AVMA Is Committed to Addressing the Industry’s Challenges

September 14, 2023 — 

Each day more than 80,000 companion animal veterinarians work to provide the best possible care for millions of pets in the United States. Additional veterinarians in mixed animal, food animal, equine, laboratory animal, exotic and zoo/wildlife practice, specialty practice and public health provide services that keep patients, their owners and the public safe. And, in academia, veterinarians of all types make certain the next generation of veterinarians is well prepared. The American Veterinary Medical Association works every day to help ensure our colleagues continue to provide high-quality services so important to the health and welfare of animals and the public.

The AVMA recognizes how difficult the past few years have been. While challenges existed within the profession before COVID, the pandemic exacerbated them. The weight of these challenges has placed significant pressure and stress on practitioners and practices, which is why we are so committed to finding the right solutions to help veterinary teams now and into the future.

These challenges include a shortage of trained veterinarians in rural areas of the United States and in certain segments of our profession, including food animal, equine, academia, shelters, emergency practices, specialties and public health. However, some circulating estimates on the number of companion animal veterinarians needed by 2030 substantially overestimate demand while underestimating supply. These estimates are based on faulty math, positioning COVID-19 pandemic data as a baseline instead of an outlier when anticipating future needs, and neglecting to account for future capacity growth.

These inaccurate projections have led to claims of crisis-level shortages of companion animal veterinarians, causing lawmakers to consider proposals for long-term changes that would threaten animal health and safety. They also have led to dramatic, knee-jerk proposals to change how the profession is regulated -- even to the point of contemplating removing the requirement for a license to practice veterinary medicine.

Read more at Today's Veterinary Business.

[Source: Today's Veterinary Business 12 September 2023 by Rena Carlson]