INCREASED DEMAND for veterinary services is being driven by changing societal values:
Society’s value on animals is leading to the expectation that all pets receive necessary veterinary care. Animal welfare organizations across the country are creating subsidized care programs and hiring many veterinarians who would have previously entered private practice.
An estimated 75 million pets will go without care within by 2030 because there are not enough veterinarians to provide that care. This includes owned pets and homeless pets.
In 2023, 23 Colorado counties were identified by the USDA as veterinary shortage situations.
SERIOUS ISSUES FOR THE VETERINARY PROFESSION are resulting as veterinarians are unable to meet the increased demand for services:
Veterinary businesses in Colorado cannot hire enough staff to meet the demand—an extremely low unemployment rate of 1.6% is lower than what is considered “full employment.”
Per AVMA, 60% of postings advertising veterinarian positions receive no responses.
20% of veterinarians consider themselves “overemployed” meaning they do not intend to sustain the hours they are currently working. Three thousand full time veterinarians nationally would be needed to compensate for this change alone.
Overwhelming demand on veterinarians is exacerbating mental health issues, and female veterinarians have 2.4 times the rate of suicide as the general public.
Veterinary practices are limiting hours and closing throughout Colorado (CSU limiting urgent care, emergency hospitals turning away referrals, many hours’ long wait times, etc.)
Veterinary technicians cannot support their families on their current salaries, leading them to leave the field after an average of seven years. This program gives veterinary technicians a viable career path and keeps this extremely limited resource within the profession.
Lincoln Memorial University, a private institution in Tennessee, launched a Master of Veterinary Clinical Care program in August 2022. The graduate program is designed to provide credentialed veterinary technicians advanced training to support the use of veterinary professionals.
Colorado State University recognizes the severe societal impacts caused by the veterinary workforce shortage and lack of access to veterinary care. As a leader in veterinary education, Colorado State University is at the forefront of innovation and has started an approval process to offer this degree programming.
Lincoln Memorial University started its very first class in August of 2022 and should have its first graduates within two years. LMU is a private university, and as such, has a different approval pathway than a public university like CSU. Additionally, the LMU program is less extensive than what CSU and other veterinary schools are considering. Due to its different approval pathway, the LMU program was able to be developed without changes to Tennessee’s veterinary practice act. Colorado would be the first state to implement these changes to the practice act.
Master’s degree that will provide advanced knowledge, technical skills, and competence to administer routine veterinary care.
A 5-semester program that provides in-depth knowledge of infectious, metabolic, neoplastic, and degenerative diseases and a hands-on practicum experience.
Technical and communication skills; a team veterinary approach; efficiency and productivity are all part of the curriculum.
Instruction will be integrated with the CSU DVM training program, with veterinarians and veterinary professionals working as a team, and clinical expertise will be measured.
The program is being designed to offer a career path for veterinary technicians with associates degrees, foreign veterinarians, and those qualified for veterinary school but who are unable to obtain one of the extremely limited seats available.
Currently in Colorado, veterinary technicians are leaving the profession after seven years, on average. Nationally, that number is between five years and seven years. Currently, there is not a clear career path through which veterinary technicians can advance, other than the small percentage that go on to become practice managers.
Veterinary PAs will help address the shortage of veterinarians by assuming responsibility for much of the routine care that is currently provided by veterinarians. This allows veterinarians to focus their time on more complex patients.
Overall, a team-based, tiered business model can generate more revenue for veterinary practices, resulting in higher salaries for all practice employees and greater work-life balance for veterinarians and staff.
Veterinary PAs would help address the cost of veterinary care by allowing practices to use lower salaried professionals (with lower educational debt) to provide routine veterinary care.
Modification of veterinary practice acts to allow for expanded capabilities under the supervision of a veterinarian (similar to the physician: physician assistant model) will further increase productivity of the veterinary healthcare team.
There are eight USDA designated veterinary shortages in Colorado spanning 23 counties.
There are areas with approximately 180,000 head of cattle with a single veterinarian to serve those needs, and many of these rural large animal veterinarians are past retirement age.
Zoonotic and other public health risks are exacerbated by the lack of veterinary expertise in these areas, and herd health is vulnerable.
A 2011 report titled “Workforce Needs in Veterinary Medicine” published by the National Research Council stated: “In rural areas, where primary veterinary care is needed but there are too few farms to support full-time veterinarians, a system of animal health care involving rigorously trained technicians under the supervision of veterinarians could be developed”. It is the goal of the MVCC program to produce graduates to fulfill this role.
With indirect supervision, a veterinarian would be able to delegate a VPA to visit a farm/ranch/herd for all issues that do not involve USDA Accreditation.
In small animal practice, VPA graduates would work under direct supervision of a veterinarian, who determines the level of appropriate delegation.
VPA graduates would be able to perform routine examinations and manage straightforward medical cases, provide preventive care, perform basic surgeries such as laceration repair and castration, dental procedures, perform euthanasia, and any other task that the supervising veterinarian knows the VPA is competent to complete.
In USDA-designated veterinary shortage situations, the VPA would be able to work with indirect supervision, meaning the supervising veterinarian is not on the same premises. This person could do pregnancy checking, bull evaluation, treat colic, and other medical and surgical conditions.
The licensed supervising veterinarian would be liable for damages resulting from the VPA’s negligence in providing care to a patient.
Licensed supervising veterinarians should only delegate responsibilities to the extent that the VPA is competent and has the necessary training and experience to provide.
Veterinarians who do not wish to accept this authority and responsibility would likely not employ a VPA.
Most veterinary professional liability insurance policies in effect today would cover the veterinarian in this situation.
Telehealth visits make veterinary care more accessible, especially for people in remote areas or those who face obstacles getting pets to a hospital due to health or transportation challenges.
Telehealth visits can be more efficient, convenient, and economical.
Telehealth improves animal welfare, not only by increasing access to the veterinary healthcare system, but also by reducing unnecessary fear, anxiety, and stress that can accompany trips to the vet clinic—for both pets and pet owners.
Yes. According to the Access to Veterinary Care Project, counties across Colorado have low access to veterinary care. The state of Colorado has an overall Veterinary Care Accessibility Score of 58 out of 100 – and many counties, particularly those on the Eastern Plains and Western Slope, have an even lower score, showing that veterinary care is nearly inaccessible in these areas.
Broad access to telehealth may address logistical problems with bringing pets to the clinic, prevent unnecessary time off work for pet owners, and make veterinary care more affordable through increased competition.
Private practices, shelter medicine, and food animal medicine are facing a critical shortage of veterinarians and other veterinary professionals in the workforce.iiAs in human medicine, widespread use of telehealth is critical to bridging gaps in care created by workforce shortages.
Many Colorado residents, including seniors, working families, and people who live in areas with few or no veterinarians, face financial, geographical, and logistical obstacles to accessing veterinary care for their pets.
As in human medicine, a physical examination may be ideal but simply not necessary in many situations. Many pet owners wish to avoid the stress that an unnecessary clinic visit can cause for both pets and their owners, particularly when telehealth can address a pet health issue. Pets often hide symptoms when under stress in a clinic environment. Veterinarians can often better observe an animal’s movement and behavior from the pet’s home environment and can treat less serious conditions without the need for a clinic visit.
Yes. Veterinarians can be trusted to decide when they can safely and effectively diagnose and treat a pet using telehealth and when to ask the client to bring the pet in to a clinic for an exam. In all 50 states, physicians use telemedicine visits with new patients, including babies and other nonverbal people. Requiring a physical exam is an outdated, unnecessary policy barrier to veterinary telehealth.
The American Association of State Veterinary Boards, Veterinary Innovation Council, Association of Shelter Veterinarians, and the Veterinary Virtual Care Association support enabling veterinarians to treat patients using telehealth. During the COVID-19 pandemic, state and federal governments, including Colorado, relaxed rules restricting telehealth, and according to the Veterinary Virtual Care Association, no U.S. or Canadian jurisdiction reported problems with harm to pets from telehealth.
No. Telehealth is an effective tool in treating animals, but it will not replace clinic visits. There are still many situations where an in-person visit will be necessary, such as vaccinations and surgeries.
Veterinarians train for many years, are highly regulated, and guard their licenses carefully. Veterinarians will continue to ask pet owners to take pets to a clinic for a physical examination as needed for many situations.
If the animal is not seriously ill and trial treatment makes sense, several conditions can be examined and/or diagnosed, including behavioral issues, many upper respiratory diseases, vomiting, diarrhea, skin issues, and eye infections to name a few. All these conditions would require an in-person exam if the animal is severely ill, lethargic and/or not eating, but many animals present with mild disease that can be treated via telehealth.
For livestock, one example would be that ultrasound images of pregnancy checks can be sent to a DVM for review.
Veterinary technicians range in skill and competency but are generalists by design. Veterinary technician specialists have all the general knowledge of a veterinary technician and receive additional credentialing in a specialization of their choice, such as emergency medicine, internal medicine, or clinical practice. This credentialing is recognized by the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) to ensure consistency and quality in programming.
Veterinary technician specialists increase access to care in a variety of ways. Veterinary technician specialists are competent in many specialties that can help free up time for a veterinarian to focus on higher-level tasks, increasing practice revenue and efficiency. Increased practice revenue can lead to higher salaries, better retention of existing employees, and additional staffing opportunities. An increase in efficiency leads to an increase in appointment availability and patients seen.
Specialties create career growth opportunities for existing technicians, which helps retain staff. Specialties also expand career options for those interested in becoming a veterinary technician, making the role that much more appealing to those considering entering the field. Only about 2% of veterinary technicians have achieved a VTS specialty.
Yes! There are over 75 million animals expected to go without care in the next seven years because there are too few veterinarians to serve them, and the shortage of technicians is even greater. While better utilization of veterinary technicians will help retain existing veterinary technicians and offer some opportunities for new veterinary technicians, experts must be added to the profession to meet the expanding need.
