Going Back Home
There was always a plan for Bailee Bortz.
That plan was to become a veterinarian.
“Frankly as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a vet,” Bortz said. “I went to second grade career day dressed in scrubs with animals’ safety pinned to them to show I wanted to be an animal doctor, not a human doctor.”
Her plan might have been a dream back in second grade, but Bortz never strayed from the plan. Growing up on a farm outside of Rudd, Iowa, she grew up with pigs, cats and dogs. Soon she joined 4H and FFA and expanded her “animal collection” to include goals, sheep rabbits, chickens, and show pigs.
One of Bortz’ neighbors was a veterinarian at the nearby Osage Veterinary Clinic. The aspiring veterinarian spent hours shadowing her neighbor at the clinic and riding around in her vet truck.
“She has been my mentor, my supporter, and my guidance through this long journey,” Bortz said.
After graduating from Iowa State with an undergraduate degree in biology, Bortz took a gap year working as a quality control scientist at Zoetis in nearby Charles City.
The draw to vet school continued however and she was admitted to Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine where she graduated in May 2026 with her DVM with a focus on food animals.
Just strong of a draw was the opportunity to go home and practice rural veterinary medicine. Soon after graduating Bortz began working at Osage Veterinary Clinic, a mixed animal practice with a focus on large animals.
There Bortz will provide a variety of veterinary services, everything from caring for sick pets to small animal surgeries, cattle chute work, large animal sick calls and equine care.
“Since Osage is a clinic that does ‘on-call’ for both small and large animals, it’s imperative that all the vets are able to work with all species to the best of our abilities,” she said.
Making the decision to practice in rural Iowa was made a little easier when Bortz was named one of four recipients of this year’s Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Rural Veterinarian Loan Repayment Incentive Program.
This initiative helps ease the financial burden for students while ensuring veterinary care remains accessible to Iowa’s farmers and livestock producers by offering up to $25,000 in loan repayment assistance to those who commit to practicing in rural Iowa.
“Any help to lessen the burden of student debt is essential,” Bortz said. “This loan repayment assistance will greatly help me spend a little less time stressing about how to make my loan payments, and more time giving my patients the best care possible.
“Without programs like this, the debt of becoming a vet can be very overwhelming and can discourage people from going down this career path.”
Bortz always knew she would return to rural Iowa and her hometown.
“There is such a shortage of rural veterinarians, especially large animal vets and I wanted to do whatever I could to help the shortage,” she said. “Going back to the home area after graduation is not something every or even many students do, but I chose to do it because I have had the opportunity to start building client/veterinarian relationships and want to continue that growth.
“My goal is to have the type of relationship with clients that they can trust me and trust the decisions I make, because rural clinics are becoming fewer and further between and producers need all the support they can get.”
June 2026
