Starting salaries & good vibes

Hello 👋 

Welcome back to another edition of Weekend Rounds.

For many of us, Daylight Savings ended last night which means we enjoyed an extra hour of sleep and the sun in our eyes once again this morning. Unless of course, like the author of this newsletter, you have a baby at home who does not understand clocks and is happy to wake up whenever they feel like it.

We’re keeping it light and bright today:

💜 Big news from Obi!
💵 Starting salaries spotlight
👍️ Good vibes

💜 ICYMI: The All Access Pass is Here

We don’t usually like to lead the newsletter with shameless self promotion, but we are very excited to share that Obi Veterinary Education members can now sign up for an All Access Pass! It’s our version of unlimited data, an all you can eat buffet, and free refills on your favorite drink.

The All Access Pass is a one-year membership that includes unlimited on-demand access to all courses and certificates on Obi Veterinary Education. 

Today, that means you’ll have full access to 26 hours of on-demand RACE-approved content in radiology, dentistry, ophthalmology, oncology and endocrinology. Plus, when new courses are added, they’ll automatically be added to your course library.

💵 Some progress on starting salaries… maybe

The AVMA published a series of articles this week looking at veterinary salaries, debts, motivation and other workplace factors.

We promised we’d keep it light, so first some good news: veterinary starting salaries rose again in 2023, while educational debt held steady. This means that the debt-to-income ratio for new veterinarians down to their 2004-era levels:

The article also highlighted the other forms of compensation that new vets may expect such as ProSal (production based bonuses), benefits, and signing bonuses. But even with the prospect of increased salaries and diminishing debts, over the past 5 years the number one factor that has determined where vets choose to work has been mentorship.

However, it’s not all good news on the salaries front. Whereas new veterinarians have seen an increase in salaries, mean salaries across the profession have not kept up with the rate of inflation:

With respect to hours worked:

• On average, veterinarian work hours are declining, but remain slightly above their mid-pandemic (2021) levels.

• Two-thirds of veterinarians are content with their work hours while 7% would work more if they could

• 27% say they would work fewer hours for less compensation

Perhaps most notably, 91% percent of veterinarians say they have either never considered leaving the veterinary profession, or they considered but decided to stay. Of the 9% who say they are considering leaving, nearly half (48.3%) cite the primary reason would be to better their mental health or improve their lifestyle.

And by far, the best news to come out this week is that the average starting salary for equine vets has increased 46% over the last two years (up to $95,000). The specialty has been hurt by high turnover, as nearly 50% of veterinarians leave equine medicine in their first 5 years. Hopefully the increased compensation will help turn the tides.

👍️ Good vibes

The news can be a bit overwhelming and upsetting. So here is a collection of our favorite news stories, fun facts, and cute animal videos that we saw this week:

NAVC Gives

A new award launched by the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) seeks to “support individuals, groups, and organizations around the world in making a difference in the veterinary field”

With an initial fund of $1 million, NAVC Gives is a board-directed award program in support of those working to advance the veterinary profession and wellbeing of people and animals. The inaugural winners will be announced at the VMX 2024 in January, and nominations can be made here.

Bear x Balloon = Joy

@krista15311

Bear cub playing with a red balloon 🎈