The blog is taking a slight turn this week and focusing on an inferior species: humans. Trust me – I prefer animals over humans any day; however, I think it is important to discuss the supply and demand issue of veterinarians within veterinary medicine. Without a sufficient supply of veterinarians, our animals as well as current veterinary staff suffer.

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The graph above presents a clear distinction between turnover rates within human and animal medicine. The turnover rates for veterinarians and vet techs are significantly higher than their human medicine counterparts and here’s why:

• COVID-19: Just like every other field, veterinary medicine took a hit during the pandemic and continues to battle the repercussions. Pet ownership rose over lockdown which led to clinics trying their best to take in the new pandemic pets. In addition, safety accommodations and adjustments caused longer waits and an overall decrease in efficiency. As a female-dominated field, some staff were forced to reduce the hours they worked or move to more remote work in order to take care of their children.
• Low Wages & Debt: The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an average annual salary of $99,250 for veterinarians; meanwhile, doctors average $208,000 per year. Veterinarians are not being properly compensated for their expertise, and the piles of debt that accumulate over 8+ years of schooling are not able to be paid off.

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• Fresh Faces: There aren’t enough new veterinarians to make up for the ones that leave or retire. A DVM degree consists of four years at a vet school, and any specialties require further training. Vet schools are making it increasingly difficult to get accepted, and the lack of vet schools has something to do with that. There are only 32 in the country – to put it into perspective, there are 172 medical schools in the country.

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• Burn Out/Mental Health: Similar to human medicine, the job is not easy. Vets are under constant stress as they deal with dying and sick animals, rude owners, and long hours. Female vets are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide compared to the general public while male vets are 2 times more likely. Veterinarians make the hard decision to leave the field before it is too late.

All of these things have accumulated to cause the ongoing shortage of veterinarians. The unfortunate truth is that some of these things will never truly go away either. This is just a brief snapshot into the issue, and I’m sure I could talk more in depth about the various factors that have caused this shortage, but I’ll save you the time.

As for the animals, they are being greatly affected by the limited supply for such a large demand. Owners seeking veterinary care for their animals are being turned away simply because clinics are short-staffed. Additionally, emergency hospitals have taken a hit which causes owners to scramble when they need timely care, but they must deal with full waiting rooms. Meanwhile, the livestock/large animal industry is an even greater issue with high demand and an even smaller supply of veterinarians.

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Clinics and hospitals must find the right balance in order to prioritize the wellbeing of their staff as well as provide care to as many animals as possible. In the mean time, we, as pet owners, can take these things into consideration and extend grace to our veterinarians and other vet staff as they do their best to give our beloved animals quality veterinary care.