Why One Veterinarian Says There May Soon Be A Shortage Of Equine Practitioners — And How You Can Help

It's no secret that employers across all industries are hard-pressed for help right now. Dr. Debbie Spike-Pierce, president and CEO of Rood + Riddle Equine Hospital, worries that soon equine veterinarians won't just have a tough time finding people to work for them – their clients may have a tough time finding someone to treat their horse.

Spike-Pierce presented some unsettling statistics at the clinic's annual client education seminar last month and shared her thoughts on why equine practice is in particular trouble. She cited a study by the American Veterinary Medical Association that found only about 1 percent of veterinary students are planning to go into equine practice – down from 4 percent in the mid-2000s. In the population of existing veterinarians, equine vets make up 5.6 percent of the total. Spike-Pierce also said that within five years post-graduate, 50 percent of equine veterinarians will leave equine practice.

There are lots of reasons for this, but they all boil down to burnout. Spike-Pierce said that veterinarians surveyed by the American Association for Equine Practitioners (AAEP) report their physical health as pretty good – impressive, considering how physical their jobs often are. They self-reported their mental health as much less favorable, with 18% of male equine veterinarians classifying their mental health as fair to poor, and 25% of female equine veterinarians saying the same.

The Paulick Report ran an open letter from Dr. Rebecca Mears about the mental health of veterinarians earlier this year, specifically focusing on the “Not One More Vet” or NOMV movement aimed at preventing veterinary suicide.

(You can read that letter here.)

As Mears explained, recent veterinary school graduates begin their careers under a mountain of debt, often taking low-paying jobs in their first years out of school as they work to get established. Those who go into mobile practice for themselves (like many equine veterinarians) have even greater start-up debt.

Veterinary practices of all sorts have taken to social media in recent months, expressing that they are dealing with shorter tempers than normal from clients, combined with smaller staffs to help manage nursing care and caseloads. Social media has also enabled a dissatisfied client to put a practice on blast, whether or not their criticisms feel true or fair to the veterinarian. After a long day dealing with sick animals and angst-ridden clients, finding a negative review on social media can often feel like the last straw.

Equine practice can be even more demanding, since as Spike-Pierce points out, it doesn't have set hours the way a dog or cat clinic would.

“We are seeing these same issues in equine practice as we are seeing in general veterinary practice, but we're also seeing people leave equine practice and go to small animal practice,” said Spike-Pierce.

Oftentimes, she said she hears people dismiss these issues by saying that equine practice is “a lifestyle” – which she agrees is true.

“It is a lifestyle,” she said. “Actually it's one I pretty much enjoyed. What I loved about equine practice was feeling like I could take my kids with me. I went on calls with my dad growing up. The equine industry as a whole is very open to having kids be there. Oftentimes I think the reason we're working with horses is because we were there when our parents were.”

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But not everyone wants to buy into having that round-the-clock lifestyle for most of their lives, and telling young veterinarians that they should work seven days a week or get out of the business seems to result in many choosing the latter. Spike-Pierce said the culture around horses is your job is 24/7 because horses need care 24/7 – but that care doesn't always have to come from the same person.

One reason equine veterinarians may make the switch to small animal practice is that dog and cat clinics often share emergency duty, or allow clinicians to work a smaller number of longer days each week so they get some predictable off time. Spike-Pierce said there's some degree of client education involved in a set-up like that for horse veterinarians — clients need to know who's on duty for after-hours calls on a particular night, or they need to be ok with having their call forwarded to a different doctor sometimes. She has seen some smaller practices experiment with this, with some success.

“Our younger veterinarians are asking for time,” she said. “They want to have time away from work, but they're able and willing to work extra hard when they are working. They want that separation.”

Splitting up duties, especially emergency duties, by geographic region can be a game changer for veterinarians' stress levels, too —  and it can reduce the wait for a client who's dealing with an animal in distress.

“If you all have ideas, that's welcome,” Spike-Pierce told the audience. “It's something we're going to need to address in the future to be able to continue to serve animals.

“If you look at the numbers, it just doesn't work if it continues on the same trend. So please, thank your veterinarian, and please work with them to give them the time they need.”

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Mears: A Sobering Number Of Veterinarians Suffer From Mental Health Challenges; Yours May Be One Of Them

When I first began considering a career in veterinary medicine, I wanted to be sure I fully understood the profession. There's obviously more to being a vet than playing with animals. What I did not expect was the link between veterinary medicine and suicide.

In early March, our profession lost at least three veterinarians and one technician. Your social media accounts may have recently reflected an increase in mentions of veterinary suicide and the resources available to those within the profession.

One such resource is “Not One More Vet” or NOMV. NOMV was created in 2014 by Dr. Nicole McArthur as a online support group to discuss the good and challenging aspects of life as a veterinarian. Today, the private Facebook group has over 26,000 members and has expanded to include separate groups for vet students and support staff.

Another pair of resources is VIN Foundation's VETS4VETS, for vets and vet students, and SUPPORT4SUPPORT, for support staff. Backed by veterinarians and mental health professionals, VIN Foundation's resources offer mentor matching, private support groups, and additional support for those in recovery, battling cancer, or with mental/physical issues that affect ability to work.

Both NOMV and VIN Foundation offer veterinary professionals the opportunity to be heard. When the struggles of practice may feel too overwhelming, both groups are there to connect those individuals with mental health resources.

I've struggled to find the words to express my feelings in light of the recent losses. Veterinary professionals are hurting. It's statistically likely the veterinarian that treats your family pet(s) may be struggling. A 2018 study by the CDC found that “female veterinarians were 3.5 times as likely, and male veterinarians were 2.1 times as likely, to die from suicide as the general population.” Seventy-five percent of veterinarians who died by suicide worked in small animal practice.

It's natural to ask, “Why does this happen?” The truth is, it's a lot of reasons all layered on top of one another. According to AVMA, the average student loan debt of a new vet is around $180,000. Due to interest and salary factors, many people will take 20+ years to repay that debt, all while also saving up for a huge loan “forgiveness” tax. Hours are long, vacations are few. Many clinics are understaffed and busier than ever.

Additionally, veterinary medicine has become this odd blend of practicing medicine and customer service. It can be difficult to manage cases appropriately when everyone has Google at their fingertips. We often hear how, as veterinarians, we are backed by big corporations and are in their pocket. I can assure you that's not the case. In a world where just about everything is instant, we want our pet's medical care to follow that same timeline.

On top of all that, we aren't kind to ourselves. Not only are most veterinarians just hard on themselves in general, but within our profession we are, at times, entirely too hard on one another. Just recently we suffered loss after loss after loss after loss. We felt that strain, we worked to raise awareness. Then a few days later, I read messages of veterinarians arguing amongst themselves and placing blame in regards to what is the appropriate salary for a new graduate veterinarian just entering practice.

If we cannot be kind to ourselves and one another within our profession, can we expect those outside of our profession to be kind? Maybe in a perfect world, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I'd say hug your veterinarian but 1) that's weird and 2) we're still in a pandemic. So instead I encourage anyone reading this… be kind. Be kind to yourself and others in your profession. Be kind to your veterinarian and each and every one of their staff members. I am by no means a perfect human being, but my goal each day is try to be a semi-decent one. Join me on that journey. Let's be semi-decent and just a little kinder together.

Dr. Rebecca Mears is an equine veterinarian practicing at Brenford Animal Hospital in Delaware. She is also a veterinary advocate with a focus in improving financial literacy and encouraging wellbeing among her fellow veterinarians.

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