Colorado State University and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks have teamed up to offer a grant for vets students operating in southwest Alaska.
The Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine, in partnership with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, will offer a grant for vet students to hone their skills in southwest Alaska.
This project, called the Hub Outpost Project, is made possible thanks to a $450,000 grant from PetSmart Charities.
“This hub-and-spoke approach to veterinary care has proven successful, and the Hub Outpost Project will effectively provide access to routine veterinary care for up to 15,000 dogs throughout a 400,000-square-mile region,” Deborah Turcott, acting chairman of PetSmart Charities, said in a press release.
A veterinarian, a veterinary technician and students from CSU and UAF will establish a main clinic in Bethel and a mobile unit for traveling to other communities in the area.
With a population of about six thousand, Bethel is the largest community in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.
According to Dr. Arleigh Reynolds, UAF CVM professor, lack of infrastructure and expansive geographic territory has made it difficult to combat dog overpopulation.
The clinic will be responsible for spaying and neutering of animals, also treating some diseases and working on preventing contagious disease transmission between humans and animals.
“This project is important for our veterinary students,” Dr. Danielle Frey, CSU director of veterinary international and outreach opportunities, told the CSU CVM website. “Not only will they be able to gain additional experience in veterinary skills, but they will also be able to learn more about community health, the connection between humans and their pets, and how strongly their health is tied with these animals.”
Around thirty students are expected to take part in the two-year program, which is estimated to perform about three thousand spay/neuter surgeries.
Dr. Laurie Meytalar-Mullins, stated that she is looking forward to “this one of a kind project” and becoming a part of the Bethel community, according to the CSU CVM website. Meythalar-Mullins will serve as the program’s community outreach and public health veterinarian.
Since 2015, UAF and CSU have had an agreement where collaborative veterinary degree is worked out between the two schools, with the first two years students spent in Fairbanks before coming down to Fort Collins to finish their studies at Colorado State.
Colorado State also put into place not long ago to help ease the student debt of graduates.
Other partners in the Hub Outpost Project include the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, the City of Bethel, the Bethel Police Department, and several local animal rescue organizations.