At Monday’s Pennyrile Area Development District Board Meeting, Brian Parr the Dean of Murray State’s Hutson School of Agriculture highlighted the purpose and the plans for possibly establishing the first veterinarian school in the state at the University.
A news release from the University in August highlighted the possibility of forming a vet school, but first a feasibility task force was created to see if the establishment of a vet school is realistic.
At the meeting, Parr says they have the largest pre-veterinarian and vet technician programs in the state with nearly 430 students enrolled this academic year. Witnessing high student interest in the veterinarian field, Parr says there is a demand to from to form a vet school.
As of right now Parr says the University has a longstanding agreement with Auburn and Tuskegee Universities in Alabama where students can get the out-of-state portion of their tuition paid for. However, Parr says this agreement is only available to a limited number of students during a time where there is vet shortage in the state.
Parr says an in-state vet school would directly address this shortage. If a vet school is established at Murray State Parr says it wouldn’t rely on a large animal teaching hospital on campus, but instead the vet school would partner with regional vet clinics and students would work as interns.
If a vet school is at Murray State is deemed feasible Parr says it will be around four years until they are able to admit their first student class.
Parr says they plan to have their vet school feasibility plan done around Thanksgiving and move forward with plans for the school if it is deemed feasible in the beginning of 2024.