Large Animal Vet Shortage
Economics or Gender Issue?
Two articles in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (JAVMA) caught my eye this summer. They highlighted work at NC State Vet School, and in the state of Virginia. At NC state vet students were paired with rural vets for 10 weeks, for hands on experience with cattle, horses, sheep and goats. The article says “younger veterinarians often pursue other specializations because rural practice involves long hours and heavy travel.” In the article about shortages in Virginia, they attribute the shortage to the cost of a veterinary degree, and the demands of working with livestock and horses compared with dogs and cats.”
These statements dance around the two things that are key to understanding the shortage. First, large animal practice has historically been the purview of men, and now the profession has shifted over the last few decades, and over 80% of vet school graduates are women. Is there still a remanent of the attitude that women can’t do the job? It seems like it, in the quote above about the “demands of working with livestock”. Second, it’s true that long hours and heavy travel are difficult when you have kids, and it is rare that women have a stay at home partner to cover child care when you need to go out for a 2 am calving on a farm fifty miles away.
The AVMA estimates that in 2024, just 3.4% of the total US vet workforce were in food animal practice. That is a reduction of over 90% of large animal vets since 1945.
I remember working in a large animal practice that was mainly dairy cows, where my boss’s wife took care of everything in the household while he worked long hours. She would even wake up in the middle of the night when he got an emergency call, make him a thermos of coffee, and be there when he got home to wash his coveralls. Not many women vets have such a support system.
What is the answer? A start would be to welcome women into the profession with open arms. It is great to see more women in leadership positions in the American Association of Bovine Practitioners where both the President and Vice President are women! Create support systems that allow for a normal work/life balance. Celebrate examples of thriving women large animal veterinarians that have figured out how to balance needs of family and profession.