas Tech for a panhandle veterinary presence.

Bluecat_Aggie94
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Texas Tech's building is going up, and they start classes this fall.

VERO opened last August. Students have been rotating through. I'm not in love with the exterior of the building but it's a really nice facility inside. Given the entirely of the Ag complex at WT and the Texas Diagnostic Laboratory which is right next door, and the additional facilities likely on the way, the VERO/WT complex is a pretty impressive counter to the Tech vet school.

These are two very different models. Tech is a full on vet school. Students will graduate from their pre-vet/biology/animal science programs all across the country and then apply (and probably get in ) to Tech's program.

VERO is really two programs. Texas A&M students who have gone through the same admissions program above at TAMU (although it will have been much harder for them to get in ), and then they will spend time at VERO in Canyon doing their large animal rotation.

Alternatively WT students will take pre-vet classes from DVM (and WT) faculty at the VERO center, and then will slide directly into vet school in a 2+2 program.

The latter is the one that has a chance to really deliver large animal vets to West Texas, which is the plank Tech used to sell their vet program to the Texas legislature, but which is unlikely to work. In Tech's model, the students are still going to bear a large debt when they graduate, and the economics of it will incentivize them doing the same thing that vets everywhere do to pay the bills take care of fluffy and Fido.

The 2+2 program between WT and A&M/VERO will be built on students from West Texas and the Panhandle, and will actually produce graduates with less debt who can therefor make good on their commitment to serving the large animal needs out here.

But the vet school in Amarillo is actually good for Amarillo but probably not the best thing for the state of Texas, though. It also places A&M's DVM program in a position of having to battle Tech for state resources. But those are an increasingly small percentage of operations, and I think A&M will do fine with a new competitor in the market.
aggiejohn
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Thank you for that very informative response.
CanyonAg77
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The whole new Ag complex at WT is impressive, and I think it looks great. They will steal some Ag majors from TTech, and even A&M. Plus, they have a great meat market in the Ag building (not the Vet buildings) where we shop.

I see a great future for the Ag program at WT.

A small quibble about Tech being a "full on Vet program". They are not doing hands-on clinic work on their campus. They plan to send the students out to local vets to accomplish that. I'm not sure that's a great model.

I also think the stated purpose of training vets in the Panhandle so they'll stay in the Panhandle is a joke. Vets are still going to head for small animal practices in the big cities, so they can pay off their loans.
jtp01
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Canyon. I see a huge opportunity for Large animal DVM with The large number of Dairies, feedyards and hog farms. This program can be huge I think. I work in the Ag industry and it is a consistent theme. "Our vet is getting older and not sure what we will do when he retires".

Sunray ISD is putting in a Vet Technician program now. We will have a working vet clinic where kids will learn from a DVM and actually work in the clinic we are building. Imagine a kid graduating from high school with a Vet Tech certification then heading to WT. putting kinds on a path to success. I might have become a DVM myself had programs like this been available when I was a teenager!
CanyonAg77
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Two ways to fix the problem:

1) Large dairies, feedlots, and hog operations need to pay Vets enough to survive

2) State or local governments, non-profits, industry associations, wealthy individuals, or a combination of some or all, will need to pay off student loans for any vet willing to work as a large animal vet in the Panhandle for x number of years
aggiejohn
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The only doctors in my little west Texas hometown were from Thailand. As a kid growing up, I had heard rumors to have lived and raised their family there, despite being the only people of Asian descent, because the city or county had paid for their medical school tuition.

It wouldn't surprise me to see it come to that in the future for rural vets as well.
panhandlefarmer
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The vets are so busy out here! How are they going to have time to teach these Tech Bet students? I don't understand that part of the model. I think it will be more like interns doing the worst of the jobs for the vet so he can take care of the real money making situations.
TommyBrady
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The next two years the state will give over $17 million to Tech for their vet school. They could have instead spent $10 million over a 5 years paying off student loan debt for around ~150 vets to practice in West Texas. Use the leftover $7 million to help fund VERO and the state would be 100x better off than sending money to Tech.
CanyonAg77
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Don't forget that something like $25 million (or more, I forget) was given to Tech by private funding. There's another few hundred school debt payoffs.
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