Veterinarians are in demand nationwide. They’re in especially high demand in shelter settings.
There are a lot of reasons why. The cost of veterinary school, which is similar to that of human medical school, is a factor.
"Our students generally have debts in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 on average, which can be quite a lot. The salaries that they get, as they come out of school are strong, but they're not huge," said Dr. Steven Hansen, president and CEO of the Arizona Humane Society.
He says the work can also take an emotional toll on vets.
"Last year, we took in 22,000 animals. But the key is that 80% of those animals went through our trauma hospital. We do take in the most sick and injured animals," Hansen said.
While shelter vets often see the worst of the worst, even private vets encounter cases that are heartbreaking, like an owner choosing to euthanize a pet who has cancer even if there are treatments.
"So that can weigh heavily on a veterinarian. Same as in our setting with the severely injured animals that come in, that compassion fatigue is huge. So for us, we do provide training on compassion fatigue, we do provide time off and other resources," he said.
Hansen said a 2022 law would provide loan assistance to vets who worked for four years in Arizona, with two of those years being at a non-profit.
And a law passed in 2023 allows Arizona veterinarians to use telehealth technology to care for pets. Hansen said telehealth allows vets to reach underserved areas.
"Let's say your cat has got an upset stomach. So I would get details on the age, the weight, the sex, the history, you would show me any video that you've gone and we were talking about and if it's something that we could manage remotely, we would do so. That can include a phone-in of a prescription to one of the veterinary pharmacies," Hansen said.
