NC State to repeat VetRISE after successful high school pilot

NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine is putting its new VetRISE program in the success column after the first cohort of 11 North Carolina high school students completed a five-week summer research experience in faculty labs. In a July 20, 2026, article, the college said the pilot performed well enough that it has already committed to bringing the program back next summer, giving the initiative an early vote of confidence from campus leadership. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

VetRISE, short for Veterinary Research Internship for Scientific Exploration, launched this summer as a pilot designed to expose high school students to research-centered veterinary careers. That’s a different lane from the more familiar “future veterinarian” camp model. NC State already offers VetCAMP, a five-day high school experience focused on veterinary careers and hands-on exposure, while its long-running Veterinary Scholars Program supports DVM students conducting summer research. VetRISE appears to sit between those efforts, introducing students to the research enterprise earlier and more intentionally. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

According to NC State, students worked on projects tied to real lab questions. One student analyzed years of hospital data on antimicrobial resistance in veterinary patients under infectious disease professor Cristina Lanzas, reporting poster findings that included a 41% resistance rate for staph infections in canine patients and a 17.5% resistance rate for E. coli in feline patients. Others worked in Margaret Gruen’s lab on canine olfaction and on whether pressure-sensitive gait analysis could serve as a less invasive adjunct to radiographs for osteoarthritis assessment. Faculty quoted in the article said the students adapted quickly and contributed meaningfully despite initial concerns about mentoring at the high school level. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

The program also seems designed to broaden how young people picture veterinary careers. NC State’s write-up emphasized that some participants came in thinking veterinary medicine mostly meant surgery or clinic work, then left with a clearer view of research, diagnostics, and translational science. That framing is important because pipeline efforts often focus on admission to veterinary school broadly, while research-intensive and academic career tracks can be harder to surface early. NC State’s existing summer research ecosystem gives VetRISE a built-in structure for mentorship, including overlap with veterinary students already working in labs through the Veterinary Scholars Program. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

Broader industry context helps explain why this kind of pilot could draw attention beyond one campus. AAVMC has said the U.S. veterinary workforce conversation includes not only practice capacity, but also shortages in academic veterinary medicine, including faculty gaps, and has called for stronger recruitment and enrollment efforts. Its updated supply-and-demand materials also point to continued debate over where shortages are most acute and how best to expand the pipeline. In that environment, programs that introduce students earlier to veterinary research and academic medicine may appeal to colleges trying to build a deeper bench over time. That’s an inference, but it fits the priorities laid out by veterinary academic leaders. (aavmc.org)

There’s also a precedent for youth-focused immersion programs shaping career interest. NC State’s own VetCAMP markets exposure to multiple veterinary career paths for high school students, and recent literature from Ohio State described a high school food-animal immersion effort built specifically to raise awareness of veterinary workforce needs. Another published internship model tied to NC State’s VetPAC and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences found that structured pre-veterinary experiences can influence career development. VetRISE differs because it centers research rather than general career exploration, but it sits squarely within a broader movement toward earlier, more targeted pipeline building. (precollege.ncsu.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the immediate operational impact is limited, but the strategic significance is clearer. Academic veterinary medicine depends on a pipeline that reaches beyond DVM admissions into research training, faculty development, and retention of students who may not initially see themselves in lab-based roles. A program like VetRISE won’t solve workforce strain on its own, yet it may help colleges reach students earlier, normalize research as part of veterinary medicine, and create future applicants who are better informed about career options ranging from clinical investigation to antimicrobial resistance work. For practices and institutions thinking about succession, staffing, and the future of clinician-scientist training, that’s worth watching. (cvm.ncsu.edu)

What to watch: The next signals will be whether NC State expands the cohort beyond 11 students in summer 2027, secures dedicated funding, publishes more formal outcomes from the pilot, or connects VetRISE alumni to later-stage programs like VetCAMP, VetPAC advising, or the Veterinary Scholars Program. If that pathway becomes more deliberate, VetRISE could become more than a successful summer experiment and start to look like a replicable workforce-development model for veterinary colleges. (cvm.ncsu.edu)