Inspiring the farm vets of the future

There is talk of a recruitment and retention crisis in the UK farm animal veterinary sector. Practices and employers struggle to recruit new graduate and experienced vets into farm animal jobs, and then can struggle to retain people in this work. I was fortunate to be able to travel to discuss this issue with vets and farmers overseas as part of a 2019 Nuffield Farming Scholarship funded by the Trehane Trust. I set off on my travels looking for solutions but found that the challenges we face here are not unique to the UK. Vets, farmers, and vet schools across North America and in both New Zealand and Australia reported similar problems. The full report is available here https://www.nuffieldscholar.org/reports/gb/2019/ensuring-veterinary-profession-meets-needs-livestock-agriculture-now-and-future.

Recruitment and retention of farm vets is a complex issue. The farm vet ‘pipeline’ should be examined in its entirety. The point of graduation is not the time to persuade people to consider a farm animal veterinary career. Interventions should take place from before vet school (outreach and admissions processes), during vet school (training and inspiring), and after vet school (recruitment and retention). Results from a survey of veterinary students in the UK and Ireland published online in the Veterinary Record (included in Cattle Review p194, https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.455) highlights veterinary student attitudes towards careers in farm animal practice. While many factors that appeal to students were identified, such as working outside and working in agriculture, there was also a perception that working conditions were not appealing.