Animal Welfare Professionals

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your challenges- everyone is feeling it.  Have you reached out to the folks at Spay Maine?  The rules about what technicians can and can't do involved the local veterinary association and the state.  So it becomes a bit about advocacy changing those rules.  The United Spay Alliance has a vet shortage task force you might want to check out. Based on your location it appears that you are in the middle part of the state- I have heard that resources in northern, ME are really scarce.  Have you thought about working with a relief vet and starting your own program?  I started the Catmobile program in Massachusetts which is staff intensive, but MRFRS also holds vaccination and free s/n clinics for feral cats etc.  

    Telehealth is definitely one of the considered solutions, but it does have some challenges for acceptance.  This is certainly the time for thinking outside of the box...  Our solutions for urban areas will be very different than rural too.  I am happy to chat more if needed. 

Take care, Stacy


------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Hi Stacy,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my babble (lol) and respond. I think you must have missed that we already have a low cost pet program, "Wellness on Wheels" in our shuttle bus. I run the rescue on my own with a few volunteers as and when they are free, so I do all that I can with the limited funding, resources and help that we get. We also have a pet pantry.

I am a little confused as to why I would need to reach out to SpayME. I have spoken to them in the past about promoting their services through our low cost wellness clinic that we run, but we have a licensed vet tech that volunteers once a month to help with the clinic so we are fully aware of what is allowed and basically they can not diagnose nor treat. We have worked round this somewhat with blood work, fecals and such, by drawing blood and sending off to IDEXX and results are then sent to the families and they are advised to take or email their vet with the results, for their records, but also of course to look over them to ensure all is good. 

My concern is for pet families, not so much the rescue. I will only now take dogs (and occasionally cats) from shelters in the south that fully vetted and I do have access to LVTs should I need help with something and of course I do have an established vet (2 actually). I am not looking to set up a spay/neuter program, there are several cat organizations that do that locally, although none for dogs, unless you travel 2 hours down south and even then it isn't really low-cost.

The problem when adopting to a family who hasn't had pets before or in a long time, and cannot get a vet to take them on as a new client, or as with the vet check I did the other day - that vet is scheduling appointments in August and this was just for a rabies booster. The system is broken, well no it is shattered and family pets are going to and most likely are already suffering.

It seems there is nothing in the works to fix the problem.  as mentioned I run the rescue on my own and already have a wellness clinic, a pet pantry and are ambassadors for the Goods Program, being rural we have limited help. It is tough (not looking for sympathy just stating a fact)

My concern is for pets already in homes, not able to get vet appointments, families who are already on low income  already struggling as we go into the difficult times of 2023 that I can only see to be getting worse. My concern is what is being done to fix this on a local, state and national level?

Good luck with your programs, it looks great, we make do with a shuttle bus - maybe a dream can come true one day to have it kitted out properly.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 11:30 PM
From: Stacy LeBaron
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your challenges- everyone is feeling it.  Have you reached out to the folks at Spay Maine?  The rules about what technicians can and can't do involved the local veterinary association and the state.  So it becomes a bit about advocacy changing those rules.  The United Spay Alliance has a vet shortage task force you might want to check out. Based on your location it appears that you are in the middle part of the state- I have heard that resources in northern, ME are really scarce.  Have you thought about working with a relief vet and starting your own program?  I started the Catmobile program in Massachusetts which is staff intensive, but MRFRS also holds vaccination and free s/n clinics for feral cats etc.  

    Telehealth is definitely one of the considered solutions, but it does have some challenges for acceptance.  This is certainly the time for thinking outside of the box...  Our solutions for urban areas will be very different than rural too.  I am happy to chat more if needed. 

Take care, Stacy


------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for all of the great work you are doing- There are a range of short term solutions in the works as well as long term(the PA model and the growth of Veterinary class sizes are more of a long term solution).  My understanding is that the medical profession ran into this issue about 10 years ago and it took several years for the PA model to take shape(I am not sure if there was a nursing shortage at that time- but I claim we have a worse LVT shortage than a vet shortage).  So the PA model in veterinary care will take a while to ramp up also.

   The vet tech programs are closing and class sizes have dwindled.  This worries me.

It would be great to have a national software system of some type to determine who is taking on new patients?  Then utilize organizations like Waggle to help make the contacts to bridge funding issues as a short term option.  

Thanks again for everything!

I just want to mention this project too: The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project | Access to Vet Care.

Accesstovetcare		remove preview
The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project | Access to Vet Care Access to veterinary care is a complex and challenging issue. The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project is an effort to better understand and address these complexities. We gather, analyze, and use data to build tools to shed light on the issue and help inform efforts to improve access to veterinary care. View this on Accesstovetcare >

https://www.accesstovetcare.org 

------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2023 04:34 AM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Stacy,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my babble (lol) and respond. I think you must have missed that we already have a low cost pet program, "Wellness on Wheels" in our shuttle bus. I run the rescue on my own with a few volunteers as and when they are free, so I do all that I can with the limited funding, resources and help that we get. We also have a pet pantry.

I am a little confused as to why I would need to reach out to SpayME. I have spoken to them in the past about promoting their services through our low cost wellness clinic that we run, but we have a licensed vet tech that volunteers once a month to help with the clinic so we are fully aware of what is allowed and basically they can not diagnose nor treat. We have worked round this somewhat with blood work, fecals and such, by drawing blood and sending off to IDEXX and results are then sent to the families and they are advised to take or email their vet with the results, for their records, but also of course to look over them to ensure all is good. 

My concern is for pet families, not so much the rescue. I will only now take dogs (and occasionally cats) from shelters in the south that fully vetted and I do have access to LVTs should I need help with something and of course I do have an established vet (2 actually). I am not looking to set up a spay/neuter program, there are several cat organizations that do that locally, although none for dogs, unless you travel 2 hours down south and even then it isn't really low-cost.

The problem when adopting to a family who hasn't had pets before or in a long time, and cannot get a vet to take them on as a new client, or as with the vet check I did the other day - that vet is scheduling appointments in August and this was just for a rabies booster. The system is broken, well no it is shattered and family pets are going to and most likely are already suffering.

It seems there is nothing in the works to fix the problem.  as mentioned I run the rescue on my own and already have a wellness clinic, a pet pantry and are ambassadors for the Goods Program, being rural we have limited help. It is tough (not looking for sympathy just stating a fact)

My concern is for pets already in homes, not able to get vet appointments, families who are already on low income  already struggling as we go into the difficult times of 2023 that I can only see to be getting worse. My concern is what is being done to fix this on a local, state and national level?

Good luck with your programs, it looks great, we make do with a shuttle bus - maybe a dream can come true one day to have it kitted out properly.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 11:30 PM
From: Stacy LeBaron
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your challenges- everyone is feeling it.  Have you reached out to the folks at Spay Maine?  The rules about what technicians can and can't do involved the local veterinary association and the state.  So it becomes a bit about advocacy changing those rules.  The United Spay Alliance has a vet shortage task force you might want to check out. Based on your location it appears that you are in the middle part of the state- I have heard that resources in northern, ME are really scarce.  Have you thought about working with a relief vet and starting your own program?  I started the Catmobile program in Massachusetts which is staff intensive, but MRFRS also holds vaccination and free s/n clinics for feral cats etc.  

    Telehealth is definitely one of the considered solutions, but it does have some challenges for acceptance.  This is certainly the time for thinking outside of the box...  Our solutions for urban areas will be very different than rural too.  I am happy to chat more if needed. 

Take care, Stacy


------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

This is really interesting site, 

The problem is that when people are looking for a vet, they call round all in the area, they post on the community Facebook groups asking and there never is. One vet has just been bought out by a corporation and they have stopped the discounted spay/neuter for a local cat rescue program that had vouchers, so that is another problem now facing an already struggling county.

I heard that there was talk about the PA system being brought over to the LVT side of things years ago, I just don't think vets will allow it as it will potentially take away an easy source of income for them  - the annual exams and basics.

It is so concerning. I appreciate all your feedback.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 12:58 AM
From: Stacy LeBaron
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for all of the great work you are doing- There are a range of short term solutions in the works as well as long term(the PA model and the growth of Veterinary class sizes are more of a long term solution).  My understanding is that the medical profession ran into this issue about 10 years ago and it took several years for the PA model to take shape(I am not sure if there was a nursing shortage at that time- but I claim we have a worse LVT shortage than a vet shortage).  So the PA model in veterinary care will take a while to ramp up also.

   The vet tech programs are closing and class sizes have dwindled.  This worries me.

It would be great to have a national software system of some type to determine who is taking on new patients?  Then utilize organizations like Waggle to help make the contacts to bridge funding issues as a short term option.  

Thanks again for everything!

I just want to mention this project too: The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project | Access to Vet Care.

Accesstovetcare		remove preview
The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project | Access to Vet Care Access to veterinary care is a complex and challenging issue. The Veterinary Care Accessibility Project is an effort to better understand and address these complexities. We gather, analyze, and use data to build tools to shed light on the issue and help inform efforts to improve access to veterinary care. View this on Accesstovetcare >

https://www.accesstovetcare.org 

------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090

Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2023 04:34 AM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Stacy,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my babble (lol) and respond. I think you must have missed that we already have a low cost pet program, "Wellness on Wheels" in our shuttle bus. I run the rescue on my own with a few volunteers as and when they are free, so I do all that I can with the limited funding, resources and help that we get. We also have a pet pantry.

I am a little confused as to why I would need to reach out to SpayME. I have spoken to them in the past about promoting their services through our low cost wellness clinic that we run, but we have a licensed vet tech that volunteers once a month to help with the clinic so we are fully aware of what is allowed and basically they can not diagnose nor treat. We have worked round this somewhat with blood work, fecals and such, by drawing blood and sending off to IDEXX and results are then sent to the families and they are advised to take or email their vet with the results, for their records, but also of course to look over them to ensure all is good. 

My concern is for pet families, not so much the rescue. I will only now take dogs (and occasionally cats) from shelters in the south that fully vetted and I do have access to LVTs should I need help with something and of course I do have an established vet (2 actually). I am not looking to set up a spay/neuter program, there are several cat organizations that do that locally, although none for dogs, unless you travel 2 hours down south and even then it isn't really low-cost.

The problem when adopting to a family who hasn't had pets before or in a long time, and cannot get a vet to take them on as a new client, or as with the vet check I did the other day - that vet is scheduling appointments in August and this was just for a rabies booster. The system is broken, well no it is shattered and family pets are going to and most likely are already suffering.

It seems there is nothing in the works to fix the problem.  as mentioned I run the rescue on my own and already have a wellness clinic, a pet pantry and are ambassadors for the Goods Program, being rural we have limited help. It is tough (not looking for sympathy just stating a fact)

My concern is for pets already in homes, not able to get vet appointments, families who are already on low income  already struggling as we go into the difficult times of 2023 that I can only see to be getting worse. My concern is what is being done to fix this on a local, state and national level?

Good luck with your programs, it looks great, we make do with a shuttle bus - maybe a dream can come true one day to have it kitted out properly.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 11:30 PM
From: Stacy LeBaron
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Hi Jenny;

   Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for your challenges- everyone is feeling it.  Have you reached out to the folks at Spay Maine?  The rules about what technicians can and can't do involved the local veterinary association and the state.  So it becomes a bit about advocacy changing those rules.  The United Spay Alliance has a vet shortage task force you might want to check out. Based on your location it appears that you are in the middle part of the state- I have heard that resources in northern, ME are really scarce.  Have you thought about working with a relief vet and starting your own program?  I started the Catmobile program in Massachusetts which is staff intensive, but MRFRS also holds vaccination and free s/n clinics for feral cats etc.  

    Telehealth is definitely one of the considered solutions, but it does have some challenges for acceptance.  This is certainly the time for thinking outside of the box...  Our solutions for urban areas will be very different than rural too.  I am happy to chat more if needed. 

Take care, Stacy


------------------------------
Stacy LeBaron
Head Cat
The Community Cats Podcast
Warren VT
978-239-2090

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Why the AVMA isn't aggressively responding to this nation-wide crisis is beyond me.  PAs and NPs have been in place in the human medical world for literally decades now (how often does one even SEE an MD anymore?)...why can't veterinary medicine go the same route with the creation of advanced veterinary practice techicians/technologists? Why aren't existing 4 year vet technology programs being promoted, given that they already exist? The vast majority of veterinary medicine doesn't involve highly specialized skills/knowledge. If a PA or an NP can diagnose and treat, why couldn't a comparably trained veterinary paraprofessional?
It really seems that the AVMA has its collective head in the sand on this problem-and/or they don't "see" a problem from their perspective, and/or they have "turf" issues. (I suspect the last, personally.) 
A bit more collaboration/creative thinking in the veterinary world would also go a long way toward addressing this problem; however, with more and more practices going the "corporate" route, that seems unlikely to happen, as the bottom line  seems  of paramount importance.  I understand a veterinary practice is a business; however, if you price half or more of your clientele out of the market, or schedule in such a manner that clients totally fall off the radar, what's the point? You aren't helping people, and you sure aren't helping animals.
Frustrating-as we are losing all of the progress we made over the past decade on the animal overpopulation issue-and, additionally,  now animals can't even access what used to be routine healthcare....not to mention so many people can't even afford what little IS available!

It just seems like this shouldn't have to be such an unsolvable problem.






------------------------------
Lynda Nesbitt
Pets In Need Action League
Casa Grande AZ
5205820299
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

I totally agree - I remember someone saying sometime last year that there had been discussion to have a LVT be able to train to become the equivalent of a nurse - can't remember the name used - but then there they are expecting someone who is licensed, qualified and been working in the field for x amount of years, to take the time off, or commit to extra hours of study, pay who knows for how much more to basically do what they are already doing.

My opinion is that they don't want the LVT's to have that level because what is to stop them setting up their own small business doing what they are trained, capable and now qualified (legally) to do - it would take money away from the vets and would mean that those annual visits and wellness checks would not have the pull to bring clients in as there would be other options available for people. I might be wrong, but that is how I see it.

This really weighs on my mind, here we all are trying to save animals and get them in homes, adoptions have already drastically declined, people have higher priorities and we are wanting people to commit to care and provide for an animal, when they are not going to be able to give it the care it needs, because of this shortage - what is the solution ? ?

If LVT's were able to diagnose and treat the basic ailments, our small wellness on wheels clinic could help so many families and their pets, but our hands are tied - people are coming, showing that they want to do right by their pets, but we are limited what we can do. And we all know the problem is going to get so much worse :(

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2023 03:13 PM
From: Lynda Nesbitt
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Why the AVMA isn't aggressively responding to this nation-wide crisis is beyond me.  PAs and NPs have been in place in the human medical world for literally decades now (how often does one even SEE an MD anymore?)...why can't veterinary medicine go the same route with the creation of advanced veterinary practice techicians/technologists? Why aren't existing 4 year vet technology programs being promoted, given that they already exist? The vast majority of veterinary medicine doesn't involve highly specialized skills/knowledge. If a PA or an NP can diagnose and treat, why couldn't a comparably trained veterinary paraprofessional?
It really seems that the AVMA has its collective head in the sand on this problem-and/or they don't "see" a problem from their perspective, and/or they have "turf" issues. (I suspect the last, personally.) 
A bit more collaboration/creative thinking in the veterinary world would also go a long way toward addressing this problem; however, with more and more practices going the "corporate" route, that seems unlikely to happen, as the bottom line  seems  of paramount importance.  I understand a veterinary practice is a business; however, if you price half or more of your clientele out of the market, or schedule in such a manner that clients totally fall off the radar, what's the point? You aren't helping people, and you sure aren't helping animals.
Frustrating-as we are losing all of the progress we made over the past decade on the animal overpopulation issue-and, additionally,  now animals can't even access what used to be routine healthcare....not to mention so many people can't even afford what little IS available!

It just seems like this shouldn't have to be such an unsolvable problem.






------------------------------
Lynda Nesbitt
Pets In Need Action League
Casa Grande AZ
5205820299

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Totally agree, but what can we do - I do not believe there are any "work-around" options as there aren't spare vets out there to step in.

It really concerns me adopting dogs and cats to families that don't have vets and live in areas where there is a big problem. So many vets and LVT's are leaving the field it's only going to get worse and what happens in the mean time?

So frustrating.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-15-2023 03:13 PM
From: Lynda Nesbitt
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Why the AVMA isn't aggressively responding to this nation-wide crisis is beyond me.  PAs and NPs have been in place in the human medical world for literally decades now (how often does one even SEE an MD anymore?)...why can't veterinary medicine go the same route with the creation of advanced veterinary practice techicians/technologists? Why aren't existing 4 year vet technology programs being promoted, given that they already exist? The vast majority of veterinary medicine doesn't involve highly specialized skills/knowledge. If a PA or an NP can diagnose and treat, why couldn't a comparably trained veterinary paraprofessional?
It really seems that the AVMA has its collective head in the sand on this problem-and/or they don't "see" a problem from their perspective, and/or they have "turf" issues. (I suspect the last, personally.) 
A bit more collaboration/creative thinking in the veterinary world would also go a long way toward addressing this problem; however, with more and more practices going the "corporate" route, that seems unlikely to happen, as the bottom line  seems  of paramount importance.  I understand a veterinary practice is a business; however, if you price half or more of your clientele out of the market, or schedule in such a manner that clients totally fall off the radar, what's the point? You aren't helping people, and you sure aren't helping animals.
Frustrating-as we are losing all of the progress we made over the past decade on the animal overpopulation issue-and, additionally,  now animals can't even access what used to be routine healthcare....not to mention so many people can't even afford what little IS available!

It just seems like this shouldn't have to be such an unsolvable problem.






------------------------------
Lynda Nesbitt
Pets In Need Action League
Casa Grande AZ
5205820299

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well.  Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic.  Both of which are wrong. 

Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be a need for about 41,000 additional veterinarians by 2030.  There are 33 accredited veterinary schools in the US (46 total in North America), the largest class size is about 150 students, the smallest is around 12.  Even if every school was at that largest number, those schools would be 7,000 vets short of graduating 41k new doctors.  Since the average is probably close to 80, the reality is closer to being short 22,000.

Looking at those numbers from a slightly different direction, The American Academy of Veterinary Medical Colleges has an annual report of stats, that shows total US enrollment roughly around 13,000 students.  That's about 3,200 vets per year at an unrealistic 100% graduation rate.  That would put us at 18,000 vets short of the 41k by 2030.  Even with an  2-4% increase in class size as seems to have been the trend, that still only gives another 1-2k doctors in the next seven years, far short of what's needed.  Their statement on this issue paints perhaps an even more concerning picture.

That doesn't even begin to touch on the veterinary technician shortage as has been mentioned here.  That is acknowledged by the AVMA, and by all accounts, is a worse problem with even large number gaps.

Mid level providers and telemedicine are the two big pushes happening from a legislative and regulatory perspective right now.  Both of those items are helpful, but they're also not short/medium term solutions.  Any mid-level provider program would need to be fought through with the medical profession (AVMA isn't necessarily opposed, but tends to want to put pretty big protectionary restrictions on scope of practice), fought through the legislative process, then have actual schools pick up the program, get accredited, actually start recruiting students and then have that first set of students graduate through 2-4 year programs.  Not short term.  Telemedicine and increasing the scope of current providers is quicker, but still has it's uphill battles as well.

That pretty much means we needed to get on these things yesterday, start pushing at the state and national level and making more noise about this.  Otherwise in the 10-15 years when the current wave of actual surge in pandemic adopters starts getting ready to look for a new pet, we'll have a bunch of beleaguered adopters who have struggled so much to find care they may feel that it's not worth the effort to adopt again.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

I'm just at a loss as to what we "in the trenches" can do to address the situation that currently exists. Is there some creative way of looking at/working with this issue that I'm/we're not seeing?  
Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

------------------------------
Lynda Nesbitt
Pets In Need Action League
Casa Grande AZ
5205820299
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 07:34 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well.  Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic.  Both of which are wrong. 

Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be a shortage of 41,000 veterinarians by 2030.  There are 33 accredited veterinary schools in the US (46 total in North America), the largest class size is about 150 students, the smallest is around 12.  Even if every school was at that largest number, those schools would be 7,000 vets short of graduating 41k new doctors.  Since the average is probably close to 80, the reality is closer to being short 22,000.

Looking at those numbers from a slightly different direction, The American Academy of Veterinary Medical Colleges has an annual report of stats, that shows total US enrollment roughly around 13,000 students.  That's about 3,200 vets per year at an unrealistic 100% graduation rate.  That would put us at 18,000 vets short of the 41k by 2030.  Even with an  2-4% increase in class size as seems to have been the trend, that still only gives another 1-2k doctors in the next seven years, far short of what's needed.  Their statement on this issue paints perhaps and even more concerning picture.

That doesn't even begin to touch on the veterinary technician shortage as has been mentioned here.  That is acknowledged by the AVMA, and by all accounts, is a worse problem with even large number gaps.

Mid level providers and telemedicine are the two big pushes happening from a legislative and regulatory perspective right now.  Both of those items are helpful, but they're also not short/medium term solutions.  Any mid-level provider program would need to be fought through with the medical profession (AVMA isn't necessarily opposed, but tends to want to put pretty big protectionary restrictions on scope of practice), fought through the legislative process, then have actual schools pick up the program, get accredited, actually start recruiting students and then have that first set of students graduate through 2-4 year programs.  Not short term.  Telemedicine and increasing the scope of current providers is quicker, but still has it's uphill battles as well.

That pretty much means we needed to get on these things yesterday, start pushing at the state and national level and making more noise about this.  Otherwise in the 10-15 years when the current wave of actual surge in pandemic adopters starts getting ready to look for a new pet, we'll have a bunch of beleaguered adopters who have struggled so much to find care they may feel that it's not worth the effort to adopt again.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Couple of ideas here:

Human Animal Support Services (HASS) has an advocacy toolkit that's a good 101 on how to get prepared to help talk about these issues.  

If you have an active statewide humane or animal association, those are probably the best way to get involved.  They'll usually be more focused on what's going on in your state, and be able to give more timely alerts on state bills they need your help to push.

If you're in shelter leadership, engaging your supporters is also a big way to help in this area.  If you do have an alert or see something come up on issues like veterinary telemedicine, scope of practice, or other issues in this area, put those requests out on Facebook or otherwise out to your supporters and ask them to call their legislators to voice support for the issue.  If you're not in leadership, send the note yourself and encourage your friends to do the same thing.

Otherwise ASPCA has an advocacy team and issues advocacy alerts on animal issues.

The Best Friends Network also has an advocacy Action Team.

I imagine essentially everyone on these forums is also on the Community Conversations, but if not, that's a great way to stay up to date on current events and activities in this area as well.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 07:50 AM
From: Lynda Nesbitt
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

I'm just at a loss as to what we "in the trenches" can do to address the situation that currently exists. Is there some creative way of looking at/working with this issue that I'm/we're not seeing?  
Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

------------------------------
Lynda Nesbitt
Pets In Need Action League
Casa Grande AZ
5205820299

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 07:34 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well.  Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic.  Both of which are wrong. 

Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be a shortage of 41,000 veterinarians by 2030.  There are 33 accredited veterinary schools in the US (46 total in North America), the largest class size is about 150 students, the smallest is around 12.  Even if every school was at that largest number, those schools would be 7,000 vets short of graduating 41k new doctors.  Since the average is probably close to 80, the reality is closer to being short 22,000.

Looking at those numbers from a slightly different direction, The American Academy of Veterinary Medical Colleges has an annual report of stats, that shows total US enrollment roughly around 13,000 students.  That's about 3,200 vets per year at an unrealistic 100% graduation rate.  That would put us at 18,000 vets short of the 41k by 2030.  Even with an  2-4% increase in class size as seems to have been the trend, that still only gives another 1-2k doctors in the next seven years, far short of what's needed.  Their statement on this issue paints perhaps and even more concerning picture.

That doesn't even begin to touch on the veterinary technician shortage as has been mentioned here.  That is acknowledged by the AVMA, and by all accounts, is a worse problem with even large number gaps.

Mid level providers and telemedicine are the two big pushes happening from a legislative and regulatory perspective right now.  Both of those items are helpful, but they're also not short/medium term solutions.  Any mid-level provider program would need to be fought through with the medical profession (AVMA isn't necessarily opposed, but tends to want to put pretty big protectionary restrictions on scope of practice), fought through the legislative process, then have actual schools pick up the program, get accredited, actually start recruiting students and then have that first set of students graduate through 2-4 year programs.  Not short term.  Telemedicine and increasing the scope of current providers is quicker, but still has it's uphill battles as well.

That pretty much means we needed to get on these things yesterday, start pushing at the state and national level and making more noise about this.  Otherwise in the 10-15 years when the current wave of actual surge in pandemic adopters starts getting ready to look for a new pet, we'll have a bunch of beleaguered adopters who have struggled so much to find care they may feel that it's not worth the effort to adopt again.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

This is such concerning information - why will they not admit there is a problem, I don't understand why they are trying to ignore it when it clearly has a detrimental affect on so many things. What harm can it do them to not admit it, or what damage can it do for them to admit it ???

Telemedicine is all I can see is a quick fix, if there were more "true" low cost clinics available to deal with the basics, vaccines, basic testing and such, ear clean, nails and such, then hopefully appointment time would be freed up for the more serious things. However, I believe in telemedicine there are only a few states that allow vets to diagnose and prescribe, which again is ridiculous.

I am so beaten down with this. So many pets are going to, or continue to suffer because of it.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 07:34 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well.  Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic.  Both of which are wrong. 

Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be a need for about 41,000 additional veterinarians by 2030.  There are 33 accredited veterinary schools in the US (46 total in North America), the largest class size is about 150 students, the smallest is around 12.  Even if every school was at that largest number, those schools would be 7,000 vets short of graduating 41k new doctors.  Since the average is probably close to 80, the reality is closer to being short 22,000.

Looking at those numbers from a slightly different direction, The American Academy of Veterinary Medical Colleges has an annual report of stats, that shows total US enrollment roughly around 13,000 students.  That's about 3,200 vets per year at an unrealistic 100% graduation rate.  That would put us at 18,000 vets short of the 41k by 2030.  Even with an  2-4% increase in class size as seems to have been the trend, that still only gives another 1-2k doctors in the next seven years, far short of what's needed.  Their statement on this issue paints perhaps an even more concerning picture.

That doesn't even begin to touch on the veterinary technician shortage as has been mentioned here.  That is acknowledged by the AVMA, and by all accounts, is a worse problem with even large number gaps.

Mid level providers and telemedicine are the two big pushes happening from a legislative and regulatory perspective right now.  Both of those items are helpful, but they're also not short/medium term solutions.  Any mid-level provider program would need to be fought through with the medical profession (AVMA isn't necessarily opposed, but tends to want to put pretty big protectionary restrictions on scope of practice), fought through the legislative process, then have actual schools pick up the program, get accredited, actually start recruiting students and then have that first set of students graduate through 2-4 year programs.  Not short term.  Telemedicine and increasing the scope of current providers is quicker, but still has it's uphill battles as well.

That pretty much means we needed to get on these things yesterday, start pushing at the state and national level and making more noise about this.  Otherwise in the 10-15 years when the current wave of actual surge in pandemic adopters starts getting ready to look for a new pet, we'll have a bunch of beleaguered adopters who have struggled so much to find care they may feel that it's not worth the effort to adopt again.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------

I think there's a couple answers to this.

First, it's protective of the profession.  If you look at what veterinarians make compared to other doctors, the pay scale has traditionally been much lower.  These vets historically have also been responsible for running their own practice and so the amount of hours they put in and other costs of running a business have made margins slimmer than what people might expect.  You put that on top of a profession that already has the highest suicide rate and there is a genuine need for the association to try and benefit it's members and their financial well being.

Associations are also like governments, they move much more slowly then the pace of the world.  Some of those sentiments above are less true than they were a decade ago, but that thinking won't have made it's way through the organization.  That may also be due in part to bad data.  If you look at the article above from the AVMA, they're using the same shelter-based data that was shown in the weekly Maddie's fund calls, which completely ignores the fact that shelters had lower supply and adoption rates outside of shelters went up astronomically during the pandemic. 

But even without bad data, the leadership of the AVMA is often going to more careful about making changes and even will be out of step with the feelings of the members.  Which is another important distinction as local vets and probably even most vets will be understanding and realize the extent of this problem, so it's important not to lump all vets in with the AVMA's public stance so far.

The other big driver is corporate consolidation.  We're seeing a wave of buyouts as veterinarians retire and have difficulty replacing themselves in their practices, along with a general trend of corporate buyouts of previously independent veterinary clinics, similar to what happened a decade or two ago in the human medical world.  The parent companies often tend to be big financial sponsors of associations like the AVMA, and have a vested interest in protecting their own profits.  Money drives thinking and so if they're paying the bills for the AMVA, it's a lot less likely those folks will be interested in damaging that relationship.

It's also not only an AVMA problem.  While it would be great to have them admit there's a veterinary shortage, an actively try and push hard to fix that aspect of the problem, there's no doubt there's also a shortage in vet techs and other support staff that is arguably a bigger problem within the industry.  The AMVA is pushing to get more support and relief in that area which is great, but it also muddles the waters when looking at the veterinary shortage as well.

The toughest part of all this is that there is not going to be a quick and easy answer.  The veterinary PA and telemedicine solutions will almost certainly happen, so hold on to that!  But they are going to take work and most likely come piecemeal, state by state.  The AMVA is not an immovable object, just a slow one, and it will take more pressure externally and from their members to force that change.  The best thing we can do is keep beating the drum and make sure that the shelter/rescue voice on this is regularly heard and doesn't go away.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-19-2023 05:59 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

This is such concerning information - why will they not admit there is a problem, I don't understand why they are trying to ignore it when it clearly has a detrimental affect on so many things. What harm can it do them to not admit it, or what damage can it do for them to admit it ???

Telemedicine is all I can see is a quick fix, if there were more "true" low cost clinics available to deal with the basics, vaccines, basic testing and such, ear clean, nails and such, then hopefully appointment time would be freed up for the more serious things. However, I believe in telemedicine there are only a few states that allow vets to diagnose and prescribe, which again is ridiculous.

I am so beaten down with this. So many pets are going to, or continue to suffer because of it.

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/

Original Message:
Sent: 01-16-2023 07:34 AM
From: Jeff Okazaki
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

This came up in one of the other threads on the forums here as well.  Essentially so far the AVMA has said there's no shortage of vets and there was not a surge in adoptions over the pandemic.  Both of which are wrong. 

Depending on where you're looking, according to some reports, there's going to be a need for about 41,000 additional veterinarians by 2030.  There are 33 accredited veterinary schools in the US (46 total in North America), the largest class size is about 150 students, the smallest is around 12.  Even if every school was at that largest number, those schools would be 7,000 vets short of graduating 41k new doctors.  Since the average is probably close to 80, the reality is closer to being short 22,000.

Looking at those numbers from a slightly different direction, The American Academy of Veterinary Medical Colleges has an annual report of stats, that shows total US enrollment roughly around 13,000 students.  That's about 3,200 vets per year at an unrealistic 100% graduation rate.  That would put us at 18,000 vets short of the 41k by 2030.  Even with an  2-4% increase in class size as seems to have been the trend, that still only gives another 1-2k doctors in the next seven years, far short of what's needed.  Their statement on this issue paints perhaps an even more concerning picture.

That doesn't even begin to touch on the veterinary technician shortage as has been mentioned here.  That is acknowledged by the AVMA, and by all accounts, is a worse problem with even large number gaps.

Mid level providers and telemedicine are the two big pushes happening from a legislative and regulatory perspective right now.  Both of those items are helpful, but they're also not short/medium term solutions.  Any mid-level provider program would need to be fought through with the medical profession (AVMA isn't necessarily opposed, but tends to want to put pretty big protectionary restrictions on scope of practice), fought through the legislative process, then have actual schools pick up the program, get accredited, actually start recruiting students and then have that first set of students graduate through 2-4 year programs.  Not short term.  Telemedicine and increasing the scope of current providers is quicker, but still has it's uphill battles as well.

That pretty much means we needed to get on these things yesterday, start pushing at the state and national level and making more noise about this.  Otherwise in the 10-15 years when the current wave of actual surge in pandemic adopters starts getting ready to look for a new pet, we'll have a bunch of beleaguered adopters who have struggled so much to find care they may feel that it's not worth the effort to adopt again.

------------------------------
Jeff Okazaki
Humane Society of Jefferson County

Original Message:
Sent: 01-14-2023 12:25 PM
From: Jenny Cope
Subject: Veterinarian Shortage

Good afternoon,

I am pretty confident that this is a situation that is across the US, with some states, counties and towns being more affected than others - but I am getting really concerned about the veterinarian shortage, that from talking to vets and vet techs local to me, seems to be getting worse, with fewer people interested in the being involved in the field.

I was doing a vet check for an application yesterday and this particular vets clinic was booking appointments for AUGUST and this was for Rabies booster - 7 months out. Other clinics are working with one veterinarian and the vet tech that helps us out on our monthly wellness clinics is down to just her (LVT) and one vet, and she is planning to get out of the field towards the end of the year.

Many vets are not taking on new clients, so when we have families who have not had pets before or for a long time, they are not able to establish a new vet that is anything local to them. The ER clinics are in the same boat, posting almost nightly that they can only deal with literal life and death situations and even then it would depend on what they are dealing with at the time.

I do include information on a tele-vet service more of an awareness thing for our adopters, but in the state of Maine they are not allowed to diagnose or prescribe anyway, however, it is useful for more basic things and of course if someone is unsure how important or critical a situation is.

If a pet has an ear infection and can't get seen for 2 months, that is just going to get worse of course and a simple solution has now turned in to a few months of the animal suffering and it progressed into something worse.

Then  - of course there is the cost increase, the recession and people not being able to afford vet care.  We run a "Wellness on Wheels" low cost pet services, with a volunteer LVT one day a month, where we  offer the DAPPv, HCP-1, microchips, ears, nails, anal glands, and we can draw blood and send off to IDEXX since we are not then diagnosing. We subsidize as much as we can. We get 75% of cats that have ear infections, but all we can do is tell the people the ear looks red/inflamed and recommend they go to a vet for proper diagnosis, but we know that isn't going to happen, but not having a veterinarian we can't diagnose or recommend anything or even give them anything.  We discussed getting supplies of ear ointment to give to people, but that would be then diagnosing and treating.

Is there something in the works to come up with a solution to this - maybe change it so that there can be more tele-health where diagnose and prescribe in all states is made possible. That makes the most sense, as then it would reduce the number of people needing to go to an actual vet, would very much likely increase the care of pets as people are more likely and able to have an appointment online and then leave the vet clinics and hospitals to deal with the hands on care - which I know is not necessarily good for them as they would lose a lot of the guaranteed income - but something has to give.

Is there anything else on allowing LVT to diagnose and treat basic ailments, like ear infections, skin issues and such - things that they pretty much do anyway? ? 

This other than the serious decline in adoptions is my biggest fear in the animal world right now and living in the poorest county in Maine in a rural setting just magnifies the problem.

Jen

#AccesstoCare
#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization
#PetSupportServices*

------------------------------
Jenny Cope - Fear Free Certified
President/Founder
Give a Dog a Home Rescue
Greater Goods Charities - GOODS Program Ambassador
501c3 Non- Profit Corp, Tax ID/EIN 27-5241306
State of Maine Shelter/Rescue Licence # F1463
State of Maine Registered Charity: CO11334
https://giveadogahome.rescuegroups.org/
------------------------------