Wisconsin bucks national trend

MADISON, WIS. — A poll of Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association (WVMA) members reveals increased numbers of food animal and equine practitioners in the state, contrary to reports that a nationwide shift to small animal practice has left this population segment anemic.

WVMA's annual Membership Demographics report shows total membership numbers in the state rose 27 percent during the past decade to total 2,067 as of January 2005. All but 39 of those members answered the questionnaire, revealing 113 exclusive bovine practitioners and 39 exclusive equine practitioners in the state compared to 1995 numbers totaling 75 and 12, respectively. That means numbers of bovine practitioners in Wisconsin have risen 34 percent during the past decade while equine-exclusive practitioner totals are up 69 percent.

WVMA boasts 90-percent membership of all Wisconsin veterinarians and a 2.62-percent margin of error for the demographics survey.

The results challenge national trends based on anecdotal reports and survey analyses chronicling veterinary medicine's apparent shift to small animal practice. Although the percentage of large animal practitioners has lessened in Wisconsin, the movement, for the most part, has not been realized in the nation's largest dairy state, WVMA Executive Director Leslie Grendahl says.

"I wouldn't say there's a huge shortage here; our numbers are pretty good," she says. "The equine surge — now that surprises me. I would expect that people now exclusively equine might have been in mixed practice before. I wonder where that shift is taking place."

Bovine practice holds steady

The American Veterinary Medical Association says it starts at the nation's veterinary colleges, where just 25 percent of graduates are willing to engage in large animal practice, down 36 percent from a decade ago. The American Association of Swine Veterinarians reports membership has dropped to 1,517 since it peaked at 1,788 in 1998, Executive Director Dr. Tom Burkgren says. By contrast, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners says at 5,452, membership has held steady.

"It's fairly stabilized right now," AABP Executive Director Dr. Gatz Riddell says. "Still, we are concerned about membership numbers and what the future holds."

Recruiting in Wisconsin

Still, Grendahl admits there's a need for more food animal practitioners, even in Wisconsin.

"I wouldn't say there is a huge shortage, but people are looking for qualified veterinarians," she says.

Supporting the drive is the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine's focus on dairy practice, where students work on the institutions dairy farm.

"More than half of our licensed veterinarians graduate from that university," Grendahl says. "What you do is you retain the members you have and get new members. Cultivating students — it's an everyday thing we need to do."