First Four
The Production Animal – Veterinary Early Acceptance Program (PA-VEAP) was created by the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University’s Department of Animal Science to recruit and retain future veterinarians practicing food animal medicine, primarily in underserved areas of the country.
Ashley Carroll, Catie Collison, Ashlyn Hammel and Olivia Stodghill are the first four Iowa State students to complete the program and enroll in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The four completed the PA-VEAP last spring and started vet classes this fall at Iowa State.
“PA-VEAP was incredibly valuable and rewarding to for me because it allowed me to commit to pursuing a career in food animal medicine early in my undergraduate career,” Collison said. “Knowing that I had a place in veterinary school took away a significant amount of pressure while completing challenging prerequisite courses and allowed me to focus on gaining additional experiences and becoming a well-rounded student.”
PA-VEAP is open to Iowa State undergraduates majoring in animal or dairy science through the Department of Animal Science. In addition to completing the required prerequisite courses, PA-VEAP students must complete an undergraduate certification in either beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry or swine production management.
Throughout their undergraduate career, PA-VEAP students are paired with a faculty mentor in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The mentor provides guidance on academics, networking, research opportunities, internships and the application process to get into veterinary school.
“I appreciated the extra support and having a mentor I could regularly meet with to ask questions and get advice,” Stodghill said.
The first four used their undergraduate years to gain valuable experiences. Stodghill and Hammel completed swine production internships. Collison served on the National Junior Angus Board while Carroll sought out experiences with producers, veterinarians and College of Veterinary Medicine faculty.
“During my internship, I worked in all stages of swine production and had the opportunity to shadow a swine veterinarian,” Stodghill said. “This experience introduced me to the idea of becoming a swine veterinarian and led to two more internships where I gained additional hands-on experience working in production, completing research projects and shadowing swine veterinarians.”
These experiences reinforced the foursome’s goal of working in food animal medicine after graduation and working in an underserved area.
“Rural veterinarians play an important role in maintaining herd health but also supporting the agricultural industry and the communities that depend on it,” said Hammel, who plans to return to northeast Iowa after graduation. “I want to be actively involved in those communities and serve as a trusted resource for producers.
“There is a great need for rural veterinarians, and I want to be a veterinarian that can help met that need, one veterinarian at a time.”
Carroll agrees with her fellow vet student.
“Practicing rural medicine is extremely important to me,” she said. “Growing up in a rural community, I understand the importance of producers having access to a veterinarian who understands the realities of production agriculture.
“I want to be someone producers can rely on not only when an animal is sick, but also for herd health planning, disease prevention, and helping make decisions that will benefit their operation.”
Being in the first PA-VEAP cohort has given the four new vet students a sense of responsibility for future classes.
“Whenever an undergraduate asked me about pursing the PA-VEAP program, I always encourage them to take advantage of the program,” Collison said. “PA-VEAP gives students who are genuinely interested in food animal medicine the opportunity to commit to that career path and begin preparing for it early.
“With the continued and critical need for large animal veterinarians, programs like PA-VEAP are important in encouraging students food animal medicine and enter a field where their expertise is greatly needed.”
August 2026