Growing Minnesota’s ranks of
food-animal veterinarians
Food-animal veterinarians are in short supply in Minnesota and nationwide. The University of Minnesota’s VetFAST program is uniquely positioned to support this critical need.
Veterinarian shortages throughout the United States have people waiting longer to get care for their animals. Lack of care for food animals in particular has hit rural areas hard, including those in Minnesota and the Midwest.
That’s why the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine’s (CVM) VetFAST program is working diligently to close the gap.
Among all U.S. states, Minnesota ranks 7th in overall livestock production.
VetFAST’s key benefits include access to high-quality mentors and scholarships, hands-on clinical training opportunities and connections within the food-animal industry, and a shorter education track—seven years instead of eight—saving students both time and money and moving them into this critical area of the workforce sooner.
VetFAST, short for Veterinary Food Animal Scholars Track, gives undergraduates at University of Minnesota campuses in Crookston, Morris, Rochester, and the Twin Cities a path to complete their bachelor's degree on their home campus and move directly into the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
“Minnesota is a high-producing food-animal state in general, and so rural communities are desperately in need,” says Karen Nelson, director of admissions for CVM. “Programs like this help us route students back into rural careers.”
Some of VetFAST’s key benefits include access to high-quality mentors and scholarships, hands-on clinical training opportunities and connections within the food-animal industry, and a shorter education track—seven years instead of eight—saving students both time and money and moving them into this critical area of the workforce sooner.
Two veterinary students assist an instructor with examining pigs housed in a barn on a Minnesota swine production farm.
Training future vets across campuses
When students interested in veterinary medicine arrive at the University of Minnesota Crookston campus, it isn’t long before they’re working with animals and examining specimens in labs.
“They are in the barns week two of their freshman year—we get them busy right away,” says Leslie Lekatz, associate professor and advisor.
Whether administering vaccinations, hoof trimming, or shearing, students play a key role in the care and management of the campus’ teaching animals.
Many University of Minnesota Crookston pre-veterinary students come from rural and livestock production backgrounds and have seen the challenges faced by food-animal veterinarians firsthand.
Craig Gapinski (’19 DVM) was drawn to the Crookston campus and the experiential learning opportunities it provides. Growing up on a farm, he was interested in a career that would keep him involved in agriculture, particularly working with livestock.
“Attending the University of Minnesota Crookston proved valuable in quite a few different ways,” Gapinski says. “It helped connect the classroom to real situations and scenarios. It also brought something fun to look forward to rather than just being stuck within a classroom.”
Now, Gapinski owns his own practice in rural Minnesota, with a caseload that he estimates is about 90 percent food animals.
From 4-H to VetFAST
Meanwhile, second-year University of Minnesota Morris biology major Eva Rustand says the VetFAST program was a natural fit for her. Rustand grew up on her family’s hobby farm north of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. In kindergarten, she started 4-H through University of Minnesota Extension.
“Where I'm from, you talk to anyone who raises animals and they'll probably bring up the fact that they can't find anyone to come out to their farm because there is a shortage of vets,” says Rustand, who will begin her DVM degree in 2026 at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Rustand plans to work as a practicing vet in either West Central or Southern Minnesota.
“I've seen how the people around me struggle with trying to find vet care, and they deserve to have a vet be able to serve them just as much as any other place,” says Rustand. “It's important to keep small farms stable. So I just want to be a part of hopefully letting small farmers stick around for as long as they can, helping those communities that I'm a part of.”
Veterinary students trim the hooves of a sheep as part of a clinical rotation through the College of Veterinary Medicine.
