Autumn Lenoir

Professor Graves

Lang 120: Academic Writing and Critical Inquiry

01 April 18

Providing Veterinary Care to Animals in Rural Areas: Writing for Scholars Versus the Public

The need for veterinary care across the United States has always been in high demand,

but the shortage of proper care in rural areas has raised concern due to recent studies. Typically,

people who pursue a career in the veterinary field prefer to seek work in largely populated

regions instead. As a result, many animals lack the health care they desperately need and,

oftentimes, are faced with life-threatening situations. To help solve this issue, writings from

various genres reveal possible solutions and research findings to encourage the public to display

support. The main questions researchers might ask are, how effective are the different genres at

relaying the information and raising awareness to the overall population and does the genre of

the piece even make a difference if they are both presenting the same information? Throughout

this essay, two different genres, two pieces of evidence in total, will be presented to allow for

exploration of possible answers to these questions.

“Without access to adequate veterinary care, food animals are at risk for dangerous

disease outbreaks that can destroy livestock herds and threaten rural economies.” (Support

Legislation That Helps Get Veterinary Care to Rural America, 2018, Web.) In this news article,

the author uses foreshadowing to emphasize the possible effects of lack of veterinary care in

rural areas. By stating the potential outcomes, the public is able to realize how detrimental the

effects will be if proper care is not accessible. This is a very effective literary device authors can
utilize when trying to persuade an audience or trying to spread awareness. Without presenting

possible effects, the public may not be able to understand the importance of the issue and pay

contribution. Anyone who is interested is able to view this article online by visiting the website.

Articles in this genre are most likely to appear on news websites or broadcasted on television.

Because this issue may not be considered relevant to most people in the United States, articles

like this may require some research to locate. The structure of this article starts off with an

informational video, followed by facts and statistics regarding veterinary care in rural areas. By

inserting a video, which provided an example of a first-hand experiencer, people who may not be

well-educated in this topic can visualize the cause for concern. The video is an effective method

at capturing the audience's’ attention, which will lead them to want to know more about the

research.

The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) is mentioned in this news

article and in both pieces of evidence presented throughout this research. “(The program)

provides selected food animal and public health veterinarians up to $75,000 in loan repayment in

exchange for serving at least three years in a federally-designated shortage area” (Support

Legislation That Helps Get Veterinary Care to Rural America, 2018, Web.). Congress can

provide relief to veterinarians through the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program

Enhancement Act, which would place them in underserved areas by increasing student loan

repayment opportunities. By presenting this information, people interested in pursuing a career in

the veterinary field are able to better weigh their options when choosing a place of work.

However, this article is meant for the public, therefore, this information is provided to help lead

in to the author’s next point. The author states that despite the success of the VMLRP, about 75

percent of shortage areas remain unfilled because of limited funding for the program due to each
award being subject to 39 percent of withholding tax. This tax eats up program funding.

Following this fact, the author uses bias when stating, “This tax is unfair – especially since

awards for the VMLRP’s counterpart program for human health medicine, the National Health

Service Corps’ Loan Repayment Program, are exempt from the withholding tax. If this tax had

been removed since the program’s inception, an additional 211 shortage areas could have been

filled.” In this statement, the author also uses the literary element cause and effect to explain the

benefits that were lost due to taxes. The language used in this article is both formal and informal,

although most was informal. The purpose of keeping it informal is to allow all audiences to

understand the information more easily. This is a big difference between the news article and

case study researched in this essay.

“According to a USA Today report in 2008, approximately 500 counties in the USA have

no veterinarian based in that county despite the fact that these counties also have over 5000 head

of livestock residing in each county” (“Production-Animal Veterinarian Shortage: A Rural Case

Study of West Virginia,” Issue 7 Special Issue: Rural Veterinary Practice, Vol. 5, Article 11,

(2010)”). The author of this peer-reviewed journal, professor at University of West Virginia,

David D. Moran, uses the literary device evidence to help advance his purpose. The case study

that Moran presents is based on a rural area in West Virginia, therefore, the statistics provided

are not broadly relevant. The diction Moran uses is formal and is most likely to be understood by

scholarly researchers. The structure of the piece is broken down into many subtopics. This shows

that the purpose of the piece is for informational research, not for entertainment, and allows the

audience to find information easily. The subtopics are presented in chronological order, starting

with the abstract for the study and ending in future directions. This piece of literature can be
located online through journal article search databases meant for scholarly research and

educational purposes.

Through this research, it is clear to see that the same information is relayed differently to

certain audiences. How effective the genres are at raising awareness is determined through

statistics from the area observed, which is beyond the purpose of this piece. Who the target

audience is determines how the authors go about writing and formatting the piece. This is easy to

see through the comparison of writing styles used throughout the news article and case study.

Aside from veterinary care, any discipline presents information differently in regards to who they

are trying to reach or what they are trying to do with the piece. When it comes to the topic of

lack of veterinary care in rural areas, this issue is so concerning that not only scholars are

invested in it, but authors want the public to be aware of it, too. This is why it is important to

know how to relay information across many genres. When learning to compare and contrast the

writing styles of these different genres, students in the process of entering the veterinary field,

and all fields, can greatly benefit from gaining this information for future educational exploration

and presenting information across all audiences.

Sources:
● “Support Legislation That Helps Get Veterinary Care to Rural America.” Support

Legislation That Helps Get Veterinary Care to Rural America,

www.avma.org/Advocacy/National/Congress/Pages/VMLRPEA-Advocacy-

Campaign.aspx.

● “Production-Animal Veterinarian Shortage: A Rural Case Study of West Virginia,” Issue

7 Special Issue: Rural Veterinary Practice, Vol. 5, Article 11, (2010)”