The landscape of Veterinary medicine has been experiencing a significant transformation in recent years, primarily driven by advancements in technology and changes in societal needs. One of the most notable trends is the growth of Veterinary jobs in the virtual career space. As digital health platforms, telemedicine, and remote work become increasingly prevalent, veterinarians, nurses/techs, and CSRs are finding new opportunities to expand their careers beyond traditional clinical settings.
Virtual or remote work is no passing fad. Marketing, finance, legal, healthcare, and other professionals are seeing increasing options for remote and hybrid work. According to Upwork, by 2025, 22% of the American workforce will be working remotely.1 The Forbes Advisor article also reports that 98% of workers desire remote work, and 71% say it helps balance their work and personal life.1 It appears that remote and hybrid work will become a staple in many industries, but what about the Veterinary profession?
We all know that the employment of veterinarians, Veterinary assistants, and nurses/technicians is projected to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the rate at 17%, 14%, and 15% growth from 2020 to 2030, respectively.2 However, the data does not project where or in what capacity the growth will occur—just that the growth is much faster than the average for all occupations. 2 The reason for this projected growth is multi-faceted and includes critical drivers in the areas of advancements in Veterinary medicine, technology integration, increased pet ownership and spending, focus on preventive care, client expectations and education, workforce challenges, holistic and alternative therapies, accessibility and affordability concerns, and innovative methods for delivering care.
Most of those critical drivers have impacted how the Veterinary team delivers quality care, provides service to diverse clients, and performs their jobs efficiently and productively. Which leads me to this important topic: How has the way the team does their job changed? Are new career paths developing, and is the profession ready to take advantage of those new career paths? More specifically, what is the potential for growth in the virtual career space? To get some answers, I spoke to four innovative professionals to get their perspective on this developing career path.
- Antoinette Martin, DVM and Vice President of Virtual Medicine and Operations at Petfolk (https://petfolk.com/), which aims to reshape pet care, including on-site and virtual visits and 24/7 access to medical professionals.
- John Dillon, Founder and CEO at GuardianVets (http://www.guardianvets.com), whose company provides 24/7 support to Veterinary hospitals, including triage, overflow call interception, and after-hours support.
- Sharon Quinn, DVM and CEO at SmartVet (www.smartvet.ca), a 24/7 virtual care service supporting Veterinary hospitals.
- Joe Spector, founder and CEO at Dutch Pet, Inc. (http://www.dutch.com), a company leveraging telehealth to make vet visits more convenient and accessible for pet parents.
Virtual Career Paths Potential
As a first step, getting a clear understanding of career paths in Veterinary medicine is essential. The role of veterinarians has evolved from primarily focusing on treating livestock and ensuring food safety in the early years to encompass a wide range of responsibilities today, including pet care, advanced medical procedures, wildlife conservation, and public health initiatives. Career options today include specialists/specialty certifications, relief work, academia, shelter medicine, etc. (Career options for veterinarians | American Veterinary Medical Association (avma.org)). No one should think the list of career options will stop growing for veterinarians, nurses/techs, or CSRs. Take, for instance, the team profiles of our innovative professionals to see how they have added virtual jobs to that list of career options.
Petfolk’s model includes brick-and-mortar Pet Care Centers and Virtual Care. Their CSRs are 100% remote, and they staff a remote team of paraprofessionals and veterinarians to handle medical questions pre and post-visit. Dr. Antoinette Martin sees the benefit of freeing up the in-clinic team from doing double duty of answering phones and staffing the front desk; instead, they can focus on surgery, treatment, and exam rooms. The additional building space will allow for more exam rooms, as well. Petfolk’s remote medical team engages with pet parents to enable the client to interact with a medical team ASAP rather than wait. Moreover, 80+% of all calls concern managing the pet’s care once it has been seen at the clinic or converting a pet parent to an in-clinic visit. This type of interaction is invaluable for keeping the client engaged in the pet’s care, educating the client, driving in-clinic business, and building bonds.
Guardian Vet employs full-time and part-time professionals in virtual roles. John Dillon notices a demand for flexibility and the opportunity to choose your work schedule as driving interest in virtual careers. The vetting process is rigorous for virtual positions, and experience and certification/license are a must for working on his team. There is still room for career growth in a virtual role as some virtual team members advance to director of operations roles.
Smart.Vet employs an innovative mix of remote veterinarians functioning in different roles—all supporting Veterinary hospitals. Employment models range from casual “hop on hop off” to part-time contracts to full-time. Dr. Sharon Quinn says that the recent launch of a virtual vet locum puts a virtual vet “in clinic” to work with the on-site team. These clinics may be experiencing a doctor shortage due to a call-off, personnel medical issues, or hiring lag. Applicants for the virtual positions vary from the experienced person looking to transition to fewer hours or work a more balanced schedule that incorporates the hybrid model of some part-time for a hospital working in-clinic and some hours with Smart.Vet in a virtual position, to the new mom in need of a balanced home/work life, to those with chronic health issues wanting to stay in the profession but unable to handle the in-clinic demands on the body, to new grads exploring where they can best serve the pet population.
Dutch Pet also sees increasing opportunities for Veterinarians and Veterinary technicians. According to Joe Spector, affordability and convenience are major factors driving the demand for virtual visits, and this opens the door to alternative career paths for the Veterinary healthcare team as his company continues to see a growing network of over 150 veterinarians.
Interested in a virtual career? Consider working in a hybrid model. Dr. Quinn also suggests shadowing someone in the virtual role to get the breadth of what can be accomplished and the cases commonly presented for a virtual visit. It is important to see how to problem-solve in the virtual space and apply virtual care to more scenarios to improve access to care. Dr. Martin adds that the virtual environment is just as important as the in-clinic one. The room where one is conducting the virtual visit must be set up appropriately (the person must be dressed professionally and present a clutter-free background with no noise and no cats walking in front of the camera). Finally, John Dillon feels it is essential to know oneself, to be self-disciplined to work from home, and to keep the virtual career option open as an alternative career that keeps one active in the profession.
Challenges and Opportunities When Considering Virtual Careers
While the growth of Veterinary jobs in the virtual career space is promising, it is not without challenges. Ensuring the quality of care in telemedicine, managing digital privacy and security, and navigating regulatory requirements are critical issues that must be addressed.
Most can agree that the Veterinary industry is evolving. From the changing landscape of VCPR and practice acts allowing remote care to jobs including remote or hybrid work to technology tools that improve patient care and increase the capacity for seeing patients, the regular brick-and-mortar Veterinary practice has burst from the confines of its four walls and expanded into the digital space (keep up to date at Veterinary Virtual Care Association (vvca.org)).
John Dillon sees this as an opportunity for alternative business models to respond to the competition. “It is easy for clients to go elsewhere when they feel ignored, and modernizing provides convenience.” John points to the example of triage. It was once an innovative concept when it started and is now well recognized and accepted (see 2021 AAHA/AVMA Telehealth Guidelines for Small-Animal Practice – AAHA).
Dr. Quinn sees opportunities to relieve the stress and burnout for the team by using technology such as an AI scribe for medical documentation or an after-hours service to triage calls. Dr. Quinn says that Smart.Vet documented a 75% reduction in after-hours calls going to the veterinarian when Smart.Vet’s team triaged those calls. Improving the team experience isn’t the only benefit; Dr. Martin notes opportunities for enhancing the client’s experience when clients are educated to understand the best-case uses of the practice’s technology. Her clients want personalized care from the comfort of their home, and they feel that the virtual care component makes them feel like they have a “Veterinary professional in their pocket” whenever the need arises.
However, this evolution comes with caveats. Dr. Quinn still sees too many hurdles from regulations and laws. These can make taking advantage of the virtual space in Veterinary care difficult, yet some are necessary to maintain quality and safety. Dr. Martin calls them “guardrails” and emphasizes the importance of knowing how the capabilities and limitations of technology and state and federal laws impact the work of veterinarians, nurses/techs, and CSRs. Changing the VCPR is not the final fix, according to John Dillon. He feels that AI is not a substitute for good customer service and that providing opportunities for one-on-one conversation is still necessary.
Dr. Martin also warns of problems with the implementation and uptake of virtual services and jobs. These are operational barriers; the solution is appropriate staffing levels and training the team and clients. Clients must have a great experience (e.g., track your Net Promoter Scores). Additionally, developing virtual/remote jobs should be looked at to improve the efficiency of operations, reduce burnout, and leverage the team so each person is working at the top of their license.
As technology continues to advance and the demand for convenient, accessible Veterinary care grows, the virtual career space will likely expand further. There are a number of easy options to add virtual care to traditional in-clinic services, but this effort needs to be intentional by the clinic. The industry can not ignore the concerns of those who have a vested interest in brick-and-mortar locations, which, according to Joe Spector, can scare away those who are curious to try virtual care. Veterinarians who embrace virtual care changes and adapt to new ways of working will find themselves at the forefront of a dynamic and evolving field.
Preparing For a Future That Includes Virtual Careers
No one can argue that the virtual space has revolutionized Veterinary education and continuing professional development, as evidenced by all the online courses, webinars, and virtual conferences that have become essential tools for Veterinary professionals seeking to stay updated with the latest advancements in their field. But has there been a change in how educational institutions prepare veterinarians and tech/nurses for telehealth or a virtual career?
Veterinary professionals can use telehealth and virtual careers to enhance their team’s abilities to provide care. Dr. Martin feels that the schools set the foundation, and John Dillon echoes that sentiment and adds that “schools should also teach how to leverage technology for better patient outcomes.” Dr. Quinn sees a benefit in teaching students so they are comfortable with technology. For example, how to use AI tools to leverage care for a patient. Dr. Martin notes “significant differences to practicing in the remote space versus in-clinic.” She sees a need for training on the capabilities and limitations of hands-off, synchronous, and asynchronous communications, in addition to how to gather information when doing a video call, how to instruct the owner to position the camera and how long to video the pet, and other tips for conducting the best virtual visit for pet, client, and veterinarian.
Keep in mind it is not only the education of Veterinary professionals, but also the education of pet parents. Veterinary technicians can use their medical knowledge to educate clients in the virtual space. Joe Spector notes that many consumers do not know that Veterinary telemedicine is an option citing a recent New York Times article that reported 72% of cat owners use telemedicine for themselves, but only 3% use it for their cats (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/health/vet-pet-health-telemedicine.html). It stands within reason, according to Joe Spector, “that this gap shows where things will go as more and more consumers become aware and comfortable with telemedicine.”
Ultimately, the goal is to provide care to as many patients as possible. Dutch Pet has witnessed growing adoption of virtual care by pet owners, evident by company statistics that 50% of Dutch Pet’s patients had not seen a veterinarian in at least three years and customer reviews highlighting how the service helped save the lives of cats and dogs.
Dr. Quinn tells the story of a Veterinary team that routinely loads a mobile unit on a train and travels many hours to a remote area. In prior years, they were overwhelmed by the need for Veterinary care. Recently, they added a virtual team for the trip and witnessed how many more patients they could treat when they prioritized conditions for in-clinic or virtual visits. If a virtual visit can give access to care to those clients in “Veterinary deserts,” then it should be explored as another way to improve the health and well-being of the pets and people in those areas.
Conclusion
The growth of Veterinary jobs in the virtual career space represents a significant shift in the Veterinary profession. Telemedicine, virtual education, remote services, and entrepreneurial ventures are opening up new opportunities for veterinarians, enhancing the accessibility and quality of Veterinary care. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the Veterinary profession is poised to embrace these changes, offering exciting prospects for current and future Veterinary professionals.