Tides of Change: Equine Veterinarian Retention

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of EquiManagement. Sign up here for a FREE subscription to EquiManagement’s quarterly digital or print magazine and any special issues.

Although the last several years have seen many efforts to increase the sustainability of equine practice, many veterinarians in the trenches are not feeling much change. In a short survey distributed on the Facebook site Equine Vet2Vet, equine practitioners weighed in on whether they thought progress was being made. Of the 350 respondents, more than half (54%) did not think much progress had occurred (see Figure 1).   In thinking about this result, consider that people are sometimes unaware of the experiences of others. “I agree that the response to the survey question is disappointing,” says Katie Garrett, DVM, DACVS, AAEP President and director of diagnostic imaging at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. She offered a plausible explanation that was recently put forth by the authors of an article in JAVMA about work-life balance. One of the findings in the study was that ~75% of respondents were very, extremely, or somewhat satisfied with their job, but only 43% perceived that their peer veterinarians were very, extremely, or somewhat satisfied. The authors said they “found it surprising that there was such a disconnect between the level of job satisfaction veterinarians felt and their more negative perceptions of how their peers felt. Could there be a culture of negativity at veterinarian gatherings that feeds on itself? Or, given the recent increase in demand for veterinary services and resulting stress, perhaps some assumed their peers were somehow less resilient.”