Letter to dvm360: Depending on discretionary spending will cause the profession woes

When a purveyor of any kind of goods or services is dependent on the discretionary spending of its clientele for its economic survival, it remains at the mercy of the marketplace. Our profession must compete with all the other businesses for its share of the consumer dollar. During the Great Recession of 2008, the veterinary practitioner served as the canary in the coal mine. The first items struck from most budgets were trips to the veterinarian. Veterinary medicine is a high-tech provider of healthcare services for pets. For at least half of the pet-owning public, however, it has become a luxury they feel they can no longer afford.

The problems facing our profession today are manifold. Two of the problems, in my opinion, are salient. First of all, much as we would prefer otherwise, veterinary medicine is not a vital service. Other than mandatory rabies vaccinations, many pets live their entire lives without any kind of veterinary care. Being forced to depend on the discretionary spending of a relatively small percentage of clients is a thin reed to support the economic well-being of an entire profession.

The second problem is a self-serving attitude on the part of veterinary schools. In spite of the fact that the supply of veterinarians already outstrips the demand, existing schools are expanding class size and new schools continue to be built. These schools thrive on increased class size and higher tuition. The fact that many of their graduates cannot find meaningful employment does not seem to enter into their equation.

Sadly, the American Veterinary Medical Association has been complicit in this by failing to take a stand on an oversupply of veterinary graduates or by ignoring the problem altogether. All the high-flown rhetoric about a “strategic management process” and the creation of even more focus groups and committees while outsourcing the problem to high-priced consultants is, in my opinion, an exercise in futility. I have a gut feeling that this group of “experts” will accomplish very little of substance or change any economic facts on the ground.

Richard H. McCormick, DVM

Miami, Florida