U of G president Dr. Charlotte Yates spoke with CBC Radio’s Superior Morning in Thunder Ba about the nearly $15 million the provincial government has pledged to support a new Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program in Rural and Northern Community Practice, in collaboration with Lakehead University.
“It is the biggest step forward in addressing the veterinary shortage in over 30 years,” Yates told Shost Matt Fratpietro.
“The Government of Ontario has taken a real leadership role in supporting what is an incredibly innovative approach to addressing that veterinary workforce shortage by supporting our collaboration between the University of Guelph and Lakehead.”
Yates provided an array of details of the new program, saying it will take a different approach to training vets – a community-based one – that recognizes the unique needs of rural, Northern and Indigenous communities, “making sure as best we can that veterinarians go to the places where we have the most severe shortages.”
Yates is president and vice-chancellor of U of G and a faculty member in the Department of Political Science, championing the rights of women, Indigenous Peoples and other equity-seeking and marginalized groups.