Cornell program to attract research DVMs

Ithaca, NY - 4/21/08 - Aiming to help recruit DVMs to research positions, the Clinical Fellows Program is the newest initiative by Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine to help students balance the time and financial demands of the veterinary academia sector.

Typically requiring the completion of an MS or PhD after finishing the DVM program, veterinary academic medicine programs must be tackled by veterinarians often already facing an average of $80,000 in loans.

"For students to postpone paying off their debt for another four or five years [to pursue another degree] is a hardship," says Robert Gilmour, physiology professor at Cornell's veterinary college.

Available to DVMs who have completed a three-year residency, the program offers a salary and monetary research support. A first in the country, the two-year program provides participants with an annual $60,000 salary, plus benefits, and an additional $15,000 per year for research funding.

"By providing a new model for academic veterinary training, we hope to address the critical shortage of clinicians and scholars who are needed to train the next generation of veterinarians and to continue to make advances in the treatment of disease," says Michael I. Kotlikoff, the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine.

Kicking off Aug. 1, the program has accepted three students and their proposed research projects. The effort hopes to enroll as many as five students in future years.

Cornell hopes other universities enact similar programs that will eventually spur the creation of a nationwide network for research collaboration and partnership, Gilmour says.