Fred Ouedraogo, PhD, and Michael Dicks, PhD, examined the veterinarian income trends and the potential impact of multiple factors, including the demographics of today’s veterinarians, veterinary income trends and practice ownership. They determined that when accounting for inflation, veterinary incomes have actually been declining for two decades.
Source: DVM360, March 19, 2018.
Multiple factors contribute to real mean incomes for veterinarians, including changing demographics, a profession with fewer practice owners, and historical income trends. We now understand that when we account for inflation, veterinary incomes have actually been declining for two decades. With veterinary prices rising faster than inflation in that same period, it seems clear that veterinary labor is not the source of the rising cost of care for the profession.
INSIGHTS: While these are important data, other than practice ownership, the trend for a more balanced lifestyle seems missing in the analysis. Veterinary care is spread across a larger number of professional full time equivalents today, including veterinarians, veterinary nurses and office personnel.