{"id":8212,"date":"2017-09-06T15:58:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T05:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/?p=8212"},"modified":"2019-02-06T00:18:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T13:18:00","slug":"are-farm-vets-a-dying-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/are-farm-vets-a-dying-species\/","title":{"rendered":"ARE FARM VETS A DYING SPECIES?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title\">A look at the challenges facing large-animal practices in regional Australia, and at how practice owners, vet schools and industry are responding to them.<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title\">By Merran White,\u00a0<time class=\"entry-date\" datetime=\"2017-08-28T11:05:55+00:00\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/farm-vets-dying-species\/\" target=\"_blank\">Vet Practice Magazine,\u00a0<\/a><\/time><time class=\"entry-date\" datetime=\"2017-08-28T11:05:55+00:00\">AUGUST 28, 2017<\/time><\/h3>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>These days, the vast majority of vets work with small companion animals in urban areas, while mixed and large-animal practices\u2014most of them regionally based\u2014find it difficult to recruit or retain skilled vets. \u201cIt\u2019s harder to get any vets\u2014recent grads or experienced\u2014into country large-animal practices,\u201d says Mark Eagleton, owner of veterinary recruitment service VetLink. \u201cMany start off in mixed or large-animal practices but find it\u2019s a hard, challenging role, so they drift back to the cities. A big reason is that few city practices require after-hours work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr Debbie Neutze, policy manager with the Australian Veterinary Association, says the issue\u2019s not that large-animal work\u2019s unrewarding. \u201cThe issues that make it difficult for rural doctors and dentists are the same for veterinarians: real or perceived limited social opportunities; work for their partners and schooling for their families,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese issues make it increasingly hard for any rural practice to attract and retain veterinarians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What these practices can offer vets, along with a diverse range of patients, is a slower, simpler, healthier lifestyle; cheaper real estate; space for growing families; and being on nodding, talking terms with everyone\u2014including customers.<\/p>\n<p>For city-bred vets, these pluses are typically outweighed by perceived negatives. But for those raised on farms, a rural large-animal practice is a natural fit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6277\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a class=\"fancybox image\" href=\"https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/large_animal_vet.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6277\" class=\"wp-image-6277 size-full\" title=\"Source: Vet Practice Magazine,\u00a0AUGUST 28, 2017\" src=\"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/large_animal_vet.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/large_animal_vet.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/large_animal_vet-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/large_animal_vet-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/large_animal_vet-740x493.jpg 740w, https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/large_animal_vet-400x266.jpg 400w\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Vet Practice Magazine,\u00a0AUGUST 28, 2017<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Large-animal vet \u2018brain drain\u2019?<\/h2>\n<p>Dr Kathy Webb, owner and principal vet at Nanango Country Vets in regional Queensland, knows just how hard it is.<\/p>\n<p>Raised in country towns, Webb married a Nanango grazier with a cattle property. She loves \u201cthe country lifestyle\u201d and the diversity and challenges of large-animal work, but says city-trained vets can find it a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve worked mostly on my own for 23 years,\u201d says Webb. \u201cMy practice is only one to two vets at any time, and I can only speak from my experience. I have had some keen and promising new graduates come in over the years but I\u2019ve found it difficult to support them in permanent positions so that is one reason that they move on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get the odd new grad or locum coming through, working casual, part-time or full-time, but they aren\u2019t always keen to do after-hours work for award wages, and can sometimes struggle to handle jobs after-hours like calvings, colics and stitch-ups. It is also very difficult to find a suitable locum that can handle both large and small animals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDealing with clients and jobs solo after hours can be also daunting to the inexperienced veterinarian,\u201d she admits. \u201cOften the young vets prefer to move on to small-animal practices.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5>Dealing with clients and jobs solo after hours can be also daunting to the inexperienced veterinarian. Often the young vets prefer to move on to small-animal practices.\u201d\u2014Dr Kathy Webb, Nanango Country Vets, QLD<\/h5>\n<p>In agribusiness, where \u201cit\u2019s all about the economics\u201d, there\u2019s little room for sentiment. \u201cI got called out the other day to a sick, heavily pregnant cow. She was dying, and the risk was that the calf would be lost too. There was nothing I could do to save the cow. I just said, \u2018Alright, take a clean shot and I\u2019ll cut the calf out\u2019. In the end, the farmer got a live healthy calf to rear. Such action, though done humanely, can be confronting. Young vets need to be able to cope with that in the bush,\u201d Webb says.<\/p>\n<p>Her practice hosts UQ vet students who provide greatly appreciated assistance in the workplace, while gaining valuable experience. \u201cOccasionally I will ask the odd one whether they would consider coming back to work here. Mostly, they already have decided to become small-animal vets and want to work in the cities where there\u2019s better pay and hours. They don\u2019t have to do rostered after-hours as emergency after-hours centres are available in bigger centres, so they know there won\u2019t be clients ringing at 2am.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The large-animal \u2018brain drain\u2019 is exacerbated by the fact that vets in small-animal-only practices don\u2019t get to hone their large-animal skills, \u201cwhich means there\u2019s only a small pool of experienced vets with that skill set\u201d, Eagleton says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s tricky,\u201d he admits. \u201cDo large-animal practices need to offer more incentives? Probably, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The bottom line<\/h2>\n<p>Those who can offer financial sweeteners. \u201cMany rural practices pay higher wages as an incentive to attract employees,\u201d says AVA\u2019s Dr Neutze. \u201cUnfortunately, unlike doctors and dentists, vets have no health-department incentives to help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Larger practices may offer incentives such as half the call-out fee for after-hours jobs, Webb notes, but sole practitioners may not be able to afford to pay more than award, which is the usual hourly rate plus an on-call hourly fee.<\/p>\n<p>Equine practices may be better placed to attract and retain vets: equine is a popular large-animal specialisation. However, factors beyond practice owners\u2019 control can undercut profits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Hendra virus issue, whereby vaccination rates are low, has impacted our bottom line. Treating sick horses and doing dentals has become more complicated biosecurity-wise, and owners ring around looking for a veterinarian who they hope will treat without testing or requiring HeV vaccination. This is disappointing, as horses are one of my special interests,\u201d Webb says. \u201cSmall animals\u201470 per cent of our work\u2014actually keep the practice profitable and have always done so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the upside, pig and cattle prices are up, and cattle call-outs are increasing, she notes. \u201cWith beef prices so high, they\u2019re getting us back more often to do pregnancy testing, bull semen testing, examinations and calvings. I\u2019m even seeing sick calves again. With prices so low for the last 20 years, graziers have been reluctant to call me out for a calf valued at $20 or so.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Ag-animal education<\/h2>\n<p>A solution may be to set up regionally-based veterinary courses focused on agricultural and large-animal work. The Veterinary and Animal Sciences School at NSW\u2019s Charles Sturt University is a pioneer in this regard.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2005, its School of Veterinary and Animal Sciences has been actively recruiting students with a demonstrated interest in working with large and production animals, with preference given to applicants from rural and farming backgrounds.<\/p>\n<h5>\u201cGraduates who\u2019ve grown up in rural environments tend to adapt to the lifestyle more readily.\u201d\u2014Professor Glenn Edwards, School of Veterinary and Animal Science, Charles Sturt University<\/h5>\n<p>According to Glenn Edwards, Professor of Veterinary Surgery and hwead of CSU\u2019s School of Veterinary and Animal Science, the idea began with a 2003 review by Peter Frawley, commissioned to address Australia\u2019s future animal-health needs and the roles, availability and capabilities of rural veterinarians to meet them. The review identified that \u2018rural veterinarians have to contend with rising costs, a reluctance of producers to utilise their services, long hours, limited social opportunities and schooling for their families\u2019&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><em><strong>For the full article &#8211; please continue to<\/strong><\/em>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/vetpracticemag.com.au\/farm-vets-dying-species\/\" target=\"_blank\">Are farm vets a dying species? &#8211; Vet Practice Magazine<\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A look at the challenges facing large-animal practices in regional Australia, and at how practice owners, vet schools and industry are responding to them. By Merran White,\u00a0Source: Vet Practice Magazine,\u00a0AUGUST 28, 2017 These days, the vast majority of vets work with small companion animals in urban areas, while mixed and large-animal practices\u2014most of them regionally [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2000],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8212"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8218,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8212\/revisions\/8218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veterinarycareers.com.au\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}