AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by veterinarians from Heritage Veterinary Partners which is a veterinary partnership specializing in large and mixed animal practices. Guests on this episode include Dr. Dan Cummings from Tennessee, Dr. Oliver Irons from West Virginia and Dr. Amanda Onan from Wisconsin. Cummings also serves as the chair of the AABP Membership Committee which has discussed the workforce shortages in rural bovine or mixed practice and developed initiatives for AABP to address this issue. 

 Our guests discuss the challenges of rural bovine/mixed animal practice and the evolving role of the veterinarian for beef and dairy clients and their experiences in deciding to join Heritage Veterinary Partners which has provide their practice benefits for their veterinarians and staff. We also discuss the initiatives that AABP has undertaken the past several years to provide resources to our members and especially our recent graduate members to improve retention. Cummings discusses a publication from a qualitative analysis of responses from small group meetings with members of the Membership Committee of recent graduates and what they want from bovine practice. Irons and Onan discuss how they have realized improvements in quality of life, business management, inventory management and networking with partners when they made the decision to join this collaboration of veterinarians. 

 Cummings invites attendees at the 56th AABP Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wis., to visit them in the exhibit hall for more information. 

 Links:

Heritage Vet Partners website

 Heritage Vet Partners Facebook page 

 What is happening in bovine practice and is it fixable – Dr. Fred Gingrich, Bovine Veterinarian, July 2023

 Gibbons, P. M. S., Koziol, J. H., Schmidt, M., Cummings, D. B., Sacquitne, C., & Hake, M. (2023). Should I stay or should I go – a qualitative assessment of experiences of recent veterinary graduates in bovine practice. The Bovine Practitioner, 57(1), 35–40. Retrieved from https://bovine-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/bovine/article/view/8570

 Gibbons, P. M., Wells, J. K., Watson, K. R., Weale, J. J., & Roberson, J. R. (2022). A mixed-method pilot study investigating challenges experienced by mixed animal veterinarians in practice and their private practice experiences prior to graduation. The Bovine Practitioner, 56(1), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol56no1p18-28

 Gilliam, G., White, B. ., & Dodd, C. C. . (2021). Factors influencing administrative personnel and veterinarian turnover and compensation packages in rural mixed-animal practices over a 5-year period . The Bovine Practitioner, 55(2), 108–114. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol55no2p108-114