Congratulations to AVMA for another outstanding Veterinary Business and Economic Forum! This virtual event attracted more than 400 attendees, the most ever. Keynote speakers included Dr. Adam Grant, organizational psychologist and best-selling author at the Wharton School, and Anders Sörman-Nilsson, global futurist and founder of Thinque. Sörman-Nilsson is an expert on use of AI. The AVMA also released a wealth of new data on pets, pet owners, veterinarians, veterinary practices and best practices. The research shows that while client satisfaction with veterinary services is extremely high, the profession is experiencing a pull-back in patients, visits and revenue since the pandemic peak.
During the Forum I announced results of a new Workforce Study we just completed on behalf of AVMA. We had the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Matthew MacLachlan, an economist and expert in forecast modeling at Cornell’s Center for Veterinary Business and Entrepreneurship. Contrary to what you might have read elsewhere, we could find no evidence of the likelihood of a dire shortage of veterinarians in the next few years. On the contrary, if 13 proposed new schools come onstream, it will take a significant uptick in pet ownership and/or demand for veterinary services to avoid a negative economic impact on the profession. Over the last 15 years, the profession has experienced both soft and tight labor markets, and will again in the future. But they’re episodic, not permanent. The study has been submitted for publication and should be available in the next few weeks.
John Volk
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