Vets in the UK are only practicing for an average of four years post-qualifying, The Scottish Farmer was told this week at a briefing at the Moredun Research Institute, in Penicuik.

Scientific director, Professor Julie Fitzpatrick, said there was an urgent need to address poor retention rates, stressing the invaluable role vets play on the ground with farmers, sharing important disease updates and practical advice, which is critical for them as an organisation.

“One of the problems with the veterinary profession is there is a loss of people who actually practice after they qualify. I’m not entirely convinced that the answer is yet more vet schools because I think perhaps we need to think more about the cost of training vet students and trying to keep them in the system, providing them with resilience and skills to face the realities of practice, post-graduation.”

In 2019, the Graduate and Employer Survey found that 50% of veterinary graduates said their degree had ‘not at all’ or only ‘slightly’ contributed to their current business skills.

The Scottish Farmer asked SRUC how its new vet school would tackle some of the issues around retaining vets, post-qualifying. “The new SRUC School of Veterinary Medicine aims to deliver a different kind of educational experience using innovative teaching methods and curriculum design to ensure that students are fully prepared to work in a variety of high demand sectors, including remote and rural practice,” explained Professor Caroline Argo, Dean of SRUC’s North Faculty.

“By offering new pathway programmes and more holistic approaches to direct student selection we hope to attract students who already understand and appreciate the challenges and appeal of living in rural communities and are therefore likely to be better prepared to return to and flourish in this setting across their professional life.”

Research carried out by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2021, found that 10% of vets planned to leave the profession within the next five years and for reasons other than retirement. Also, 46% of those leaving the industry each year, had been on the register for four years or less.

Read more: Scotland plans a shake up of field animal vet services

Large animal vet and director at Parkside Vets, Dundee, Dr Alistair Crozier, told The SF that if we want to retain more vets in the system then we have to look at renumerating their time more fairly: “Gone are the days that people see veterinary as a vocation and put up with being spoken to badly, or working one in three weekends – modern workers won’t work like that.

“The way people interact and respect vets is changing too and it can be very hard for some vets who are faced with emotional or challenging clients. We are lucky to have a dedicated team member who monitors our social media, but some people can be very cruel and thoughtless with their comments, which can be a lot for vets to handle.

“I can only see that charges and fees are going to increase, to pay vets more, if we are to have enough large animal vets to support antisocial working hours and demands, which is critical during the likes of calving or lambing time.”

He explained that vet salaries can range from £30k for a graduate starting out, to £55k for experienced professionals, but clients often assumed vets were paid large salaries due to the bills at the other end.

“In order to be profitable, a vet needs to turn over four times their salary,” he continued. “We are aware we will never be described as 'cheap', but businesses have to be profitable, or we will go out of business, just like farms need to be profitable. We have to keep up with the changing expectations of vets and accept they are not going to do long nights if they aren’t recompensed, or they will simply move elsewhere.”

Farm clinical director of MBM Vet Group, Thomas Crawshaw, pointed out that relationships with clients can be one of the most rewarding parts of farm animal work, however the experience of clients can also be a hurdle for retention.

“Farm animal work, whilst mentally stimulating it is also both practically demanding and challenging in equal measure. Becoming a useful farm vet takes time, experience and support from established vets and clients. The first five years are critical to develop the confidence which reduces stress and allows the job to be enjoyed and a useful farm vet to be retained in the profession.”

He said that for his practice, which employs eight farm animal vets, recruitment and retention has been enhanced by offering discipline specific veterinary roles, which had helped provide a mentally stimulating job and a focus to fully develop expertise.

“As an industry, we need to continue to invest in science and academic ability, as without this our sector will fail to continue to advance it’s horizons, however, we also need to combine this with vets on the ground practically capable of delivering our services.

"We are evolving, as an industry when it comes to the support we offer new graduate vets and we may just need the oldest of veterinary remedies, time, to get us back on our feet again,” he added.