How many ways can America address the acute shortage of Veterinary professionals? I count five (5), and while we list these, let’s explore what it takes to make this happen. #1—Increase class sizes of current accredited Veterinary schools. We have 33 accredited Veterinary programs in the United States, plus two large accredited Caribbean schools with […]
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Mark Cushing
Recent Posts
There aren’t many issues where Florida and California agree, especially when legislatures in both states pass similar laws unanimously. Now we have one: virtual care and a telemedicine VCPR. That’s right, despite opposition from trade associations, on March 6, Florida joined the ranks of states opening up the privilege for pet owners to start a […]
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If you permit, I’d like to share some news about a new employee of my Animal Policy Group, Samantha (“Sam”) Geiling, RVT, of Burnsville, Minnesota. Sam was just awarded Vet Tech of the Year by the national association, NAVTA. She became my Chief of Staff last June and earned this award, so let me tell […]
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2023 ends in a few weeks. Was this the greatest year ever for Veterinary medicine? Probably not, still not the worst for sure. Let’s call it a mixed bag. The dynamics of pet healthcare are stable, but the future isn’t blooming with clarity. Let’s list the dynamics: Millennials and Generation Zs own half of America’s […]
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Veterinary conversations today center around the impact of chronic and acute shortages. Some challenge whether or not the United States faces this problem but, candidly, veterinarians in the field know the situation. And it isn’t encouraging. So if you understand that shortages of veterinarians are real then keep reading. There are three ways to produce […]
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Veterinary telemedicine and the VCPR entered a new phase when Arizona and California legislatures overwhelmingly passed VVCA-sponsored bills. At the same time, the warnings of doom and gloom ring hollow because no complaints have been filed anywhere claiming that telemedicine visits harmed a pet. What I want to focus on today is the refusal of […]
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My first column for this exciting new publication dove into the challenge of trying to solve the shortages of veterinarians in the United States, highlighting what we can learn from human healthcare’s 50-year battle with shortages. Unlike human medicine, we face an additional challenge in Veterinary healthcare: many leaders still question whether or not we […]
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Animal healthcare has a long list of learnings over the years from what works, and doesn’t work, in human healthcare. If you think about it veterinary medicine has rung up quite a debt to human medicine. And it’s pretty much been a one-way street. It’s hard to think of any facet of pet healthcare that […]
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