The 2017 AVMA Report on Veterinary Markets was recently made available.
Some key findings include: (the following is quoted from:
http://atwork.avma.org/2017/04/10/2017-avma-report-on-veterinary-markets-now-available/)
- The total number of new veterinarians entering the profession in 2016 was 4,477, as represented by the number of test takers who passed the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam. This number remained about the same as the previous year.
- Mean debt acquired in veterinary college by 2016 graduates was $141,000. While 11.2 percent of students reported that they were graduating without college debt, 5.0 percent reported student debt totaling more than $300,000.
- When compared to the national labor market, the market for veterinarians was slower to react to the recession, has a smaller variation in the supply/demand ratio, and is considerably more volatile month to month.
- Our second year collecting data related to compassion satisfaction and burnout in veterinariansshowed several factors that were associated with these issues in both years. A veterinarian’s satisfaction with current employment, and how well prepared he or she felt for a career in veterinary medicine, were associated with both compassion satisfaction and burnout in both 2015 and 2016. Additionally, the number of hours worked per week was associated with burnout in both years.
- Following a trend seen in the robust market for veterinarians, veterinary practices’ revenue growth and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization has continued to show strong growth since 2013.
Most reports indicate increasing demand for veterinarians in the jobe market, with demand outpacing the job growth in other sectors. The bottom line: hiring veterinarians will likely remain a challenge and with more demand comes the needs to increase compensation.
