AVMA Issues 2015 Veterinary Employment Report

The second installment of the AVMA’s six-part 2015 Veterinary Economic Report series, the report includes employment information from nearly 2,000 veterinarians who responded to a survey in March 2014 and who had graduated from a U.S. veterinary college 1, 5, 10 and 25 years prior.

The findings indicate that the employment market for veterinarians is healthy and robust. Veterinary medicine enjoys a low level of unemployment of 3.19 percent and a negative rate of underemployment.

“How much unemployment and underemployment exists, as well as the factors that contribute to the existence of either, is critical information needed to develop strategies that can most effectively and efficiently improve the lifelong value of a veterinary degree,” said AVMA Economics Director Michael Dicks, PhD. “Information such as this is critical to all of us if we are going to have informed, authoritative discussions about the current state of veterinary employment.”

The report series is designed to help veterinarians better understand the markets they operate in and the factors that affect their livelihood. The 2015 AVMA Report on Veterinary Employment can be purchased online from the AVMA Store as part of the six-installment series, and free summaries of the first two published reports also are available. The price for the series is $249 for AVMA members and $499 for nonmembers. The four other reports will be available upon publication. The reports and their scheduled publication dates are:

• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Markets (January)
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Employment (March)
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Debt and Income (April)
• The AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinarians (May)
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Capacity (July)
• The AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinary Education (September)

Here’s a brief summary of what each report explores:

• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Markets: Provides data and information about general U.S. economic conditions, the markets for veterinary education, veterinarians and veterinary services, and workforce capacity utilization.
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Employment: We surveyed veterinarians across the country and across the profession to better understand employment, unemployment and underemployment, as well as the factors affecting each.
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Debt and Income: This report takes an in-depth look at salaries for new and existing veterinarians and their veterinary education debt load, as well as debt-to-income ratios and the net present value of a veterinary career.
• The AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinarians: Ever wonder where the 100,000-plus veterinarians are located, what type of work they do or how much they are compensated? This report explores the demographics of the profession.
• The AVMA Report on Veterinary Capacity: This report includes our excess capacity forecast and explores our capacity utilization survey, descriptive statistics for capacity utilization and the factors affecting capacity utilization.
• The AVMA Report on the Market for Veterinary Education: The market for veterinary education is the beginning of the pipeline to the market for veterinary services. This report looks at the types of students applying to veterinary school, and the supply of and demand for veterinary education.