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IDEXX: Contributing to something bigger

With our May Fetch dvm360 virtual conference just days away, we remain dedicated to providing you with a robust mix of informative content and industry news. 

In addition to conference coverage later this week, here's a look at some other veterinary news you can look forward to.

, Empowering Veterinary Teams (EVT) cofounder and chief visionary officer, Alyssa Mages, CVT, BS, offers invaluable advice on individual team member development, hospital collaboration techniques, and much more!

despite the accelerated rates of job consolidation

, "this is the golden age for career opportunities." Take a closer look at the emerging career opportunities that are taking the veterinary market by storm. 

Veterinarians from the class of 2021 may have higher starting salaries than last year's graduates, according to AVMA research. The data also revealed that only 6.3% of 2020 graduates had offers lowered or withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Find out why, plus a closer look at the current job market.

Stay tuned on dvm360.com for our most recent coverage of the veterinary industry.

Articles

Here's a sneak peek at this week’s veterinary headlines. 

This week on dvm360: Our May Fetch virtual conference is fast approaching, plus more veterinary news 

Inspire, instruct, impact—together—that’s the catchphrase for Empowering Veterinary Teams (EVT)— an organization dedicated to providing training, coaching, and beyond to veterinary practices.

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, EVT cofounder and chief visionary officer Alyssa Mages, CVT, BS, offers hospital collaboration techniques and tips for individual team member development.

Additionally, Mages highlights her team’s unique approach to leadership building. Instead of taking over, EVT offers veterinary clinics strategies and resources to help them eventually bloom on their own. She also discusses the benefits of outsourced versus insourced training and sheds light on the key factors that have contributed to practice survival and advancement during the COVID-19 pandemic including self-awareness, telemedicine, and emotional intelligence.

Listen below for more on how to take your veterinary hospital to the next level.

Podcasts

On this episode of The Vet Blast Podcast, Empowering Veterinary Teams cofounder and CVO, Alyssa Mages, offers insight on how her organization is providing veterinary practices with the tools and techniques needed to succeed.

Episode 51: An alternative approach to training and coaching 

I’ll never forget graduation day at the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Adrenaline was pumping through my body as I walked across the stage. My family was rooting me on as I became Dr. Adam Christman, and faculty members were grinning from ear to ear.

I remember thinking to myself, “Ok Adam, are you ready to practice?” Then a bunch of what-ifs popped into my head—I thought of everything I might experience as a veterinarian and realized I may not be fully prepared— but that was ok!

We are surrounded by a sea of incredible colleagues who have been in the same shoes. That’s why we focus so much on coaching, mentoring, listening, and helping new graduates become acclimated to their careers in veterinary medicine. I have found a combination of excellent mentorship and continuing education to be the fundamentals of career advancement. Let’s face it—we 

need mentorship. Whether you have a mentee or are a mentor, our profession provides a beautiful balance of educating and coaching.

Continuing education opportunities are vast and valuable, and all of us at Fetch dvm360® acknowledge that we all learn differently (eg, visually, audibly, in-person, etc.) We are proud to announce that we will be offering live in-person events during the latter half of this year, starting with Fetch Kansas City from August 27, 2021, to August 30, 2021.

We understand how critical in-person events are to our profession. Networking, socially connecting with our colleagues, exhibitors, and faculty, and immersive in-person educational experience is crucial to our success. We look forward to seeing all of you safely in person soon!

To the graduating class of 2021, congratulations! You did it! You pushed through the COVID-19 pandemic gaining 2 key professional skills that many of us took years to develop—adaptability and resilience. If you can make it through this, you can make it through anything. Remember, when you receive that wonderful diploma, your Fetch dvm360® family will be here to support, educate, and help you become the best veterinary professional you can be. Welcome to the best profession on the planet! We are so proud of you!

You made it! Here’s what you need to know upon entering the profession, plus find out the key role mentorship and continuing education play in veterinary career advancement.

Cheers to new beginnings: Congratulations class of 2021

There’s good news for this year’s veterinary graduating class—the economic outlook as you enter the profession looks promising. Demand for veterinary services is still high (and growing), the job market for new veterinarians looks optimistic, and the overall economic landscape is rebounding as more and more people get vaccinated against COVID-19.

As veterinary practices field an increase in client demand, our profession’s newest veterinarians are likely to be welcomed eagerly into the workforce, at starting salaries higher than those of last year’s graduates.

Class of 2021: An unprecedented experience

With their final year of education accomplished entirely in the pandemic, the class of 2021 has had an experience like no other class before. COVID-19 has affected everything from clinical experiences to externships and even graduation itself.

We know from our annual survey of fourth-year veterinary students that many of last year’s graduates worried about how COVID-19 might affect their job and career prospects. Fortunately, their fears largely didn’t come to fruition. AVMA research showed that only 6.3% of 2020 graduates had offers reduced or withdrawn due to the pandemic. Overall, employment rates and salaries for the class of 2020 kept pace with what would have been expected in a non-pandemic year.

AVMA’s survey of the class of 2021 graduates is still underway, so we don’t yet have hard data on the offers they’ve received, their salaries, or any worries they might have. What we do know is that the profession still needs new veterinarians to fill positions amidst the growing demand for patient care.

As pet owners have been spending more time with their animals during the pandemic, they also have been spending more dollars on their animals. In 2020, Americans spent $103.6 billion on pet care and products, up from $97.1 billion in 2019 and $90.5 billion in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association. That number is projected to increase again in 2021 to $109.6 billion. Of that, $32.3 billion is expected to go to veterinary care and product sales—up from $31.4 billion in 2020.

In keeping with that trend, revenue at veterinary hospitals over the last 12 months has gone up 13.6%, and visits up 3.6%, compared with the previous 12 months. (You can see this data updated on a daily basis at 

.) In some states, the year-over-year revenue increase was more than 18% and the increase in visits higher than 8%.

This increased spending on pet products and services could suggest an optimistic landscape for veterinary graduates beginning their careers this year.

High likelihood of employment, strong salary outlook

Several factors suggest that the job and salary prospects for the class of 2021 look encouraging. First, as a baseline, we’ve seen over 93% of graduates securing either full-time employment or a continuing education position prior to 2 weeks before graduation every year since 2016. With the current high demand for veterinary services, this year’s graduates might hope to see starting pay higher than last year’s, when the mean starting salary for graduates securing full-time jobs was $91,892.

Plus, 2020 data from the AVMA Veterinary Career Center showed more job postings than job seekers over the course of the year. Given the economic outlook, it seems likely that the ratio could increase further in 2021, improving the outlook for job seekers.

Unemployment numbers also look optimistic, getting closer to pre-pandemic levels. As of mid-April, new unemployment insurance claims were at their lowest level since the start of the pandemic and continuing to drop. Not only does this bode well for job-hunting veterinarians; more people employed also means more people able to afford needed healthcare for their animals. Looking to the future, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the US will add 6 million jobs between 2019 and 2029.

Key to eventually resuming pre-pandemic routines, the US rolled out COVID-19 vaccines in mid-December 2020. By the end of April 2021, approximately half of all eligible Americans had received at least one vaccine dose, and nearly 30% of the total US population had been fully vaccinated. As that number rises, the economy should continue to expand.

In fact, there already are signs of growing consumer confidence and spending. By late March, consumer spending was showing the first signs of year-over-year growth since the onset of the pandemic. Additionally, a 

 found that more than half of US consumers expect their spending to increase later in the year as they “splurge” and treat themselves in celebration of expected recovery. Higher-income millennials intend to spend the most.

Persevering through the pandemic, our profession is welcoming a new wave of promising veterinarians into the workforce. Fortunately, it seems the economic outlook can offer hope to these newly minted veterinarians as they launch their careers. As long as these trends persist, this year’s new veterinarians can expect to hit the ground running amid high demand for pet care, steady job growth, and an improving economy. As the future of our profession, we can’t wait to see all you’ll accomplish.

Bridgette Bain, PhD, is the associate director of AVMA’s veterinary economics division.

New veterinarians—from the class of 2021—may have higher starting salaries than last year’s graduates. Here’s why, plus a closer look at the current job market.

A promising job outlook for new veterinary school graduates

With technology taking the veterinary profession by storm

innovation and adaptability have become integral to most practices. Despite the accelerated rate of job consolidation within the field, Bash Halow, CVPM, LVT, owner of Halow Consulting and member of dvm360

 Editorial Advisory Board, believes this is a golden age for career opportunities.

virtual conference, Halow highlighted careers that may dissipate with time and those that could emerge, showcasing opportunities that may take a bit of adaptability and reinvention in a consolidated job market.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a wave of online technologies designed for practices to adhere to social-distancing restrictions arrived. Virtual scheduling technologies and telemedicine apps have gained momentum, reducing the need for client service representatives (CSRs). “These telemedicine apps can eliminate time-consuming, less-engaging parts of clients service like appointment confirmation, the check-in process, collecting previous medical records, creating payment plans, and the length of time it takes to leave messages by replacing answering machine messages with two-way texting,” said Halow.

Bash Halow, CVPM, LVT, owner of Halow Consulting and dvm360

 Editorial Advisory Board member, says there are benefits to switching your practice to telehealth, including:

Clients can send patient history forms electronically to the team before arriving.

Staff can be notified via the app when a patient has arrived and is awaiting care.

The team can have 2-way text conversations with clients.

Virtual video conferences with clients can be arranged.

Clients can schedule their appointments online.

Client reminders, confirmations, and push notifications can be sent.

Laboratory diagnostic results can be shared electronically with the veterinarian and client.

Most practices that rely on their employees for in-house social media are actually being limited in their online visibility, Halow said, especially with the increasing competition. “In order to get real traction on social media, you have to get a lot of visibility and a lot of followers, and 1 way to do that is by cross posting a lot of information across various platforms (such as) Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram,” he added. As many practices do not have the staff with the ability to gain competitive results, Halow suggests outsourcing that responsibility to a social media expert.

Experienced veterinary professionals looking for a work-from-home position should consider utilizing their skills to produce a virtual training curriculum for client care representatives and assistants, Halow said. This position would provide training live or on-demand for veterinary teams on a broader scale.

“[On-demand veterinary training] is already in existence, but a lot of you are trying to manage training in-house. If you’re building it from the ground up, I don’t recommend doing that. There are companies out there that are already providing excellent baseline education for team members, and you can even follow it through with checklists,” Halow advised.

Practice managers who are looking to hone their management skills from home should investigate being a 1099 employee (self-employed independent contractor). “High-level oversight of small-to-medium veterinary practices is not a 40-hour-a-week job,” Halow said. He explained that going down the independent contractor route can be a very rewarding experience for practices.

For managers experienced in reviewing key performance indicators and practice finances, Halow recommends working as a 1099 employee for other practices by checking in quarterly and offering a review of findings and recommendations.

For a practice to have a great team, they must first sift through a high volume of potential candidates, which can be difficult and time-consuming. Those with leadership experience and credentials, such as the Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional or Professional in Human Resources, with backgrounds in the veterinary sector can also provide on-demand assistance with the recruitment process for practices.

“If this is a pathway for you, then being that headhunter (who) has relationships with veterinarians (who) work at other practices, you can pick out the ones who may be unhappy or are looking for new opportunities,” Halow said.

The job market is constantly evolving and changing, and when 1 door closes another will open. It’s essential to think outside of the box because there are always new levels of wealth and job satisfaction right around the corner. “In this time of upheaval, there is an opportunity for us to either wring our hands about what’s going on or decide to calm ourselves and look around for opportunities,” Halow said.

COVID-19 forced a major shift in how practices work, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Embracing change may reveal emerging career opportunities. 

New and reinvented jobs are changing veterinary market

CareVet, a network of hospitals operating in 27 states with over 1,110 team members, announced earlier this week the launch of its new Revenue Share Bonus Program. The new bonus plan, which is based on tenure, provides all veterinary team members the unique opportunity to earn up to $2080 in bonuses per year.

“This incentive bonus program aligns the goals of all members of the CareVet family and rewards team members for the integral part they play in their hospital’s success,” says Greg Siwak, CareVet CEO, in a company release. “Goals are based on revenue and mutually agreed upon by hospital leadership each month. By growing our hospitals together, we are able to invest back into our teams and facilities.”

According to the release, bonuses will be paid out monthly and cost an estimated $3.5 million companywide in 2021. Additionally, this wage increase to $17.08 hourly will impact over 50% of its hospital (or non-veterinarian staff). When combined with its Living Wage Program, the average annual wage increase per person is $6,600.

What’s more? The program was established as an investment in the company’s team members who deliver the highest quality of care and customer service to their patients and clients. 

“We recognize that without our team members we would not be able to provide exceptional service to our patients and clients,” says Siwak, “We see the incredible effort this takes from our team members day in and day out, which is why we’re dedicated to giving back to them. By investing back into our teams and sharing our successes, we give our teams the capacity to serve more pets in our communities, increase compliance, and deliver unparalleled care. At CareVet, we all win together.”

The Revenue Share Bonus Program is 1 component of CareVet’s 

which was announced April 1, 2021, providing a minimum of $15/hour to all team members.

To learn more about CareVet's new bonus incentive programs, go 

The Revenue Share Bonus Program will provide all veterinary staff the opportunity to earn up to $2080 in bonuses per year.

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IDEXX: Contributing to something bigger