November 4, 2008

The Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences is trying to counter the trend of a decreasing number of farm vets with new, enthusiastic students. (Pet Pulse Photo by Victoria Lim)

CHICAGO -- Naomi Harper, 16, says that when she was younger, she wasn't satisfied with simply seeing an animal. She wanted to touch it -- to ask questions.

It's no surprise, then, that Harper is now a junior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, where she is contemplating a career in caring for animals.

"I have definitely considered being a farmer a few times while I was at this high school," Harper said with a laugh.

That laughter -- and enthusiasm -- is music to the ears of Harper's teacher, Dr. Joan White, the school's animal science instructor and school veterinarian.

Mixed in with the books and blackboards are pigs, cows, horses, goats, sheep and chickens.

The school is the last farm within the city limits. It's also one of the last hopes for White to try to save a dying breed: the farm animal doctor.

"The farm animal veterinarian is disappearing and it's a necessity for our food, and the health of farm animals," White said.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, less than 10 percent of the more than 83,000 veterinarians in the U.S. focus on the care of farm animals, also known as "food supply animals."

An AVMA 2006 study indicates the need for farm animal vets will increase 12 percent to 14 percent, but the supply will decrease four percent to five percent in the same time period.

The AVMA says a crucial, encroaching issue is finding replacements for retiring farm animal vets. AVMA members report they're having difficulty selling their practices, said AVMA's spokesman David Kirkpatrick.

"And they're finding it difficult, as we speak today, to hire people. That problem exists now and we're really concerned about what might happen in the future," Kirkpatrick said.

A program like the one at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences is seen as a vital place to start recruiting. White said in the six years she's taught at the school, some students have gone on to be veterinarian technicians, but so far, none have become farm animal vets.

"The deans of both Purdue [University] and the University of Illinois have contacted me looking to identify students they can track through high school, through their undergraduate studies, to get into this kind of field," White said.

Kirkpatrick said the shortage of farm doctors is "severe" in the Midwest. Legislators also recognize this trend -- the Illinois Legislature is considering a bill to provide financial assistance to students who pursue careers as farm animal vets.

Still, the required eight years of higher education to obtain a veterinarian degree has discouraged some potential students from furthering their studies, White says.

Hope prevails, however, in some students.

"I've always loved animals and coming here brought my attention to say I really want to be a doctor in livestock animals," senior Brian Castro said.

When Castro first arrived at the school, his interests mainly lay in studying exotic animals. Working alongside White, however, has changed his mind and his course of study.

Harper, meanwhile, says she's not completely sold on a career in farm animal medicine and is also considering a career as a human doctor.

Yet the opportunity to get hands-on experience caring for, grooming, and yes -- even cleaning up after -- farm animals at the high school has impacted her.

"It has definitely turned this city girl into a farmer," she said of the program, which will hopefully find success with turning city kids into farm animal vets, too.

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