Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program

To relieve shortages of large animal veterinarians in rural areas by entering into agreements with veterinarians under which specified amounts of the principal and interest of qualifying educational loans of the veterinarians will be repaid in exchan

The program responds to the current shortage of large animal veterinarians in rural areas by encouraging veterinarians, through loan repayment, to provide veterinary service in designated shortage areas.

The Secretary may enter into agreements with veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to provide, for a period of time as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agreement, veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations.

The Secretary may enter into agreements with veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to provide, for a period of time as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agreement, veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations.

(1) SERVICE IN SHORTAGE SITUATIONS. The Secretary shall carry out a program of entering into agreements with veterinarians under which the veterinarians agree to provide, for a period of time as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agreement, veterinary services in veterinarian shortage situations. For each year of such service under an agreement under this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay an amount, as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agreement, of the principal and interest of qualifying educational loans of the veterinarians. (2) SERVICE TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS. (A) IN GENERAL. The Secretary may enter into agreements of 1 year duration with veterinarians who have agreements pursuant to paragraph (1) for such veterinarians to provide services to the Federal Government in emergency situations, as determined by the Secretary, under terms and conditions specified in the agreement. Pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph, the Secretary shall pay an amount, in addition to the amount paid pursuant to the agreement in paragraph (1), as determined by the Secretary and specified in the agreement, of the principal and interest of qualifying educational loans of the veterinarians. (B) REQUIREMENTS. Agreements entered into under this paragraph shall include the following: (i) A veterinarian shall not be required to serve more than 60 working days per year of the agreement. (ii) A veterinarian who provides service pursuant to the agreement shall receive a salary commensurate with the duties and shall be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses as appropriate for the duration of the service.

None of the funds appropriated to the Secretary under subsection (f) may be used to carry out section 5379 of title 5, United States Code.

The VMLRP will pay equal quarterly payments to the lenders. Each payment will be made shortly after the end of each full quarter of satisfactory service.

Applications should be submitted as outlined in the NOFO. Applications must follow the instructions provided per the VMLRP website at www.nifa.usda.gov/vmlrp. Qualified individuals interested in participating in the VMLRP should visit the VMLRP website for all application forms and requirements. The application will be evaluated by a peer review panel, convened for this purpose by the NIFA. In selecting applicants for participation in the VMLRP, the panel will consider eligibility status, quality of the applicant, and the applicant's career plan focus. All selections are subject to final approval by the VMLRP manager. The NIFA will notify the State Animal Health Official and the applicant of the outcome of the review. Several Federal statutes and regulations apply to VMLRP applications considered for review and to service agreements awarded under this program.

In carrying out its review, the peer review panel will take into account the quality of match between an applicant's professional training and experience and the circumstances and needs of the designated shortage situation the applicant proposes to fill. The following evaluation criteria will be considered in the context of the factors and circumstances necessary for 1) most effective mitigation of the specific veterinary shortage situation, 2) prioritizing the relatively more severe shortages and, 3) achieving the highest likelihood that awardees will realize employment satisfaction and professional success during and beyond the term of the VMLRP agreement. Additional guidelines are described in the NOFOs.

Once the applicant is selected to participate in the VMLRP, the applicant and the NIFA Director (or Secretary of Agriculture) will sign a written binding agreement stating the terms and conditions for participating in the VMLRP. The effective date of the agreement will be the date it is signed by the NIFA Director, or the date employment/service begins at an NIFA-designated veterinary shortage area, whichever is later.

Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate, for application deadlines

Dates for specific deadlines are announced in the NOFOs or guidelines for each fiscal year.

A VMLRP participant completing the initial 3-year period of qualified veterinary service has an option to extend the obligatory period of service on an annual basis.