AABP report addresses veterinarian shortage perception

Is there a shortage of veterinarians serving livestock producers? Recently, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) released a report from its Rural Veterinary Practices (RVP) committee about the perceived shortage of food animal veterinarians. What the committee found was not an overall lack of food-animal veterinarians, but rather a shortage of veterinarians willing to practice in some rural areas. 

Based on fears of veterinary shortages in the late 1990s, the Food Supply Veterinary Medicine Coalition (FSVMC), formed in May 2004, listed possible solutions to a projected shortage, including student debt repayment and scholarship programs and student recruitment and training opportunities. Recruitment was intensified, and scholarships and loan forgiveness programs at both the state and federal levels were instituted. The efforts had a major positive effect on the number of students entering and graduating from veterinary schools seeking employment in food supply medicine.

 

However, AABP student members started to indicate that they could not obtain jobs in food supply veterinary medicine. As a result, AABP leadership formed the AABP Ad Hoc Committee on Rural Veterinary Practice (RVP), in the fall of 2010. Committee members were mostly from private practices – both beef and dairy were represented – from different regions of the United States. The committee recently published their report: “Summary Opinion of the American Association of Bovine Practitioner’s Ad Hoc Committee on Rural Veterinary Practice.” Among its findings:

 

• There is not currently a shortage of veterinarians for rural food supply veterinary private practice.

 

• There remains underserved rural areas across the country that may not be able to sustain a veterinary practice and absorb new veterinarians entering the job market. 

 

• High input costs for all producers, a collapse of milk prices and the severe downturn in the overall economy likely influenced the rural veterinary job market. In instances where rural jobs are still available, these jobs remain unfilled because the economics may be undesirable for an experienced practitioner and, in small clinics, there may be a lack of mentorship and support for graduating veterinary students.

 

• The committee is concerned the perception of a veterinarian shortage is creating an “over supply” of food supply veterinarians.

 

RVP believes the following trends are currently affecting rural veterinary practices and will continue to affect them in the future:

 

1) Consolidation of livestock systems vs. “locavore” movement

The consolidation of animal agriculture impacts the need for veterinary services.  First, there is a vacuum left in some rural areas that at one time had large numbers of livestock. While some small livestock producers remain in these areas and need veterinary services, there is not enough business to sustain the livestock portion of a practice. 

 

In addition, high input costs have tightened producer profit margins, leaving producers either unable or unwilling to afford veterinary services. This leads to competition for services with lay people, further driving away veterinary businesses.

 

Second, expansion and consolidation of the livestock enterprises means fewer potential clients. While livestock numbers may be the same, larger operations have dedicated care‐givers with sufficient training to administer to the needs of sick animals that were traditionally served by the local veterinarian. Preventive health programs are commonly in place and reduce the need for casual sick cow services that formed the mainstay of traditional veterinary practice. 

 

While these larger livestock units have an increased need for preventive health consultation services, veterinary practices have not always responded to this need by altering the services they provide. These outdated business models eventually fail, leaving a void that may be filled by other professions or businesses.

 

On the positive side, the report said, there are opportunities for those practices that are innovative and respond to the changing needs of the livestock industries. There may also be non‐traditional job opportunities for veterinarians in corporate businesses that will also be responding to the changing needs of these food supply industries.

 

A competing trend to consolidation is the consumer’s increasing desire for locally grown food, leading to some slowing of consolidation or potentially an increase in livestock production in some rural areas. Possible contributing factors are increased transportation costs leading to the need to produce food closer to the consumer and a rapidly rising human population that may drive agriculture production back to areas where it has left. These factors may have a positive effect on rebuilding rural communities, and hence the need for veterinary services. However, these potential changes will take some time to occur.

 

2) Increasing cost of veterinary education and student debt

The increasing student debt‐to‐salary ratio is a crisis for the entire veterinary profession. However, it has major effects on rural practices that offer livestock services. Raising fees to subsequently raise salaries has particular limits in rural environments. The hourly rates veterinarians need to charge to service high debt load may not be affordable for commercial livestock operations. This forces veterinarians to eventually stop offering these services.

 

3) Gender and generational expectations and lifestyle choices

Many rural practices are staffed by solo practitioners. Younger generations of veterinarians and female veterinarians (who increasingly contribute to this younger generation) are less likely to want to practice solo, therefore, rural practices that are have trouble hiring, are hard to sell and eventually close.

 

Younger and female veterinarians want mentorship, closer proximity to amenities found in larger towns and cities, shared emergency duty, and more flexible work schedules that are often difficult to provide in solo or small practices. Additionally, dual career families require employment for spouses or significant others that may be limited in rural areas.

 

Summary

There are many trends and competing influences affecting the current and future viability of rural practices. While some are out of the control of the veterinary profession, some are clearly in our control. A void of veterinary involvement in rural communities has negative implications for animal welfare, public health and food safety. Simply increasing the number of available veterinarians will not solve this problem. 

 

The RVP is currently working on developing tools for AABP members to use for addressing the challenges of serving the beef and dairy industries and protecting public health in a changing environment.

 

Find the entire report at www.aabp.org/resources/pdfs/Summary_Opinion_of_the_AABP-Rural_Vet_Practice-5.19.11.pdf.