Nyssa Guilbert is a student at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Guy Hobman Award winner.

The draw of rural vet practice

Faces of Ag: Nyssa Guilbert is the first Manitoban student to receive the Guy Hobman Award

With her love of rural life and penchant for the problem solving needed to treat many types and sizes of animals, Manitoba-born veterinary student Nyssa Guilbert says she hopes to work in a country practice once she graduates. “It’s just kind of like what I’ve always known and what I’ve always loved,” said the Anola-area

Dr. Gillian Muir, dean of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, welcomes new funding announced by Manitoba’s provincial government.

Rural kids prioritized for new veterinary seats

Manitoba will be getting five new slots per year at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and farm experience is the golden ticket

The province has released more details on its plan to increase Manitoba vet student seats at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). In particular, Manitoba Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson says his department will work with the college to target future poultry and large animal veterinarians. “The health of these animals is the most visible


Dr. Keri Hudson Reykdal speaks at Manitoba Ag Days 2020.

Province funds new vet student seats

Spots in program will target lack of commercial vets in rural areas

Veterinary hopefuls from Manitoba will get a few more seats at the table, the province announced Sept. 29. Manitoba will increase its funding at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan, which is the primary school for vet training in Western Canada. Why it matters: Vet shortages have been particularly acute in

(DusanPetkovic/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan, Manitoba to boost vet college seat quotas

Each province adding five subsidized seats at WCVM

Updated, Sept. 30 — With livestock producers’ needs at top of mind, 10 more student seats at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan will be spoken for starting next year. The college and the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments on Thursday announced the two provinces will each step up their funding

Surgery on a horse at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s equine veterinary medical centre in Saskatoon. (WCVM video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan’s livestock vet loan plan expanded to bigger centres

Urban vet clinics' work with rural producers noted

Saskatchewan’s program to forgive provincial student loans for veterinarians and vet techs serving livestock producers at rural clinics will now also cover those doing the same work out of bigger communities. The province’s Loan Forgiveness for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technologists program was first announced in April last year, offering forgiveness of 20 per cent of


(Mustafagull/iStock/Getty Images)

B.C. doubling seat count at Saskatchewan vet college

Saskatoon veterinary school to take 40 B.C. students

The interprovincial cost-sharing agreement supporting the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) will now allow for twice as many students from British Columbia. The B.C. government and the U of S on Monday announced the province will now put up almost $10.7 million to double the number of provincially subsidized students to

Conception rates have been a concern for vets and livestock specialists as early as last spring.

Open cow rates sky high

Some cattle producers in the Interlake will have their calf crop cut by a quarter next year thanks to poor nutrition earlier this season

Cattle vets are seeing their fears on fertility realized as more and more pregnancy checks come back open. Dr. Keri Hudson Reykdal, of Ashern, has noted alarmingly consistent open rates between 20 and 30 per cent, four to six times what she would expect in a normal year. Hudson Reykdal estimates a normal open rate

Veterinarians are needed more than ever due to more preventive programs, regulatory and record-keeping requirements, and food safety and animal welfare protocols.

How to address the shortage of large-animal veterinarians

Beef 911: More spots in veterinary schools and more support for new grads would go a long way

After talking with large-animal veterinarians, observing the number of ads for large-animal veterinarians, and taking part in a job fair at the University of Calgary’s vet school, it’s clear that there is getting to be a real shortage of veterinarians wanting to do either mixed- or large-animal practice in Western Canada. But strategies are starting


Dr. Cindy Lukianchuk is a practising veterinarian and farrier.

Russell veterinarian also a practising farrier

Dr. Cindy Lukianchuk has passion for podiatry in the horse world from a multi-model approach

Problem solving and hard work is how Dr. Cindy Lukianchuk, a veterinarian at the Russell & District Veterinary Clinic, sums up what travelling to farms raising cattle, bison or horses within the Parkland region means to her. The 2015 graduate of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine began searching for a job while attending farrier

(Photo courtesy WCVM)

Vet college’s full accreditation survives funding cut

The looming exit of one of its major funding partners notwithstanding, the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) has earned full accreditation through 2024. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Council on Education, the accrediting body for veterinary colleges in North America, recently confirmed Saskatoon-based WCVM’s status as “Accredited (w/minor deficiency).” “Minor