What Is Happening with Bovine Practice and Is It Fixable?

This editorial was written by Dr. K. Fred Gingrich II, DVM and Executive Director of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. Bovine Veterinarian appreciates having the opportunity to repost Dr. Gingrich's editorial here. To learn more about the organization, go to aabp.org.

We have many issues to face as an organization that the AABP office and our many volunteers work on for our members. One of the big issues facing our segment of the profession is recruitment and retention of veterinarians in rural mixed animal or bovine practice. This is not a new problem, but it is a problem that appears to be getting worse. According to the AVMA Census of Veterinarians, in 2022 there were 78,717 veterinarians in clinical practice and a total of 7,540 in food animal or mixed practice combined. Over the past 10 years, there has been a 22% increase in the number of veterinarians in clinical practice but at the same time a 15% decrease in the number of veterinarians in food animal or mixed practice. AABP membership retention data shows that about 50% of veterinarians leave AABP membership during the first 5-10 years of practice and our exit surveys demonstrate that the number one reason for leaving AABP membership is leaving cattle practice for companion animal practice.

There have been many efforts to date to “fix” this problem. These have included increasing the number of veterinary schools, developing schools to target students interested in rural practice, loan repayment programs, externships, recruiting from rural communities, increasing the number of seats at veterinary schools, and developing continuing education resources for recent graduates in cattle practice. But the data shows that the problem is worsening. Currently, there are 143 active job openings on our website within the past year and we have 250 AABP student members graduating this year, most of whom likely already have jobs secured.

I have listened to and discussed this with many members. These conversations typically end up with some type of blame followed by a proposed solution. Examples would be that the younger generation does not know how to work, veterinary school tuition is to blame, we need to recruit farm kids, academics do not train students for the “real world”, academics disparage food animal practice, recent graduates need to pay their dues like we did, and recent graduates need to recognize we should feel honored to work with these great clients.

Cattle veterinarians know how to identify problems and create solutions for our clients. But we also should evaluate those interventions to see if they are working. I would propose that as a profession, we have not truly evaluated the above interventions because if we had, the data clearly demonstrates that the problem is getting worse despite multiple solutions. I would also propose that our language seems to focus on “what is going on with our ... recent graduates” indicating there is a problem with THEM that needs fixed. Instead, maybe we should critically evaluate bovine practice and ask if we have created a business model where very few people want to stay.

I have had the opportunity to listen to many recent graduates and their struggles. I am horrified at some of the stories that have been shared with me. I used to think that this was rare until I heard more and more of them. Examples include associates that were subject to blatant discrimination, practices that were mad their associate was pregnant and refused to adjust their work duties, no maternity leave, emergency services for anyone who happened to call, no safety assurances for associates doing emergencies alone, unreasonable work schedules, working after scheduled hours, not able to grow as a veterinarian, no mentorship, and minimal continuing education opportunities by providing a stipend that does not even cover cost of attendance.

The problem is multi-factorial and we cannot identify one thing to improve the situation, but it has become clear to me that we need to fix what we can fix. If we look at the results of our graduating senior surveys, the number of hours worked and the salary offered are the two biggest challenges when job searching. Emergency services are a part of bovine practice but what can we do to improve emergency duties for our associates? Does everyone share the responsibility? Can we partner with other practices? Do you offer this service for anyone who has your phone number or just regular clients? Is training offered to decrease the number of emergency calls? Are associates paid to be on call and receive pay for going to the call? Is everyone welcome in your practice or does our language and behavior not include everyone’s beliefs, gender, race, ethnicity? The current student population in veterinary schools is about 25% non-white racial or ethnic background. The current student population is over 80% female. Do you have paid maternity leave for your associates? What is the cost of losing an associate in your practice versus the cost of paying them during child leave when they have a large debt load to service?

Are you properly mentoring associates? Do you have a formal program in place to develop their interests? Do you try their suggestions or find out what they are interested in and tell them to go for it? Do you offer paid student externships to find your next associate? Do you have a human resources manager in your practice? Have you taken any training on how to make your work environment safer and more inclusive? Do your associates have a regular day off during the week? Are you offering competitive salaries? The cost of veterinary services for a beef or dairy operation is negligible, but the value can be critical to our clients’ businesses. When was the last time you evaluated your fee structure? Where are there opportunities to increase your fees so that everyone can be paid a competitive salary?

All of the above is pretty common in small animal practice and that is our competition. We cannot fix everything, but I would challenge each of us to critically look at our practice, and instead of saying “what is wrong with these recent graduates”, we should instead ask “what can I improve in my practice to make it better”? --Dr. Fred Gingrich