Iowa State is now the 22nd American Veterinary Medical Association-accredited school to become affiliated with the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Iowa State will provide students of Ross University, which is in Basseterre, St. Kitts, with 48 weeks of clinic training during their fourth year. Jim Toombs, professor and chairman of veterinary clinical sciences, said Iowa State can benefit from this partnership in at least two areas.

“Ross students will pay out-of-state tuition, which provides additional revenue,” Toombs said. “There is a very long list of rotations for fourth-year students. Having Ross students here will help fill out rotations and balance the workload, because there are some rotations that don’t have enough students.”

Tod Schadler, associate dean for clinical affairs at Ross University, said Ross is partnering with Iowa State because it can’t provide enough hospital patients to supply clinical training to their students.

“We are located on a small island in the Caribbean, so developing a caseload would be difficult,” Schadler said.

Ross students coming here will be graded based on ISU standards, but their transcripts and diplomas will be from Ross University, Schadler said.

Toombs said this semester there is one Ross student training here.

Ross student Marlayna Siekman said she was able to select three choices of where she would like to attend. Her top choice was Iowa State, where Ross University placed her.

“Students are matched to programs based on grade point,” Schadler said. “The top percentile get their first pick. If they really want to go to a specific university, then their choice has to be relevant in order to take precedence.”

Siekman said she chose Iowa State because of its reputation and its Midwest location. “Iowa State has a good reputation for small and large animals, and I want to be a small and large animal vet,” she said. “I want to have a practice in the Midwest to West region, practicing rural vet medicine.”