Less experienced vets working longest hours in veterinary industry

The latest data from over 800 companion animal veterinarians in the US has found that among employed vets, those with less experience tend to work on average around four hours per week more than those who have worked around 10 times as many years as a trained veterinarian.

Over the course of a year that accounts to working 208 hours, or just over eight and a half days more than vets who have been in the industry for over 30 years.

The figures show that vets with less than three years’ experience work more hours than other vets, as the veterinary industry tries to recover from the backlog caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Figures also claim that owners and partners spend almost double the amount of time on admin than employed vets do.

Alarmingly, the data claims that veterinarians average only 1.8 hours of break per week, or in a five day week around 21.6 minutes per shift.

These new findings come as our COVID-19 Veterinary Tracker identified that in April last year 83% of veterinary clinics in the US had to limit the number of clients and pets allowed in the practice per day.

Earlier this year we learned that stress levels in veterinarians in the US has increased by as much as 31% since the coronavirus pandemic.

Whether there is a correlation between hours worked and the rising levels of stress among veterinarians during the pandemic remains to be seen, however with the backlog caused by cancelled appointments during lockdowns, it is certain that veterinarians will not be reducing their hours anytime soon.