How the Voluntary Bonding Scheme for Veterinarians helped Jamie Watters fall in love with Hunterville Vet Club

Hunterville Vet Club veterinarian Jamie Watters.

Life as a rural vet can be a whirlwind of activity.

Moments before speaking to the Chronicle, Hunterville Vet Club veterinarian Jamie Watters was finishing up an urgent surgical procedure, extracting a corn cob lodged in a dog’s intestines.

Watters is one of the 33 veterinary graduates who have been accepted into the Government’s Voluntary Bonding Scheme for Veterinarians (VBS).

VBS recipients each receive $55,000 of funding across five years in return for working across rural New Zealand.

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said it was designed to help graduate vets pay off their student loans, allowing them to get a significant head-start to their careers.

“Vets are a vital part of our community, and this scheme helps attract some of the brightest and best new graduates to our regions,” McClay said.

Hunterville, in the Rangitīkei District, has just one veterinary clinic.

Watters sees an array of animals, from beloved household pets like dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs to larger animals like horses, cows, sheep and goats.

Her typical day starts with animal consultations and surgeries in the morning ahead of an afternoon of visiting sheep and beef farms.

“It can be anything in a rural clinic. You don’t really know what your day is going to be like until you do it. It’s really cool, because there’s lots of variety,” Watters said.

Surrounded by her dairy farming parents and partner, a sheep and beef farmer, working rurally was always something Watters envisioned.

But it turned out differently than she’d imagined.

Growing up with horses, Watters pictured herself becoming an equine veterinarian.

“I started school thinking that, but then I realised how much I enjoy working with farmers and with cats and dogs,” she said.

VBS played a role in this decision change.

“The course at Massey University in Palmerston North is great, but it is five years long, so you do accrue a bit of student loan debt. The VBS is a really good motivator to help pay that off.

“VBS helped me make decisions on whether I should go rural or not throughout my studies. They told us about VBS in our second and third years, so it helped motivate me to go into rural vetting.

“I did a placement in Hunterville during my studies, and I just fell in love with the clinic here,” Watters said.

The 24-year-old loves fostering relationships with farmers and their animals, and enjoys getting out and about.

Watters said she would like to see more graduate vets join her in going rural.

“There is a real shortage of vets in New Zealand, especially in rural clinics.

“For small rural towns, there is not always a big drive for graduating students to go to those areas. Having the rural bonding scheme would definitely help draw people to come to a place like Hunterville.”