Barriers and change: Practice ownership for diverse veterinarians

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“I am somebody,” stated Gerelyn A Henry, DVM, MBA, BS, DACVP, hospital director and clinical professor at the University of Missouri-Colombia’s Veterinary Health Center, during her lecture at the 2024 American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Convention in Austin, Texas.¹ But she was not referring to just herself—she was speaking of the young people from underrepresented racial demographics with dreams of becoming veterinary professionals who are told they cannot do it or are not good enough: “Yes we can. [You] are somebody,” she said to the audience. In her lecture, Henry discussed several barriers to practice ownership for underrepresented minorities, outlining ways to improve practice ownership for this group. She also discussed barriers veterinary students and aspiring veterinary students face in accessing veterinary education.

“We have a shortage of veterinarians. We have a critical shortage of underrepresented minority veterinarians, and we can fill those gaps. We just have to do the work,” said Henry during her lecture.

According to Henry, underrepresented minority veterinarians may encounter challenges in their search for employment or in owning practices due to discrimination, bias in hiring and promotion practices, limited access to capital and resources, and other factors. As a result, disparities in income, career growth, and professional independence may arise.¹ These challenges have also left African American veterinarians with fewer opportunities for employment compared to their White counterparts, explained Henry.

Barriers in veterinary medicine for underrepresented minority veterinarians and students

Henry shared with attendees statistics from 2015 that showed that out of 5,531,169 businesses in the United States, 4,483,080 (81.05%) were White-owned, 996,248 (18%) were owned by underrepresented minorities, and 113,643 (2.05%) were owned by African Americans.

When it comes to starting or purchasing a veterinary practice, limited access to capital is a significant barrier that disproportionately affects African American veterinarians, according to Henry. Entry into veterinary practice ownership bears a high cost, and African American veterinarians may have difficulty securing business loans from financial institutions because of limited collateral, lack of established business networks, and lower credit scores.

Moreover, unconscious biases in the banking industry can lead these institutions to perceive African American veterinary practice owners as higher risk investments, leading to higher interest rates and stricter lending requirements. Additional biases regarding the financial competence of minority-owned businesses can also discourage investment in these businesses.

A lack of mentorship and networking opportunities can also make it difficult for these veterinarians to start their own practice, as a diverse network from other veterinary professionals is vital for gaining guidance, support, and access to capital, according to Henry. Underrepresented minority veterinarians may have restricted access to associations within the veterinary community, which are frequently dominated by White professionals, according to the lecture. Moreover, without established networks and relationships with potential partners or investors, these veterinarians may have a harder time obtaining financing for opening a practice.

Systemic barriers in the profession, which Henry defined as structural inequalities and biases embedded in the profession that disproportionately affect underrepresented minority veterinarians, also impacts these professionals’ ability to thrive. Racial bias may come from these veterinarians’ clients, colleagues, and supervisors; potentially leading to unequal treatment in the workplace, assumptions about competence, microaggressions, and difficulties establishing trust and rapport with clients and communities that are culturally diverse or come from varied socio-economic backgrounds, explained Henry.

For underrepresented minority veterinary students, barriers to education and training pose challenges. These students may face difficulties accessing quality veterinary education due to factors such as financial constraints, lack of mentorship and support, and limited opportunities for academic preparation. As a result, fewer racial and ethnic minorities may have the resources to attend veterinary school, leading to lower diversity in the veterinary profession.

“We just have to do the work”

Henry offered several ways to improve practice ownership. Among those were coming together as a community; developing scholarships and loan forgiveness programs; and providing more mentorship and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training for veterinary students and veterinarians. She highlighted organization like Veterinarians as One Inclusive Community for Empowerment (VOICE)—which is a student-run organization—, blendVet, Pawsibilities, BlackDVM Network, and the National Association of Black Veterinarians (NABV), who focus on diversifying veterinary medicine and providing opportunities for underrepresented veterinarians, students, and/or aspiring veterinary professionals.

Henry also emphasized promoting diverse veterinarians’ competence within the workplace and establishing connections. “We need to promote that competence and awareness among our colleagues and our mentors and our clients. We need to establish public, private partnerships so that we are doing things with others in the community to promote veterinary medicine. We need to work with financial institutions to improve programs especially tailored for African American and other culturally diverse applicants that want to start their own businesses,” she said.

“I've heard it said so many times year after year…that they can't find enough African American students that are bright and capable and interested in veterinary medicine. [In] one meeting…they had hundreds of students that [were] interested in veterinary medicine, and each one of them [had] a seed of greatness in them. And if we nurture them and we guide them and we give them the resources that they need, they can help fill the gaps of veterinary medicine,” Henry emphasized.

“We can do it. Yes, we can. I am somebody,” she concluded.

Reference

Henry GA. Creating the future of veterinary medicine through diversification of practice ownership. Presented at: American Veterinary Medical Association Convention; Austin, Texas: June 20-25, 2024.