One of Protect OHIO's main goals is to educate more Ohio veterinarians to serve rural and large animal needs. The college is expanding its class size while aligning growth with Ohio’s workforce needs. As part of this effort, a greater percentage of seats will be reserved for Ohio residents compared to the past to strengthen the state’s veterinary workforce, particularly in rural and food-animal practice. The college continues to admit qualified out-of-state students while remaining focused on serving Ohio communities.

Admissions decisions are made using a holistic review process rather than GPA alone. While pre-requisites and a minimum 3.2 GPA are required to ensure students are academically prepared for our rigorous curriculum, applicants are also evaluated on leadership experience, letters of recommendation, veterinary and animal experience, communication and interpersonal skills. Faculty and admissions staff recognize that students with rural and farm backgrounds often gain valuable hands-on experiences early and encourage students to thoroughly describe those experiences on their applications.

Read more about the admissions process here.

The college aims to reduce barriers for students who may lack direct access to veterinary mentors to increase confidence while applying. Recorded admissions webinars, visits to rural high schools and undergraduate pre-veterinary programs and structured guidance on how to present experiences effectively on their applications are some of the ways we’re helping students.  

The college is also expanding access to the Large Animal Rural Veterinary Mentoring Program to students outside of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, partnering with the University of Findlay, Otterbein University and Wilmington College. These efforts are intended to build confidence in students and help them navigate a competitive application process with clarity.

The Ohio State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s new curriculum, launched in fall of 2022, is designed to better integrate classroom learning with regular and recurring hands-on experience outside the classroom from veterinary students’ first day through the fourth year of their DVM program. The updated curriculum emphasizes early hands-on learning, with about 25% of students’ pre-clinical years focused on skills training.

The college also offers the Spectrum of Care Externship Program, a ten-week program for students between their first and second years of the DVM program at Ohio State. The program combines intensive education training with real-world clinical practice experience serving a varied client base in a rural or USDA-designated veterinary shortage area.

While some large lectures are necessary, hands-on learning remains in small-group environments. Faculty design experiences that promote discussion, collaboration and regular feedback from students. Clinical skills sessions, laboratories and field-based training allow students to interact closely with instructors in smaller groups, maintaining educational quality even as class sizes grow. The college is hiring additional faculty and instructors to improve the instructor-to-student ratio in preparation for increased class sizes.

The updated curriculum emphasizes population health, preventive medicine and biosecurity. Students gain early and repeated exposure to farm settings and learn skills applicable across production systems. Training focuses on individual animal care, herd health, records analysis and disease prevention strategies essential to today’s practice.  

The college is also hiring faculty with poultry and food animal experience and is expanding hands-on clinical rotations, including at the Large Animal Veterinary Clinic in Marysville and off-site externships.

Business practices, communication and professionalism are embedded throughout the curriculum. In their final year, students take the lead in providing veterinary care during their rotation at the Frank Stanton Veterinary Spectrum of Care Clinic. This rotation allows students to manage patients in addition to fine-tuning clinic and business management skills while building the confidence and competence needed to be successful practitioners.  

In addition, students may pursue a graduate minor in Business in Health Sciences through Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business, which is often supported through scholarships.

The program provides a strong foundational education that supports a wide range of career paths. When specific specialty faculty are not available, students are supported through externships, off-campus clinical experiences and mentorship connections beyond the university. Faculty advisors actively help students identify opportunities that align with their interests and long-term goals.

Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine offers comprehensive support services, including academic advising, peer tutoring, mental health counseling, psychiatric services and access to food assistance. The college implemented the Be Well initiative, a comprehensive program to promote wellbeing in the college and throughout the veterinary profession.

The College of Veterinary Medicine has expanded scholarship funding, awarding millions of dollars annually to reduce the cost of attendance. In the first year of the veterinary program, scholarships are awarded as part of the admissions process. After their first year, students apply through a single application and are automatically considered for all scholarships for which they qualify. We have found that our students are, on average, graduating with less debt than the national average, in part due to plentiful scholarship opportunities.  

Protect OHIO is working to ensure students are aware of financial incentives, loan repayment opportunities, scholarships and tax breaks to veterinarians serving rural and underserved communities to increase success. While we recognize veterinary education remains a major financial commitment, these resources can substantially reduce debt burden for many students.

Read more about financial resources here.

The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Protect OHIO seek to work towards a collaborative approach to supporting graduates pursuing rural practice by facilitating conversations with communities, agencies and partners about resources such as scholarships, loan repayment programs, externships and local incentives.

Retention requires collaboration that goes beyond the university, engaging both communities and the overall profession. In addition to education, factors such as mentorship and community support play essential roles in retention. Retention is a complex issue, but community engagement and local investment are vital.

Protect OHIO is raising awareness among students of state and federal loan repayment opportunities that help veterinarians offset a portion of student loan debt in return for working in recognized shortage areas. 

Protect OHIO envisions a “pipeline to practice” approach that extends beyond graduation. While the college does not fund clinic creation directly, the initiative seeks to support communities and veterinarians through coordination, grant-writing assistance, economic development conversations and post-graduate mentorship. These efforts aim to create conditions where practices and practitioners can operate sustainably with the support of their communities.

Veterinary technicians are essential to efficient and sustainable practice, particularly in rural settings. Protect OHIO leaders acknowledge technician shortages and are exploring possible strategies such as collaboration with technician education programs to strengthen the rural veterinary care team as a whole.

Strengthening disease prevention and preparedness across the state are central priorities to the initiative. Protect OHIO is establishing the Emerging Infectious Disease Center to expand risk assessment and surveillance programs to deliver measurable impact across the state. The college is hiring faculty with expertise in outreach and preventive medicine to strengthen statewide readiness and coordination before crises occur. While not a physical facility, the center will unite farmers, veterinarians, regulators, scientists, industry partners and communities to be prepared for whatever pathogen comes next.

Through the Protect OHIO initiative, the college partners with schools and youth development programs like 4-H, FFA and OSU Extension to build early awareness of veterinary careers. These efforts include providing educational resources, teacher and guidance counselor engagement and defining clear pathways into animal science and veterinary education. The goal is to spark interest early in high school and middle school students to broaden understanding of career opportunities. 

The Large Animal Rural Veterinary Mentoring Program reserves up to 15 seats in each incoming veterinary school class for Ohio undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in large animal, rural veterinary medicine who complete the program and meet admission requirements. The program includes academic mentoring, clinical veterinary shadowing and interview skills coaching.

The program is expanding from exclusively undergraduates enrolled in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences to include undergraduate programs at the University of Findlay, Otterbein University and Wilmington College – programs that traditionally produce strong DVM candidates.