# From Meows to Moos: Recruiting Teens to Food Animal Veterinary Medicine Through Experiential Camps

## TL;DR

Experiential camps for high school students increased interest in food supply veterinary medicine careers and knowledge about animal health and biosecurity.

## Contribution

A novel approach using hands-on camps to recruit youth to food animal veterinary careers, showing measurable shifts in interest and knowledge.

## Key findings

- Participants showed increased interest in food supply veterinary medicine careers after the camps.
- There was a measurable increase in participants' knowledge of biosecurity and career opportunities in the field.
- Outreach camps can be replicated in other regions to address workforce shortages in food animal veterinary medicine.

## Abstract

It is important that we have a safe and wholesome food supply to feed our growing population. To provide healthy animals for the food supply, we need food supply veterinarians to ensure the health and welfare of the animals and safety of food products, as veterinarians play crucial roles in every aspect of animal production. However, in recent years, fewer veterinarian students are choosing careers in food supply medicine, resulting in workforce shortages. To fill this gap, we sought to build awareness of career opportunities in food supply veterinarian medicine with high school students by hosting food animal focused veterinary camps. Youth in urban areas were recruited for participation in the camps, as they may not have experience with food animals or be familiar with careers in food supply veterinary medicine. By exposing these participants to large animals, we hypothesize they will be more likely to develop an interest in this career field. Upon completion of camp, participants reported increased knowledge in opportunities in this career field, the importance of the career field, and biosecurity knowledge.

Food supply veterinarians, those who service the dairy, swine, poultry, small ruminant, and beef cattle industries, benefit society by protecting animal and public health and ensuring a safe, wholesome food supply. However, there are not enough entering the workforce to meet current and future demands. Non-formal learning environments can be used as a recruitment tool to provide participants with positive interactions and hands-on experiences. To build awareness of food supply veterinary medicine (FSVM) in youth, we developed an immersion program designed to provide high school students with hands-on experiences with food animal species. Day camps were held during the summers of 2022 and 2023, each coordinated with multiple partners at different locations in central Ohio. Year One camp utilized registration and post-test surveys and Year Two utilized matching pre- and post-test for analysis. Over the two programs, 110 participants engaged in hands-on experiences, including: outbreak investigations, measuring clinical parameters, performing diagnostics, and basic veterinarian procedures. Pre- and post-test evaluations were performed to measure changes in participants’ attitudes and perceptions, and a McNemars test was used to evaluate Year Two data. In Year One, we saw positive shifts in those interested in FSVM careers. In Year Two, we saw positive shifts in knowledge of FVSM careers, with biosecurity knowledge increasing. Outreach activities like day camps can be replicated in other locations to increase interest in FSVM careers.