Three AASV members receive Dr. Conrad and Judy Schmidt Family Student Debt Relief Endowment Scholarship

March 7, 2023 — Abbey Canon

Three $5000 scholarships were awarded to early-career swine practitioners through the Dr. Conrad and Judy Schmidt Family Student Debt Relief Endowment. Recipients Drs. Katie Beckman, Alyssa Betlach, and Daniel Brown. were announced March 6 during the American Association of Swine Veterinarians 54th Annual Meeting in Aurora, Colorado.

The purpose of the $5000 scholarship is to help relieve the student debt of recent veterinary graduates engaged in swine practice who still have significant debt burden. Qualified applicants must have been engaged in private practice with at least 50% of their time devoted to swine, providing on-farm service directly to independent pork producers.

All three recipients have been continuous members of the AASV since joining as students. As students, each attended the Annual Meeting during their veterinary education.

Dr. Beckman, a 2019 Purdue University DVM graduate, is a swine veterinarian at AMVC Management Services in Audubon, Iowa. She provides veterinary services to sow farms and wean-to-finish sites in Iowa, and she teaches Swine Medicine Education Center students through AMVC. She enjoys spending time on farm and building strong relationships with dedicated and passionate growers eager to improve herd health. She cites mentorship from AASV colleagues as an essential building block to a strong foundation as a swine veterinarian, and she hopes to support new graduates in the future.

Dr. Betlach is a 2018 DVM and 2021 PhD graduate of the University of Minnesota. She is an associate swine veterinarian and researcher at the Swine Vet Center where she works with producers in the midwestern United States to optimize herd health, biosecurity, and production. She also conducts and oversees applied research related to disease control and elimination, production, and nutrition to provide science-driven advancements to Swine Vet Center clientele. Dr. Betlach was inspired to pursue swine medicine after attending the AASV Annual Meeting as an undergraduate research presenter.

Dr. Brown, a DVM graduate of the University of Illinois, has been a veterinary consultant at Four Star Veterinary Service since graduation in 2020. He provides veterinary services to all types of producers across seven states. He views AASV as a great educational resource that has been indispensable to his career, providing internships and externships to early career development programs.

The AASV Foundation thanks Drs. Ross Kiehne, Jeff Harker, Pete Thomas, and Jason Kelly for reviewing the applications.

The scholarship was initiated with a generous $110,000 contribution to the foundation by the Conrad Schmidt and Family Endowment. Dr. Schmidt, a charter member of AASV, explained, "Together, Judy and I noticed that many new DVM graduates interested in swine medicine begin their professional life with heavy educational debt obligations. As a long-time AASV member and animal industry supporter, it was our desire to help AASV members who have dedicated their professional skills to swine herd health and production. We hope that this endowment will grow over time to assist in reducing the educational debt load of AASV members as they begin their professional journeys."

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Abbey Canon is the AASV Director of Public Health and Communications