BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) recently accepted Grace Pollitt of Rushville and Emma Frank of Atkinson into the Illinois Veterinary Student Loan Program (IVET), which aims to support the next generation of veterinarians focusing on caring for food animals.
Both recipients will receive the full $50,000 loan provided through the program.
“Illinois Farm Bureau is proud to support veterinary students pursue a career in caring for food animals,” said Tasha Bunting, IFB director of commodity programs and farm systems. “To succeed, farmers need the services of a food-animal veterinarian to help them care for their cattle, swine, sheep and poultry. It’s an incredibly rewarding career field that has seen an increase in demand in recent years.”
The IVET program provides up to $50,000 to as many as three veterinary students each year to help offset the cost of education. Loans are provided for two to three years, and students in their fourth year are eligible for a $1,500 stipend. Graduates must commit to working in a food animal practice that serves Illinois livestock producers and repay the loan over five years after graduation.
Illinois Farm Bureau established IVET in 2005. Since then, the organization has awarded more than $550,000 to 27 veterinary students focusing on food animal care in Illinois.
For more information about the program, visit www.ilfb.org/IVET.
About Grace Pollitt
Pollitt is a student at the Illinois State University College of Veterinary Medicine. In her IVET application, Pollitt wrote that she fell in love with veterinary medicine from her exposure to the field during her childhood.
“Growing up on a farm taught me a love and passion for livestock production that has only grown as I aged,” she wrote. “My career goals are to end up back in the West-Central Illinois area and practice mixed animal medicine, while hopefully raising beef cattle on the side. We need rural mixed veterinarians badly in our state, and I plan to help fill that gap through my career.”
About Emma Frank
Frank is a student at Oklahoma State University. In her IVET application, she wrote what began as a childhood aspiration has grown into a professional passion of becoming a food animal veterinarian.
“My background in food animal medicine has made it abundantly clear that there is a shortage of veterinarians in the industry,” Frank wrote. “I have grown up around the importance of beef cattle, but I have seen a progressive decline in veterinarians willing to work on them. It is my goal to make a difference in bridging this gap with the next generation by working as a food animal veterinarian. I want to give back to the community that has shaped me into the person I am today.”