Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the nation is facing a shortage in veterinary professionals, some local veterinarians share their concerns about the future of their practices, especially when it comes to a desperate need for large animal professionals.
According to a study from Mars Veterinary Health last August, up to 55,000 additional veterinarians will be needed to meet the needs of companion animal healthcare in the United States by 2030. Even with the number of new veterinary graduates expected over the next 10 years, a shortage of up to 24,000 companion-animal veterinarians will likely still exist by 2030.
At a rate like that, it would take more than 30 years of graduates to meet the 10-year industry need for credentialed veterinary technicians.
In addition, pet healthcare services spending is expected to increase 3-4% per-year beyond inflation over the next 8-10 years.
Dr. Allison Kean, Chief Medical Officer at the SPCA Serving Erie County says veterinary staffing, for the most part, is doing OK in Western New York, but there are definitely some increased demand.
"Some of the areas that are more concerning are underserved populations. That's where here at the SPCA, that's kind of why we target a different population of people that need help," said Dr. Kean in an interview with WBEN. "But it's really kind of across the board: Specialists, general practitioners, shelter medicine, pretty much everything across the board is starting to see lower numbers."
Perhaps the veterinary practices seeing the most severe shortages, at this time, in Western New York are the large animal practices, especially the ones that serve the rural communities across the region.
Dr. Joe Tashjian from Springville Veterinary Services says 10 years ago, his practice had five veterinarians, most of whom were full-time, at least, three days a week, if not more. Fast forward to 2024, it's only down to himself full-time and one other veterinarian that works one day a week and one weekend out of five.
"It's not because we ran out of business or ran out of money, or anything like that. I've been advertising for now three-and-a-half years for two other veterinarians, and I haven't been able to fill those positions," said Dr. Tashjian with WBEN. "I do have one person, I believe, coming this summer, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But we're still not staffed like we would like to be staffed."
One of the reasons why veterinarians like Dr. Kean believe there is such a staffing shortage across the spectrum goes back to COVID, which put veterinarian practices in an odd situation.
"We pretty much asked the community to take on more animals with a decrease in service availability. The community was great, and they really accepted that challenge. However, because the services weren't there, the preventative medicine wasn't available, the spay/neuter services weren't available. And so we've seen actually a population boom of animals that now need homes or need care, and we're not seeing the same boom in veterinarians coming out of school," Dr. Kean explained.
Dr. Tashjian also points to the fact that many veterinarians coming out of veterinary school are electing to enter the small animal practice rather than large animal practice.
"You're indoors most of the time in small animal, so you don't have to deal with the cold or the heat, or the rain or the snow. We drive a lot in my kind of a practice. We see animals where they live, they don't come to us. So there's a lot of driving involved, and driving time is mostly wasted time. And the on call thing, small animal veterinary practices often don't have to deal with emergency calls during after hours," Dr. Tashjian noted.
"I think with the current cost of veterinary education, the cost is keeping many people out. The wages, the hours and the schedule is better in small animal most of the time, so that's more attractive. And better wages is more attractive if you have large student loans to pay off. So economics is part of it. I think there are a number of people that have decided not to go to veterinary school, because they didn't want to take on that kind of debt."
Some veterinarians graduating from school have been noted leaving with as much as $160,000-$180,000 in student loan debt.
As a result of these shortages, both Dr. Kean and Dr. Tashjian agree the biggest impact has been the access to care from veterinarians in both practices.
"The basic preventive medicine services have just been unavailable for a lot of people. Basic vaccinations, spay/neuter services, things that if left unmanaged or untreated, or as a preventative - vaccines, spay/neuter actually prevent a lot of disease processes - if you don't have those basic services, you actually are going to see an increase in those emergencies and those illnesses that were very preventable, but now we're seeing a lot more of those cases," Dr. Kean said.
Dr. Kean adds it may take people weeks and months to get an appointment with their veterinarian, whereas previously they were more likely to be able to get a same-day appointment. That's why more urgent care type practice models are being explored in the veterinary business, but she says there are just not enough veterinarians to staff those facilities.
At 68-years-old, Dr. Tashjian was hoping to be working less by this point in his life, but thanks to the shortages, he's working more, which has impacted his quality of life.
"When we were five veterinarians here, everybody was on call one night a week and one weekend out of five. Now I'm on call 32-out-of-35 nights. Nobody in their right mind ever wanted to be on call, but it's kind of part of the job in this business, the large animal business," he said. "I think being on call is part of what is keeping people out of large animal medicine also, because small animal practices often have an association with emergency clinics, so they're after hour stuff goes to an emergency clinic. We don't have that option, at least not close. The closest referral centers for us are three hours away, and it requires horse trailers or some sort of transportation for large animals, not just the backseat of your car."
So what do these veterinary professionals believe could be a potential a solution to try and curb the shortage of veterinarians in the long run?
One of the solutions Dr. Kean believes is important is making sure basic services are not only more readily available, but also affordable for the public. One of the ways that may be attainable is utilizing our veterinary technicians more across the board.
"We need those credentialed [technicians], they went to school for this, they're licensed. They can do this. We need them to actually do what they went to school for," Dr. Kean said. "In a lot of cases, they're very underutilized. There are some people right now that are interested in creating a mid-level practitioner, kind of the equivalent of a physician's assistant. A lot of mixed thoughts on that right now. Might it be something that down the road might might work for us? Possibly, but realistically, those basic services - utilizing our technicians, increasing efficiency - and increasing education for clients, really just getting that information out there to say, 'This is what you need to do, this is how to keep your pet healthy, and how to keep them out of our office.'"
Meanwhile, Dr. Tashjian says more veterinary professionals, especially those in the large animal practice, should look into loan forgiveness programs available from New York State and elsewhere.
"If you practice in an underserved area - Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County in Western New York have been underserved for a while, and now Erie County is considered an underserved county also - for people doing large animal that come to Erie County, they can apply to get student loan repayment up to $25,000 a year for three years. And my understanding is they can actually re-apply after those three years for another three years," Dr. Tashjian detailed. "There's also a grant program through the state that offers some money to encourage large animal practices in underserved areas also."
And for any students looking into the veterinary profession as a career, Dr. Kean and Dr. Tashjian say don't be afraid to reach out to inquire about anything.
"Get involved. Volunteer, shadow, and then just take all the opportunities you get. There's a lot in Western New York that's pretty available, in terms of opportunities to get involved," Dr. Kean said.
"We take students all the time in this practice to try to encourage people to come to this part of the profession. I encourage people to explore it, if they have any interest at all," Dr. Tashjian echoed.
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