Living the 2+2 Program Reality

By: Jennafer Glaesemann

Iowa State Univeristy by-way-of University of Nebraska, Class of 2012

Consider 25 students, approximately 30 faculty and staff members, 2 classrooms and 3 teaching laboratories, and 3 student organizations... and then 120 students, approximately 500 faculty and staff members, over 565,000 square feet in the largest academic building of its respective university, and 33 student organizations.  Then consider being separated by 223 miles and approximately 3.5 hours, depending on construction, road conditions, and the foot on the accelerator.  When the new kids on the block enter the playground of one of the oldest public veterinary schools in the nation, these two groups are thrown together in a maelstrom guaranteed to produce sparks.  Those sparks have instigated an innovative educational design that is spreading like wildfire in the veterinary education field as institutions struggle to balance resource constraints with societal demands for increased numbers of veterinarians.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) partnered with the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine (ISU CVM) to form the UNL-ISU Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine (PPVM), the first veterinary cooperative or so-called 2+2 program of its kind in the country.  The 25 students of the inaugural class graced the halls of UNL in 2007, completing their first two years of their professional veterinary curriculum there before relocating to the ISU campus in the fall of 2009 to join their ISU counterparts in forming the comprehensive ISU CVM Class of 2011.  By adding the Nebraska residents to the existing student body, Iowa State will have its largest graduating class to date (approximately 145 students) when these history makers walk the stage in May.

The purpose of the 2+2 program, particularly in this case between Iowa State and Nebraska, is twofold:  to increase the class size to meet the rising need for veterinarians and to encourage individuals to return to their home state by propagating a local component of their education.  A 2004 study conducted by the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine Coalition (FSVMC) and Bayer Animal Health found that between 2005 and 2016, the demand for food animal veterinarians alone was projected to increase by 13% while predicting a 5% average shortfall over the same period.  Most veterinary schools are hampered by space and finances when considering expansion to accommodate increased class sizes to meet this need.  Meanwhile, many counties lacking veterinary services are in predominantly rural states that may not possess the infrastructure for a full-fledged veterinary school but can develop a satellite program, like Nebraska.  The idea to implement such a cooperative program between these two land grant universities colloquially belongs to former ISU CVM Dean John Thomson; the model has been used in the health sciences education field for some time, however.

Dr. David Hardin, Associate Dean of the UNL-ISU PPVM, stated, “It is exhilarating to be a part of this innovative new program.  We believe this program is beneficial both to the education of our students but also to veterinary medicine as a whole.  As we look at the possibilities, rewards, and challenges of the program, we know the first two far outweigh the last.”

Student perspectives tend to agree. 

“When I was a junior in my undergraduate classes, I didn’t know if this program would even be up and running by the time I would be starting veterinary school.  We were still joking about whether or not it was actually going to happen while we were nervously waiting for our acceptance letters.  To think about how far we’ve come individually, and how much the program itself has accomplished in such a short time span, is truly remarkable,” said Jennafer Glaesemann, ISU Class of 2011 (former UNL PPVM student).  UNL-ISU PPVM classmate and past ISU SCAVMA president Jordan Nickerson concurred.  “Great things are done by great people, and the individualized attention associated with a smaller student to faculty ratio initially allows for students to better reach their full potential and demonstrate what they are capable of,” said Nickerson.

Stephanie Swearngin, ISU Class of 2012 (former UNL-ISU PPVM student), remarked, “I thought the 2+2 program was great.  The small class size was a huge help, especially in the first year.  I also think the students who study in their own state will be more likely to return there, which is needed in Nebraska.” 

Other benefits, according to Dean Feasenhiser, ISU Class of 2011, include increasing access to facilities, faculty, and interactive experiences that are strengths at both schools and garnering varied perspectives from classmates that may have been taught the same subject material in an alternative way.  “These things combine to add new dimension to the curriculum.”

Of course, the students admit that there are challenges.  Nickerson echoed a recurring theme voiced by many attending classes at the satellite program – isolation.  “By virtue of the system, we sometimes felt we were alone over there.  It was difficult to be a part of the Iowa State University veterinary school, difficult to belong to that school while being separated with the distance.  And with that came a lot of frustration, which continues to be felt with new underclassman classes.”

As an established ISU student dealing with an influx of new classmates, Feasenhiser commented, “We were ISU’s largest veterinary class even before the Nebraska students came over, so we were already feeling some crowding in the classrooms.  There have been some [fourth year] rotations that have been heavily stocked with students for the caseload involved, and some concern from students as well as faculty that it’s difficult to do an in-depth discussion for our required Grand Rounds case presentation with the shorter time limits that have been imposed to schedule all of the students over the course of the year.”

For the Nebraska students moving to Iowa, the obstacles are geared towards adapting.  “The biggest challenge is adjusting to a larger class size because it’s harder to get one-on-one time with the professors,” said Swearngin.  Acclimating to new teaching and examination styles were also prominent parts of the transition experience.  Nickerson added that moving midway through brought its own set of stressors but helped to break up the routine of veterinary school.  Glaesemann bemoaned the loss of reliable Husker game coverage and the need to find local venues that would play the games on television, sometimes resorting to online ESPN reporting.

The students agree that introducing the segments of the class before the transition and ensuring subject material compatibility between programs seems to help the process flow more smoothly.  At the onset, students share orientation at ISU with Nebraska students having a separate orientation at UNL as well.  Several classes in the first two years of the curriculum are shared via live video streaming; while there were kinks to work out in the technology, it helps the students share the same knowledge base in those courses and interact in the classroom despite the physical distance.  Feasenhiser said that one of the biggest challenges have been meeting and integrating the Nebraskans, though UNL students attending key social events helped to lessen the severity of the impact of adding seeming strangers to the third year class.  Swearngin commented, “Really encourage students to get to know their classmates beforehand – it will make the transition easier.”

But the crucial ingredient to the success of 2+2 programs, according to Nickerson, is the effect of individuals.  He said, “Personalities play such a huge role in a small program at a satellite school.  It’s important to have skilled teachers who love what they do.  Administrators need to be capable of wearing lots of hats.  Most importantly, prospective student interviews become a critical part of the application process as the students make the program.  The students are the program.”

Though ISU and UNL are the first to initiate such an arrangement, they won’t be standing alone in the limelight for long.  Utah State University seeks to add 20 Utah residents with up to 10 additional out-of-state students to the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine class size in a new 2+2 program; this measure met with approval by the Utah State Board of Regents last month and funding will be considered in this spring’s state legislative session.  Historically, Washington State University had a similar agreement with Oregon State University until Oregon State started graduating its own students in 2004.  Utah students could matriculate to the new program as early as 2012.  As 2+2 programs gain popularity as a viable means to graduate greater numbers of veterinarians, experience has taught that even though the nickname is mathematical in origin, a successful outcome is more than just a numbers game.