Antimicrobial Use and Stewardship
CDFA-AUS • 1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 • 916-576-0300California Veterinary Shortage Needs
CDFA Nomination of Veterinary Shortage Areas is OPEN for the 2023 cycle.
USDA NIFA Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program
You can help guide CDFA’s efforts to nominate veterinary shortage areas for USDA’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP). The program helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of the debt incurred in pursuit of their veterinary medicine degrees in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage situations.

Fill out the CDFA Nomination Survey and recommend your area for nomination to the CA State Veterinarian*. The State Veterinarian reviews nominations submitted from local areas, regions or counties, and puts forward up to 8 nominations to the VMLRP program.
* Note: Nominating a shortage area to CDFA does not guarantee selection by the NIFA review committee.
Important dates to remember!
2022
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January 2022USDA NIFA Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) is open for applications. |
2022
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February 2022USDA Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Plan (VMLRP) is open for applications. Designated Shortage Situations for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 are on USDA NIFA VMLRP website. Veterinarians may apply to fulfill these shortage needs through VMLRP or VSGP. |
2022
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April 16, 2022USDA VMLRP and VSGP application period for FY 2022 closes. For additional federal application deadlines, visit the USDA NIFA VMLRP website and the USDA NIFA VSGP website. |
2022
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Fall 2022USDA VMLRP FY 2023 Shortage Situation nomination period opens. CDFA will accept Nomination Surveys until the close of the nomination period. |
2022
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October 2022Once the USDA VMLRP FY 2022 Shortage Situation nomination period closes, CDFA will continue to accept Nomination Surveys for the next nomination period on an ongoing basis. The next CDFA Nomination Survey period will close at the end of October 2022. Fill out the CDFA Nomination Survey to recommend your area for nomination to the CA State Veterinarian*. CDFA Nomination Surveys can be completed online or emailed to the CDFA AUS program for CDFA’s consideration for nomination to USDA for the upcoming Fiscal Year. The deadline for the 2023 nomination cycle will be September 30, 2022.
Note: Nominating a shortage area to CDFA does not guarantee selection by the NIFA review committee.
![]() For more information on VMLRP Shortage Situations, visit the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture website. |
Frequently Asked Questions
As the State Veterinarian is responsible for gathering and composing the application, we are seeking information from county and local representatives who know their regions better than we do.
The State Veterinarian reviews nominations submitted from local areas, regions or counties, and puts forward up to 8 nominations to the VMLRP program. USDA’s VMLRP program reviews applications nationwide and makes the selections. States, including California, have no role in the actual selection process.