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Shortage of Vets

A Shortage of Veterinarians

Haley Campbell

RC 2001 Dr. Young

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Shortage of Vets

Abstract:

Throughout the past several years, there has been a slow decline of the number of veterinarians

in the US. Many factors have contributed to this decline. The profession takes a mental toll on

everyone who enters it. It is one of the highest phycological distressing jobs. Veterinarians have

over twice the suicide rate than other medical professionals. Not even counting the amount of

stress that comes from student debt. An average vet has spent 6-8 years in college, with almost

$200,000 worth of student loans. Students have about a 10% of actually getting accepted into an

accredited program in the US. With only 30 accredited schools in the US averaging 200 spots

each, the application process is more rigorous than medical school. The pandemic took its toll on

this profession just like every other profession. It caused a big delay in the number of students

able to apply with the need credentials. The best solution that should be looked into is adding

more DVM programs to more schools around the US. In 2020 there was a total of 10,273

applications submitted, but only about 6,000 students accepted. Adding just a few DVM

programs to already known universities would increase the amount of graduates each year,

slowly increasing the number of vets in the US. Along with raising awareness for their high

suicide rates and taking action for current and future veterinarians.
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Shortage of Vets

Since 2007 there has been a steady drop in the number of Veterinarians in the United

States. But there has been a steady growth of pet owners. The American Veterinary Medical

Association (AVMA) found that 68% of U.S. households or 86.4 million homes are home to a

pet today, compared with 50% of households in 1988. So, the question is, if the number of pet

owners has been increasing, why has the veterinarian field slowly decreased? One reason for the

decrease is the phycological distress that comes with the profession. A survey of 3,500

veterinarians conducted by Merck Animal Health in 2018 revealed that 1 in 20 veterinarians

suffers from serious psychological distress (Fender 2018). High student debt, work satisfaction,

and burnout are some of the possible causes of this ill health. "The problem of significant student

loans has intensified in recent years," according to the AVMA's 2017 Economic Report.

According to a 2018 report by the CDC, 1 in 6 veterinarians have contemplated suicide in the

past year. And has steadily increased over the past 3 decades. “The rate of suicide in the

veterinary profession has been pegged as close to twice that of the dental profession, more than

twice that of the medical profession (2), and 4 times the rate in the general population.”

(Stoewen, 2015) An average vet has spent 6-8 years in college, with almost $200,000 worth of

student loans. "The majority of veterinarians who graduated before 1990 paid off their school

loans in less than ten years," according to the study, while just approximately 20% of those who

graduated in 2005 were able to do so. The larger group practices put a greater emphasis on

productivity that strongly links to work satisfaction and average salary.

Another issue is the limited number of veterinarian schools in the US and the limited number of

seats within each university. There are only 30 accredited Veterinary schools in the US and 19

additional schools worldwide. There are 27 states that house veterinary colleges while Alabama,
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Shortage of Vets

Tennessee and California are the only states with more than one. “Most schools have an

acceptance rate of about 10-15%, while 50% of those accepted reside in the state with that

school.” (Hehn, 2019) Some of the universities have contracts with neighboring states allowing

them a fixed number of seats. Auburn University has a contract with Kentucky, reserving 38

seats of acceptance for them as in-state students. The also accept 41 out of state students. Auburn

accepts 130 students each year, with 89 of those being reserved for in-state students. It should

also be noted that some schools recommend applicants acquire at least 1,000 hours of actual

experience in some type of veterinary capacity. Getting accepted is very difficult and can lead

the more ambitious applicants to attend vet schools abroad or in the Caribbean. Even then, the

process is difficult to get through. Canada only has 5 accredited colleges with just under 300

spots each year. These different routes of becoming a licensed vet led to higher debt from tuition,

living, and relocation costs. Medical school has some of the most rigorous demands for their

applicants but the sheer quantity of applicants accepted dwarfs the number of applicants accepted

into veterinary colleges.

After all of the other obstacles for vet school, the pandemic just made it 10 times harder to get

into the programs. Covid closed a lot of places down and limited the number of public

interactions. It is important to note that all universities are different and could have been less

impacted by the pandemic situation. This caused a lot of students to not get the required clinical

hours in they needed. Most schools require anywhere from 200-500 clinical hours to even be

eligible to apply. When clinics closed down or partially closed, it took the clinical hours away

from students. Even if universities chose to overlook the clinical hour problem, it could cause

experience issues for future classes and jobs. It also had a big impact on the undergraduate

class’s students are required to have. Some programs chose not to accept chemistry or physics
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Shortage of Vets

classes that were completed online. The schools believe that the online classes were taught less

demanding than it normally would have been. A couple schools chose to overlook if the class

was online during the pandemic but many did not. They still require you to fulfill those credits

with in person classes.

There are a couple of ways to go about fixing the decline of Veterinarians. One suggestion could

be to accept more applicants at each accredited program. While this could be a solution, you

would risk larger classes possibly losing the quality of the information being taught. The best

option would be to try to get more schools to offer the program. The applicant pools each year is

so large, that new schools would be filled each year. The AAVMCs preliminary data showed that

a total of 10,273 applicants submitted applications in the year 2020. “The submit rate, which is

the number of applicants who begin and complete the application process with the Veterinary

Medical College Application Service (VMCAS), rose to 79%. That has historically averaged

about 72-73%.” (AAVMC) This many applicants could easily fill a few new programs if they

were to start up. Getting the acceptance and graduation rate up would help, it would be beneficial

to look at those who have already graduated. Taking a look into the mental health of people who

have been in the field for 5 years or more could potentially help. Halliwell and Hoskin indicate,

“We must develop a greater awareness within the veterinary profession of the issue of suicide,

and of the predisposing signs and of the warning signs.” Every career has its impact on mental

health, but we need to find ways to bring awareness and support in any way we can.

Resources:

Are we in a veterinary workforce crisis? American Veterinary Medical Association. (2021, September).
Retrieved from https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2021-09-15/are-we-veterinary-workforce-crisis
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Chart of the month: Shifting demand for veterinarians. American Veterinary Medical Association. (2019,
June). Retrieved from https://www.avma.org/blog/chart-month-shifting-demand-veterinarians

Doherty, C. (2020, January). The demand for associate veterinarians: Surveying the "shortage". The
Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6909430/

Fathke, R. L., Rao, S., & Salman, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: A time for veterinary leadership
in one health. One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 11, 100193.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100193

Hehn, L. (2019, September). How hard is it to get into veterinary school? A look at the acceptance rate.
How Hard is it to Get Into Veterinary School? A Look at the Acceptance Rate. Retrieved from
https://blog.vetprep.com/how-hard-is-it-to-get-into-veterinary-school-a-look-at-acceptance-the-rate

Limper, C. B., Hinckley-Boltax, A. L., & Cazer, C. L. (1AD, January 1). Brief research report:
Veterinary student perspective on covid-19 and veterinary medicine. Frontiers. Retrieved
from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2021.723890/full

Ruiz, P. (2019, May). Current trends in veterinary medicine - NVPU. Current trends in veterinary
medicine: A closer look at large-group consolidation. Retrieved from
http://www.natvpu.org/uploads/5/9/5/2/59529767/final_report_pablo_perez_ruiz__1_.pdf

Stoewen, D. L. (2015, January). Suicide in veterinary medicine: let's talk about it. The Canadian
veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266064/#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20suicide
%20in,the%20general%20population%20(3).

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2019, March). Veterinary occupations and projected employment. U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-8/veterinary-
occupations-growing.htm?view_full

Villarroel, A. (n.d.). (PDF) shortage of rural veterinarians: Real or perceived? Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47788316_Shortage_of_Rural_Veterinarians_Real_or_Pe
rceived

Why the majority of veterinary school applicants are denied: How to become a veterinarian. How to
Become a veterinarian | Education. (2017, March 20). Retrieved from
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denied/

Wood, S. (2021, October 27). Vet shortage is creating headaches at North Bay Clinics. The North Bay
Business Journal. Retrieved from
https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industrynews/veterinarian-shortage-creating-
headaches-at-north-bay-clinics/