Dr. Chelsea Bland Smith of Broken L Veterinary Services was one of 30 veterinarians chosen from across the US and Canada to participate in the 2024 Integrated Beef Cattle Program at Oklahoma State University.
She was the only veterinarian selected in the state of Arkansas.
The program is designed to directly address the rural veterinary shortage by offering intervention strategies for rural sustainability by expanding veterinary skills and knowledge of herd health, food nutrition, forage management, reproductive management, and other common needs of beef producers.
In this program, practicing DVMs and current veterinary students work side-by-side, fostering networking connections and building lasting relationships while expanding their knowledge of beef cattle medicine, practice management and more.
The Integrated Beef Cattle Program is supported in part from a USDA NIFA grant and Beef Quality Assurance grant.
Participation in this program is one of many ways veterinarians work to decrease rural veterinary shortage and seek to improve the future of their communities. This program provides 40 hours of Continuing Education (CE), which is double the amount of hours Dr. Bland is required to obtain annually for the state of Arkansas to maintain an active veterinary license.
