MISSOURI MULTICULTURAL SCHOLARS IN VETERINARY MEDICINE

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: SERD GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0195824
• Grant No.: 2003-38413-13160
• Project No.: MOE-2003-03527
• Proposal No.: 2003-03527
• Program Code: KF.V6
• Project Start Date: Jul 1, 2003
• Project End Date: Jun 30, 2007
• Grant Year: 2003

Project Director
Chastain, C. B.

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
(N/A)
COLUMBIA,MO 65211

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
Unrepresented ethnic minorities have not had sufficient role models nor an equal opportunity for mentoring to consider veterinary medicine as a career option. Their absence in the profession negatively affects the distribution of veterinarians in certain areas of society. One of the greatest deterrents to graduating from a college of veterinary medicine is debt at graduation. Average debt at graduation now 150% of the average starting annual salary in veterinary medicine. Providing scholarships to offset the debt of graduation is a valuable recruiting and retention tool.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

veterinary medicine

agriculture

teaching

higher education

minorities

ethnic groups

assistance

students

recruitment

agricultural education

education programs

college students

retention

careers

occupational choices

Goals / Objectives
The objectives of the Missouri Multicultural Scholars in Veterinary Medicine are to support and enhance recruiting and retention of unrepresented ethnic minority students who meet standard academic and non-academic admission requirements for the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine.

Project Methods
Recruiting will be linked to a current program managed by the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine called "Pathways to Success in the Health Professions". This program is funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Its objective is to create a pipeline of disadvantaged students who are interested in veterinary medicine and prepare them to be competitive applicants to colleges of veterinary medicine. Retention is fostered by a team approach of peer brothers and sisters, instructors, directors, and associate deans. The scholarships will reduce the chance of attrition for financial reasons.

Progress 07/01/03 to 06/30/07

Outputs
(N/A)

Impacts
Veterinary student debt at graduation is a major problem in the profession. The financial support provided by this project enabled veterinary students to pursue their goals and aids in retention by reducing the stress of financial indebtedness.

Publications

• No publications reported this period