FREE WEBINAR:

Climbing Mt. Debt: 2026 Borrow Better Challenge

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 - 5pm PT / 8pm ET

Student debt sucks and paying for your veterinary education is complicated. Even more so with new student loan limits and repayment changes. How do you know which changes will affect your borrowing strategy and repayment plans?

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Brought to you by the VIN Foundation in collaboration with SAVMA and VBMA, join Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA and Rebecca Mears, DVM, to learn how you can Borrow Better during veterinary school!

This webinar is the wrap-up to the fall Borrow Better Challenge. It will summarize your message board submissions, help you assess recent changes, project your borrowing costs during veterinary school, and learn from your colleagues’ borrowing strategies.

The Goal: Borrow Better during veterinary school, navigate this confusing transition period for student loan borrowing, and set yourself up for repayment success.

Join Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA and Rebecca Mears, DVM for this Borrow Better Challenge conclusion and a chance to win prizes for your submissions. DoorDash Gift Card winners will be drawn during the live webinar.

BONUS! Have private loans? Share your private student loan terms by completing a Student Debt & Income Signalment form (link found on registration confirmation page) and you will be entered to win one of many DoorDash gift cards. DoorDash Gift Card winners will be drawn during the live webinar.

Why register?
By registering you will receive a recording of the webinar with additional information. You will also stay up to date on Borrow Better topics, get exclusive downloads, student loan repayment tips, and beneficial VIN Foundation news.

The VIN Foundation respects your privacy. Your information will only be used to keep you informed about the VIN Foundation, and will never be shared or sold.

Presenter:

Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA
Tony Hubspot profileTony Bartels graduated in 2012 from the Colorado State University combined MBA/DVM program and is an employee of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN). He and his wife, a small-animal internal medicine specialist practicing in Denver, have more than $400,000 in veterinary-school debt that they manage using federal income-driven repayment plans. By necessity (and now obsession), his professional activities include researching and speaking on veterinary student debt, providing guidance to colleagues on loan-repayment strategies and contributing to VIN Foundation resources. Beyond debt, his professional interests include small- and exotic-animal practice. When he’s not staring holes into his colleagues’ student-loan data, Tony enjoys fly fishing, ice hockey, camping and exploring Colorado with his wife, Audra, their daughter Lucy, and their two rescued canines, Addi and Maggie.

Presenter:

Rebecca Mears, DVM
Becca headshotRebecca Mears, DVM is from Lexington, KY, and a graduate of University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Rebecca started her career as an equine general practitioner and is an active AAEP member, currently serving as a member of the AAEP DEI Committee. Her interest in student debt education began with keeping her own education costs lower and grew from there. This was supported by her involvement in the Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) which she now gives back to as a National Advisor. In her time away from veterinary medicine, she can be found obsessing over plants and hosting impromptu dance parties. She is passionate about giving back to the profession and improving the lives of veterinarians, pre-vet and vet students.