Louis Gatto, CPA, founding partner of the veterinary financial consulting firm Gatto McFerson in Santa Monica, California, said, “In the short run, we need all the specialists we can get,” including more ophthalmologists, radiologists, radiation oncologists, cardiologists, and neurologists. “Internal medicine is a little saturated. … Surgeons are doing well.”
However, Gatto predicted future fighting among specialists for cases. For example, he cited potential friction between criticalists and cardiologists, cardiologists and radiologists, surgeons and internists, and internists and criticalists: “Having more of them might create more competition and conflict.”
Robin Brogdon, MA, president of BluePrints Veterinary Marketing Group in Costa Mesa, California, said, “Oncologists, neurologists, and cardiologists are typically in short supply in most places. … While they may not be board-certified specialists, there always seems to be a huge demand for more dedicated emergency veterinarians who work in the ER only and/or specialty/referral practices.”
“In the San Francisco Bay Area, we seem to have a great supply of specialists,” DeLano said. “Like any profession, there are never too many good people,” he said. “We receive résumés from internists and surgeons (essentially cold calling looking for a job) several times a year. … The reality is that some specialties are becoming crowded.”
Marcovici said he has seen a shift among his peers, 1994 veterinary school graduates, from having “laser vision” with a passion for a particular specialty (eg, a strong desire to become a cardiologist) to pursuing specialization “for the sake of being a specialist” among veterinary students today.
“If primary care veterinarians and specialists each support the other’s role in the health and well-being of companion animals over the course of their life, they should both benefit from the role each other plays as a healthcare provider, and the pet should be the beneficiary of exceptional collaborative care when appropriate.”—Robin Brogdon, president, BluePrints Veterinary Marketing Group |
“People are going into internships in significantly larger numbers,” Marcovici said, noting a recent trend toward establishing “specialty internships and residencies within the same facility.” An AVMA survey of 2013 veterinary school graduates found 37.6% with internships and 3.4% with residencies.5
Another notable finding was that veterinary graduates who opted for an internship were more likely to receive lower income or face unemployment than veterinarians who chose full-time work following graduation.6
The AVMA's 2014 statistics on veterinarians' first-year employment showed a mean salary of $67,535 for those in private practice, compared with $28,988 for interns. The 2015 report showed an internship was one factor statistically associated with an increased probability of unemployment.7
The 2012 AVMA Biennial Economic Survey found that “private practitioners completing a residency reported median incomes of $148,000, compared with $88,000 for those who completed an internship only and those with a veterinary degree only.”8
“The competition for students to be accepted into a residency program is quite fierce, so in many ways it is still a sellers’ market,” Brogdon said. In some VIRMP categories this year, she said, “There were only one or 2 open slots.” VIRMP’s 2015 statistics show, for example, only 2 residencies each for ambulatory, clinical nutrition, and herd medicine/agricultural practice, and one each for behavior and sports medicine and rehabilitation.4