Loan Repayment Program Volunteers Needed

July 7, 2010 — 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking volunteers to serve on an external peer review panel to help recommend veterinarians for loan repayment awards under the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP).

Volunteers selected to serve on panel will spend about 20 hours each reviewing applications at their leisure during the first three weeks of August 2010. In late August, (targeted window: August 23-27, 2010) panelists will attend an approximately 3-day face-to-face panel meeting at NIFA headquarters in Washington, D.C. to complete the review and recommendation process. Travel expenses to attend the panel will be paid by the USDA and customary honorarium policies will apply (~$200).

The purpose of the VMLRP is to incentivize veterinarians to serve in private and public practice veterinary shortage situations, including geographic and disciplinary area shortages, related to food animal health and food supply security. In exchange for loan repayment awards, awardees will agree to serve at least 3 years within underserved areas officially listed by NIFA as veterinary shortage situations (see http://www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp). The program is authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Service Act, which was signed into law in December 2003. The USDA invited applications through a notice published this spring with a deadline for receipt at NIFA of June 30, 2010.

If you are interested in serving on this panel, please contact either Tom Burkgren (burkgren@aasv.org) or Harry Snelson (snelson@aasv.org) for additional information. The deadline for applications is July 14, 2010.