What began as a summer job in Dr. Tom Pisz's office has quickly turned into a huge step toward becoming a much needed new veterinarian in the North.

Kaitlyn Denroche, a longtime Yellowknifer, was the latest NWT student to join the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) at the University of Saskatchewan this August.

Every year there's one student from the Northern territories accepted out of the 78 seats.

Since 2008, there have been 13 northern residents accepted to the program and of those, four have come from the NWT.

Dr. Deborah Johnson, who graduated in 2012, now works at the Feedlot Health Management Services in Okotoks, Alta.

With Denroche, there are now two set to graduate from the doctorate program in the coming years, with third-year student Sasha Ross to complete her studies in 2020.

SA国际影视传媒淚 definitely think that the majority of what I learn here will be applicable up North as well,SA国际影视传媒� Denroche said. SA国际影视传媒淪ome concerns (I am learning) are more specific to the North, like how to ship materials here or how to reach a specialist when you need one. But animals are very much the same everywhere.SA国际影视传媒�

Denroche, 26, said she has gained valuable insight into Northern veterinary needs from her life experience. She spent much of her youth working as a stable hand at Pisz's North Country Stables and worked in a summer job at the veterinarian's Great Slave Animal Hospital, where she was exposed to the medical science of animal care.

She is also a past volunteer at the NWT SPCA and spent six months at a cattle ranch in northern Alberta, to learn about animal handling.

But she also said she aims to return home after graduating because SA国际影视传媒減rofessionals of all stripes are badly needed.SA国际影视传媒�

Ross, 28, described the NWT animal care situation as a SA国际影视传媒渢on of pets, a ton animals but not a lot of veterinary services.SA国际影视传媒� She said rural vet care has arisen in some of her studies, but the North is overlooked.

SA国际影视传媒淚 don't think it is touched on much at all, and I think the North is kind of swept under the rug in a lot of ways,SA国际影视传媒� Ross said.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey don't mention it. There is a lot of 'If you work in Alberta, you will see this,' or 'If you work in Saskatchewan, you will see this.' They never, ever mention the North, but I think that is because there is only one Northern student per class. SA国际影视传媒�

She said the North has unique animal care issues as it comes to staffing needs and a variety of animal welfare issues that might not apply most areas of the country. She also said the college does a good job at focusing on some of the parasites and diseases which can come from wild animals and spread to domestic animals and people SA国际影视传媒� something that she feels is more specific to the North.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think from a public health perspective we have some unique challenges and some interesting emerging diseases,SA国际影视传媒� she said, noting for example diseases that can spread from beluga whales to wild meat sources and to dogs and people.

The GNWT reports that there are 28 licensed veterinarians in the NWT, however not all necessarily reside in the NWT.

Among them include Dr. Michelle Tuma, the last NWT graduate to completed the WCVM program, in 2014. She is now the veterinarian at the NWT SPCA and said it's special when an NWT student gets accepted because for much of the past decade the GNWT has not provided funding for a seat at the college like other jurisdictions, despite the need for more clinics.

SA国际影视传媒淭here is definitely a need for more veterinary clinics in the Northwest Territories because there are only a handful of vet clinics in our territory right now,SA国际影视传媒� said Tuma. SA国际影视传媒淲hat is really great about people from the North going to vet school is that we already know what it is like here and we know what to expect when we come back. With Kaitlyn getting into vet school, that is amazing because she will have more reasons to come home, practice here and help animals here.SA国际影视传媒�

Tuma, who's licensed in the NWT and Nunavut, said there are unique issues that apply to Northern veterinarian services. This is especially the case when servicing remote communities that often lack access to spay or neutering and preventable vaccinations for domestic animals that encounter wild animals with rabies or distemper.

Despite the high need for vets, the GNWT doesn't provide annual funding for the college to preserve a seat for an NWT student, similar to what the four western provincial governments and the Government Yukon provide for their applicants. Instead, when an NWT applicant is accepted into the program, the college goes to the government to seek funding support for their seat.

SA国际影视传媒淭here are just not enough applicants from NWT or Nunavut for them to keep it in their budget to fund us, which is what I was told when I applied,SA国际影视传媒� Tuma said.

Tuma said when looking at Whitehorse with a similar population as Yellowknife, the Yukon capital has three to four vet clinics while Yellowknife has the only two veterinarian clinics in the NWT. Those two clinics SA国际影视传媒� Great Slave Animal Hospital and Yellowknife Veterinary Clinic SA国际影视传媒� have one veterinarian each. In other areas of the NWT, mobile clinics are often the norm and licensed practitioners often come and go as they can be licensed in other jurisdictions at the same time.

Douglas Freeman, college dean, said the institution takes in students from four different western provinces, as well as the North, and international locations, too. As such, the college aims to provide a broad education on animal care and there isn't a focus on regional content in the curriculum. However, he said the college is trying to build relations with remote areas in the North, including Indigenous communities so that needs specific across the North can be better met.

SA国际影视传媒淭he curriculum doesn't really emphasize one regional area over another and to get licensed you have to be well versed in all species from Nunavut to the tropics,SA国际影视传媒� Freeman said. SA国际影视传媒淵ou need to have the educational foundation to do all of that.SA国际影视传媒�

Freeman said, however, that the college is working to build partnerships and focus on veterinary care for more remote communities, which may apply to the North. He said there are unique issues of climate change, and human, animal and environmental impacts related to the outbreak of diseases, which can have more intensity in the North because people live close to the land.

SA国际影视传媒淲e are in the process of strengthening our focus on Indigenous communities in the North,SA国际影视传媒� he said, noting that the college has helped to operate remote veterinary clinics in La Ronge, Sask., every spring and fall for the past four years.

SA国际影视传媒淭hings like tuberculosis or wildlife diseases can potentially have an impact on the safety of Northern country foods. Uncontrolled dog populations in Indigenous communities is another concern that can become a huge public health issue.SA国际影视传媒�

Clarification:  One seat is available to a student from one of the three northern territories each academic year. The GNWT does not need to sponsor a student annually to the college because there cannot be an NWT student every year. When the seat is filled by an NWT student, the GNWT sponsors the student. Although the sponsorship of the seat was put on hold for a few years, it was reinstated in 2013 and has been available for NWT students since that time. For reasons of privacy, ECE was unable to provide the amount awarded to vet college students.