Veterinary Industry Struggling with Overwhelming Staff Shortages

Dr. Marty Greer, DVM joins host Laura Reeves to review her presentation at the NAIA conference on the struggles of overwhelming staff shortages in the veterinary industry.

“It is estimated that the veterinary industry is 40,000 people short, not just veterinarians but veterinary staff,” Greer said. “It’s a lot of people. So, if you divide that up into every state, that’s a lot of people that your veterinary clinics are suffering with trying to get by without. So that’s veterinarians, that’s receptionists, that’s managers, that’s everyone.

“So again, I know we’ve talked about this before and I just really need to keep beating the drum that we need to be sure that we’re taking good care of the veterinary relationships that we have. I just got off the phone with another colleague a few minutes ago talking about practice sales and how that’s impacting the relationship people have with their veterinary clinic and how that changes everything.

Greer addresses the corporatization of veterinary clinics and how that is to the detriment of reproductive health, particularly, in our dogs.

“It does play a role in all aspects,” Greer said. “I think the reproduction part is especially difficult because a lot of the new graduates have been trained to come out of veterinary school with the impression that breeders are not good people and breeding dogs is this terrible hobby. And so, I think it’s really frustrating for people who have all the right intentions to breed healthy dogs to help these nice new graduates pay off their veterinary school loans. I don’t really understand where they think healthy dogs are going to come from.

“It’s really important that we keep the existing good relationships and that we keep our veterinarians happy. From talking to financial planners, you really are in a better financial place by keeping your practice than by selling to what looks like an attractive number because by the time you get done paying all the taxes and all the other things and then you don’t have the asset that you developed anymore. I mean we spent 42 years developing this asset. I’m not just going to hand it off to someone that doesn’t have the best interests of my clients and staff in mind. So, take good care of your local veterinarian.”

One of Greer’s top tips is how to manage whelping and when/how to use Oxytocin. Here is her chart to print out and add to your whelping kit.

Dr. Marty Greer’s Rules for using Oxytocin.

Greer continues with GREAT tips on how to be prepared ahead of time for any situation, how to work with your vet and how to survive and thrive in this challenging climate. Listen to the full episode for all of the advice from one of our best veterinarians.