Objective: The primary objective was to identify veterinary workforce characteristics and factors contributing to staying in or leaving a veterinary practice. A secondary objective was to compare workforce characteristics and factors related to retention between survey respondents working in rural versus nonrural areas.
Methods: Veterinarians were surveyed via a questionnaire distributed with the use of a state veterinary medical association listserv or veterinary program alumni listserv from February 2022 to January 2023 and social media postings on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook in April 2022.
Results: There were 2,195 respondents. Most respondents were in small animal practice (78%) in a nonrural environment (76%). Overall, 78% of respondents indicated intent to stay in their current practice, with no difference between veterinarians in rural versus nonrural practices. There was the perception of need for veterinarians both short-term (1 year) and long-term (10 years). Practitioners were generally satisfied with and connected to their communities. Rural practitioners more frequently reported work weeks of > 40 hours per week and a greater amount of time spent on call (weekdays and weekends). Nonrural practitioners were generally more satisfied with their community amenities, whereas rural practitioners were more attached to their communities.
Conclusions: Veterinarians perceive the need for additional practitioners in the workforce both short-term and long-term in all environments. Despite longer work hours reported in rural environments, intent to stay in or leave a practice did not differ between rural and nonrural veterinarians.
Clinical relevance: Veterinarians perceive a need for practitioners across species and scope of practice. Community attachment may be an important factor to leverage when considering training veterinary students and recruiting veterinary graduates into rural practice.
Keywords: communities; nonrural; rural; veterinary; workforce.