And Lubbock may be the epicenter of the nations cotton industry but it is not the epicenter for the beef cattle, stockyards, ranching and beef slaughter and packaging industry - Amarillo is. And the metro pop of Amarillo is 309+K while the pop of Lubbock is 314+k (including TT).
Within the metro area of Amarillo is Canyon; Texas and the home of West Texas A&M which has and has had a focus on farming and ranching since its inception in 1910 - 10 years before Tech - and has always had extensive farm and ranching lands. The Texas A&M System saw WT as an opportunity to reach out to needs of the Panhandle and formed an official relationship in 1990 with the express intent of offering opportunities for WT students to have a path to graduate programs previously not available to them. Basic liberal arts programs as well as expanded Ag related opportunities soon followed.
It was well known that many rural areas of Texas were proportionately underserved by licensed board certified veterinarians in the state of Texas. In the 80's Texas A&M saw an opportunity to not only fill this need geographically but also to expand its already world class Veterinarian College research to parallel efforts in its Medical College to serve rural areas - which has always been a piller of the establishment of a Medical College from the beginning. The association with WT (and others) was the result of that forward thinking.
As a result of long range planning to increase the capabilities of greater numbers of vets throughout the state - including the panhandle - A&M sought and received approval to increase class enrollment and more facilities to support the additional candidates at the main campus in College Station. Bigger and better facilities as a result of that foresight have now been completed. The avenue for getting to be in the larger class size has been extended and financially supported from several universities throughout the state - including guaranteed slots to students who matriculate from a focused pre-vet undergraduate program at WT. This entire thoughtfully planned program was to assist in providing properly trained - in a proper university setting - board certified veterinarians to meet local geographic areas the best way possible without expending hundreds of millions of dollars building duplicative facilities and staffing. The relatively recent TT initiative is an alternative is to provide in effect an OJT (on the job locally training) apprentice program in hopes that the candidate - without the benefit of a proper clinical hospital - can evolve into a "journeyman" vet and remain locally to serve the area - whether capably board certified or not following a Canadian training program. This is a critical discussion as to what is a properly trained Veterinarian so that he/she can be board certified and the animals (and their owners) best interests be met.
As has been pointed out repeatedly above the least expensive - and most academically acceptable - way to become a board certified veterinarian is to have access and study in a research and clinical appropriate hospital - which happens to be on the main campus of Texas A&M in College Station - with recently completed updated and expanded facilities and staffing. While it may be desirable for some of these properly trained Veterinarians to focus solely on the cattle industry in the Panhandle or other rural areas their decisions will be driven by money-income-opportunity. And, instead of funding an OJT version of a vet-tech in start up facilities it is much more cost effective for the state to offer grants to offset education costs and provide dollar incentives to those students who might prefer rural/cattle practices but have financial obligations that prevent them from following up.
Another misnomer in this entire discussion is that all these feedlots use board certified vets to take care of all their clinical needs- they do not - but should.
FWIW and as a side note anyone who lives in Amarillo or other centers of the beef packing/feedlot industry well know they are in the center of it all because of the smell that wafts through quite often when the winds are just right... Like those around oil rigs, natives of the area say that smell is the smell of money...
Within the metro area of Amarillo is Canyon; Texas and the home of West Texas A&M which has and has had a focus on farming and ranching since its inception in 1910 - 10 years before Tech - and has always had extensive farm and ranching lands. The Texas A&M System saw WT as an opportunity to reach out to needs of the Panhandle and formed an official relationship in 1990 with the express intent of offering opportunities for WT students to have a path to graduate programs previously not available to them. Basic liberal arts programs as well as expanded Ag related opportunities soon followed.
It was well known that many rural areas of Texas were proportionately underserved by licensed board certified veterinarians in the state of Texas. In the 80's Texas A&M saw an opportunity to not only fill this need geographically but also to expand its already world class Veterinarian College research to parallel efforts in its Medical College to serve rural areas - which has always been a piller of the establishment of a Medical College from the beginning. The association with WT (and others) was the result of that forward thinking.
As a result of long range planning to increase the capabilities of greater numbers of vets throughout the state - including the panhandle - A&M sought and received approval to increase class enrollment and more facilities to support the additional candidates at the main campus in College Station. Bigger and better facilities as a result of that foresight have now been completed. The avenue for getting to be in the larger class size has been extended and financially supported from several universities throughout the state - including guaranteed slots to students who matriculate from a focused pre-vet undergraduate program at WT. This entire thoughtfully planned program was to assist in providing properly trained - in a proper university setting - board certified veterinarians to meet local geographic areas the best way possible without expending hundreds of millions of dollars building duplicative facilities and staffing. The relatively recent TT initiative is an alternative is to provide in effect an OJT (on the job locally training) apprentice program in hopes that the candidate - without the benefit of a proper clinical hospital - can evolve into a "journeyman" vet and remain locally to serve the area - whether capably board certified or not following a Canadian training program. This is a critical discussion as to what is a properly trained Veterinarian so that he/she can be board certified and the animals (and their owners) best interests be met.
As has been pointed out repeatedly above the least expensive - and most academically acceptable - way to become a board certified veterinarian is to have access and study in a research and clinical appropriate hospital - which happens to be on the main campus of Texas A&M in College Station - with recently completed updated and expanded facilities and staffing. While it may be desirable for some of these properly trained Veterinarians to focus solely on the cattle industry in the Panhandle or other rural areas their decisions will be driven by money-income-opportunity. And, instead of funding an OJT version of a vet-tech in start up facilities it is much more cost effective for the state to offer grants to offset education costs and provide dollar incentives to those students who might prefer rural/cattle practices but have financial obligations that prevent them from following up.
Another misnomer in this entire discussion is that all these feedlots use board certified vets to take care of all their clinical needs- they do not - but should.
FWIW and as a side note anyone who lives in Amarillo or other centers of the beef packing/feedlot industry well know they are in the center of it all because of the smell that wafts through quite often when the winds are just right... Like those around oil rigs, natives of the area say that smell is the smell of money...
