Do Veterinarians Still Want to Own Practices?
If you survey a classroom of first-year veterinary students about who hopes to own a clinic someday, you’ll likely see a forest of raised hands. Yet by graduation, that enthusiasm often wanes. According to recent AVMA census reports, the number of new graduates moving into practice ownership is steadily declining. So, what’s fueling this drop in the once-vibrant entrepreneurial spirit?
My Personal Journey
Let me set the stage on my background in ownership. Even before veterinary school, my mentor was a multi-practice owner that showed me the benefits and the value of building a business. The tone was set early for me, and I had someone to empower me along the way. Someone who could show me not just how to spay a dog, but someone who could help me grow a business. Working for my mentor after graduation, I made it clear that I wanted to be a practice owner. I partnered into my first hospital a year and a half after graduation and subsequently partnered into two additional practices in the coming years. I worked hard at learning not just medicine, but also leadership and business acumen. The years in this partnership allowed me to find my passion, leading teams, growing businesses, and providing opportunity for personal and professional growth within the veterinary industry.
Decreasing Interest During the Journey
The early mentors for many veterinary students are or were practice owners. They are the ones we went to when looking for our first jobs or first shadowing experiences. They were the ones who helped us fall in love with the profession and decide to pursue it as a career. I believe that is why the number of individuals interested in ownership on day one of veterinary school is at its peak. What causes the decreased interest during those pivotal 4-7 years of education and early career development? I will share a few of my thoughts.
- The Lack of Business and Leadership Training During School
We hear it repeatedly how packed the curriculum for veterinary school is and I am not here to dispute that. Business classes have therefore been relegated to the elective and extra-curricular tracts. While many will still take these classes, they are often competing against other elective courses focused on the practice of medicine, which decreases their overall enrollment. Without much experience in business ownership among the professors at the universities, there is not extensive internal pressure to convince students of the value of these courses. Let’s not forget leadership training. Whether becoming a practice owner or a career associate, you are a leader. That could be for an entire corporation, a single hospital, or the treatment or exam room. Being an extraordinary leader, in my opinion, is the most telling characteristic of whether a practice owner will thrive.
- Corporate Influence and Consolidation
If you walk a career fair at any university, you will see the tables lined with corporations seeking new graduates to hire and maybe a few independents sprinkled in. The corporations offer good starting salaries, large signing bonuses, mentorship, and the promise of work-life balance. This is everything that a new graduate wants to hear, and for many, this can be the best option. One generic line that I hear often from groups is, “we focus on the business so you can focus on what you do best: medicine.” My fear with most graduates entering this career path is that the entrepreneurial drive will never be fostered. Leadership may be achieved through hospital director positions, but the real drive to innovate and initiate change will be stifled.
- The Work-Life Balance Fallacy
There is a common belief that practice owners do not have lives outside of working and managing the practice. For many, this is probably true, but it does not have to be this way. As a practice owner, there is a difference in being “self-employed” versus a “business owner.” A self-employed practice owner likely is committing most of their time to practicing medicine and running the business. There may not be much emphasis on delegation and empowering those team members around you. This can lead to burnout and disenchantment with owning a practice. This sentiment may even extrapolate to those aspiring students that those owners aim to mentor. When we use an example like this, practice ownership does seem too hard to pursue and not worth the effort, especially with current corporate offers being where they are. However, I will tell you, you can achieve work-life balance when you are a practice owner.
What’s Next?
To keep veterinarians in charge of our own profession, we must foster the entrepreneurial spirit. I look at human medicine and see that as an example of what we are to become if consolidation continues at its current pace. Veterinarians must take control of ownership, take advantage of being able to make their own decisions, and help shape the future of this profession. This article is set to kick off a series of articles that will not just point out problems, as this article has, but provide actionable solutions. I look forward to being able to provide insight as an owner and a look into the future of what practice ownership can look like in parallel with the building of my new ownership model. If you are interested in being a part of the journey, you can learn more here.