Stemming the veterinary professional shortage to strengthen our industry

On the heels of millions of pet adoptions during the pandemic, demand for routine, emergency, and specialty veterinary care has surged, stretching an already-overwhelmed profession to its breaking point. The toll is showing. The veterinary industry is experiencing a shortage of veterinary professionals — veterinarians and veterinary technicians — that could last for many years to come if we do not take fast and intentional action as an industry.

At Mars Veterinary Health, we recognize that to make A Better World for Pets, we need to make a better world for the people who care for them. The veterinary workforce trajectory may be the single-biggest issue our industry will face for a generation.

Across the country, the Mars Veterinary Health family of veterinary practices, including Banfield Pet Hospital, VCA Animal Hospitals, and BluePearl Specialty & Emergency Pet Hospital, are answering the call to help overcome this shortage, transform the industry, and sustain the profession.

While we have the passionate people, scale, and technology to advance pet healthcare, we can’t do it alone. An industry-wide problem requires united leadership, and we’re committed to collaborating to help solve these challenges. That’s why we are forging partnerships to deliver innovative care solutions, build a strong pipeline of veterinary professionals reflective of the communities we serve, and support the wellbeing of veterinary teams.

Challenging Numbers

The shortage of U.S. veterinary professionals is happening for several key reasons:

• Growing generational interest in pet ownership, combined with pandemic pet adoptions and the evolving human-animal bond, are generating increased demand for veterinary care.
• Not enough people are entering the veterinary profession, and class sizes aren’t big enough to accommodate those interested in pursuing veterinary careers.
• Existing veterinarians and certified veterinary technicians are experiencing high levels of burnout, with many seeking fewer hours to support their work-life balance and mental health — or considering leaving the field altogether.

The shortage of veterinarians has been building for at least five years, according to new research by Dr. James Lloyd, and has jumped since the pandemic began. If we’re to meet the projected need for pet healthcare in 2030, an estimated 41,000 additional veterinarians need to enter companion animal practice in the next 10 years. We are also experiencing a significant shortage of veterinary specialists, making it much for difficult for pet owners to secure specialty services for their pets.

And it’s not just veterinarians. Using current U.S. educational capacity, it would take more than 30 years of graduates to meet the 10-year need for credentialed veterinary technicians. Together, workforce shortages squeeze the profession to a dangerous point for pets and their healthcare providers.

Our Focus

The numbers are daunting. An estimated 75 million pets in the U.S. at risk of not receiving the veterinary care they need by 2030, in part due to the veterinary professional shortage. The implications are substantial for animal welfare, veterinary professionals’ health and mental wellbeing, public health, and the economy.

As a family of veterinary practices, we are focusing our efforts across Mars Veterinary Health to alleviate the shortage and drive a more sustainable future for our profession — a future where more pets have access to care, and every veterinary team member can envision a promising, lifelong career:

Strengthen our talent pipeline. To meet the growing need, we must retain the exceptional talent already working in the industry and inspire the next generation of veterinary professionals. We are working with academic partners to support a midlevel veterinary professional degree (similar to a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner degree in human medicine), and to offer financial assistance, mentoring, and unique educational opportunities. Given our current workforce is the foundation of everything we do, we also increased wages and benefits and are working to offer more opportunities for our existing Associates to build their careers and immerse themselves in groundbreaking work.

Relieve student debt. Education is key to providing the quality of care our pets deserve, but the educational debt of a veterinary graduate in the U.S. is high — averaging $150,000, with increasing numbers of veterinary graduates carrying $400,000+ in student loans. We know student debt impacts people’s health and wellbeing, so we’re investing $25 million in student debt relief for our Associates by 2025 through offerings like financial counseling and Banfield’s Veterinary Student Debt Relief Program, which has already contributed $20 million toward helping its veterinarians pay down student debt and facilitated over $17 million in educational debt refinancing for its Associates practice-wide.

Support veterinary professionals’ health and wellbeing. To meet the needs ahead of us, we must care for the mental, physical, and emotional health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals to enable the best possible pet care now and in the future. In addition to hiring in-house social workers to support our veterinary teams, we expanded mental health support programs and benefits like Spring Health and Headspace; launched a free, first-of-its-kind suicide prevention training designed for veterinary professionals; and offer free resources to anyone in the profession via MVH4You.com.

Increase equity, inclusion, and diversity (EI&D) within the profession. Given the longstanding lack of diversity within the veterinary profession, we’re investing in efforts to increase EI&D in the field, which will in turn ensure veterinary practitioners better reflect the communities they serve, while helping solve the shortage and enabling us to offer more culturally competent care. We’re doing this by investing $25 million in EI&D initiatives by 2025, including partnerships with various diversity-promoting groups, Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), and organizations like Boys & Girls Club of America. Additionally, we co-founded the Diversify Veterinary Medicine Coalition, a group dedicated to increased Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) representation in veterinary medicine.

Use technology to care for more pets. One of the many ways we apply human healthcare best practices and protocols to veterinary medicine is through telehealth (also known as tele-triage) appointments to give our clients peace of mind. These services reserve in-person appointments for the pets that truly need them, saving time for pet owners and our veterinary teams alike.

Being part of the Mars family, a leader in pet care for more than 80 years, gives us the freedom to think and act in generations, not quarters, and enables us to invest in the long-term future of pets, people, and the planet.

Our priorities reflect our ability to mitigate the staffing crisis challenging the veterinary profession. Commitment, collaboration, and investment are key to driving a thriving long-term and sustainable future in which pets have access to the high-quality care they deserve, and every veterinary professional sees a fulfilling career ahead of them.