BUSINESS (Demographics)

Question 1

soil quality

Answer 1

-more black soil=more vets
-better the land=more people
-Palaster’s triangle: lighter/drier land=less fertile=run cattle on it=less people=fewer farms=fewer vets
*vets cluster where the people are

Question 2

random clinics where there are no people or cattle

Answer 2

-in 70s, was a worry about a shortage of vets in small niches
-Manitoba: government attracted vets by giving them a clinic and money each year for equipment *drew people to rural areas
-now they retire, there is an empty clinic
>rather go to a larger centre with more vets (ex. don’t have to be on call everyday)
*disrupted the free market value

Question 3

invisible hand of economy

Answer 3

-in free market economy: self-interest invidiual operate through a system of mutal interdependece
-interdependence, incentivizes them to make what is socially necessary even though they may only care about their own well being

Question 4

Vet profession distribution

Answer 4

-small animals: 77.4%
-Equine: 7.5%
-Beef: 9.5%
-Dairy: 4.2%
-Swine: 1.4%

Question 5

response rate for survey

Answer 5

-can help you validify the results
*can introduce bias
-10 to 15% is NOT great

Question 6

biases

Answer 6

-every survey will have them
-realize which way they are going (the people most interested in the subject will likely fill out the survey)
-dissonance: causes a conflict or tension within someone about doing something (ex. filling out a survey or buying something)

Question 7

Male vs. females

Answer 7

-males are baby boomers
-influx of young females since 1984
*con contribute to bias

Question 8

reason for shortage of vets?

Answer 8

-not because of baby boomers
-we have a ‘quota’ of vet schools
>never have been a massive influx of vets graduating compared to influx of human population
*difference of Canadian population to the population of vets (different dynamic)

Question 9

movment from large to small

Answer 9

-BSE=change agent
-took agricultural animals away and caused vets to focus on smaller animals
-then realized the money they could make from them
*overlooking a major revenue source because of seeing the necessity of helping the agriculture sector

Question 10

mixed animal practices

Answer 10

-historically: 70-80% agricultural, but 40% revenue was from companion animals
-now: most are companion practioners with seasonal food practice work (ex. beef)
*leveling off the amount of hours spend with each species/group (ex. 77% small animals)

Question 11

practice ownership

Answer 11

-used to be that most people who graduated will be associates, within 10-15 years they become practice owners (at least 50% of us will be)
-Survey: 44% practitioners were owners, 55% of owners were female

Question 12

survey on number of practitioners in clinics

Answer 12

-similar results for CAP, FAP, MAP: most common was 1-2 person clinics
*not evolving quick enough

Question 13

economy of scale

Answer 13

-applies to any profession
-we as vets want independence
-reason why doctors, dentists and optometrists have joined together
-still need similar amounts of support staff for a 1-2 person clinic compared to a 5+ person clinic
*need to maximize resources

Question 14

new grads (clinic size)

Answer 14

-2 or 8 person clinic? Get more mentorship at a larger clinic, typically don’t have a problem hiring them
-‘easy’ to pay one more salary vs. a rural clinic trying to pay someone else (economically hard for them)

Question 15

food animal practitioner

Answer 15

-can get by with a mobile practice
-if must do ‘exotic’ surgery, then can refer it

Question 16

CAP in cities

Answer 16

-relatively easy to set up

Question 17

employees seek to maximize their utility

Answer 17

-not income
-encompasse pecuniary (monetary) and non-pecuniary rewards
*think about overall happiness
*many get focused on the money and forget to negotiate non-monetary things

Question 18

2006 WCVM survey

Answer 18

-average salary was $65,000
-if convert to today’s dollars after adjusting for inflation is $93,000
-new grads get around $110,000
*shows there is a demand because wages have increased more than inflation (the demand is pushing it up)

Question 19

‘red flag’

Answer 19

-know that you have a shortage becuase of the difference in inflation and the changes in wages

Question 20

interest in practice type

Answer 20

-47% MAP vs. 14% CAP pre vet
-27% MAP vs. 30% CAP 4th year

Question 21

factors associated wiht graduates choice of career path

Answer 21

1.type of practice
2. expected level of mentorship/support
3. family/spousal consideration
-40% joined a practice they had an established relationship with teh vets
-3.4x more likely to go into food animal if from a small centre (<10,000)
-4.5x more likely to go into food animal if have Ag degree

Question 22

Canadian graduates interest in practice type

Answer 22

-flow of vets is always towards small animal
-WCVM graduates quite a few MAP compared to other universities
-not a problem with graduating them, more a problem with keeping them in the field

Question 23

factors associated with choosing a career in rurual practice

Answer 23

1. raised in small center
2. male
3. above average knowledge of agriculture at the time of entry into vet college
   *40% worked as summer student or had interactions with future employers

Question 24

retention problem

Answer 24

-can keep graduating mixed animal vets, but it’s out of WCVM control when people move out of it

Question 25

factors associated wiht employee retention of recent grads

Answer 25

1. Type of practice/caseload
2. Amount of workload
3. Level of mentorship and support

Question 26

reasons for leaving

Answer 26

1. workload: hrs/week and nights on call
2. Lack of mentorship and support (easily be controlled)

Question 27

career path choices of vets in western canada

Answer 27

-77% RR
-survey included those from various years graduated
-50% were in small animal (probably even higher now)
*only about 30% of those who said they would do mixed, will be doing mixed

Question 28

factors associated with being a CAP

Answer 28

1. raised in larger centre
2. concerned with type of practice and progressieness of practice
3. concerned with workload
4. self-assesed to have poor knowledge of agriculture
5. less concern with number of vets per practice

Question 29

why vets leave mixed and food animal

Answer 29

-long hours and too many nights on call
-hard to leave your practice in a small town vs. larger centre they have other places they could got

Question 30

top 3 reasons for leaving

Answer 30

1. workload
2. remuneration (compare wage with hours)
3. lack of support and mentorship: can increase it, many are delusional that they are not a good mentor

Question 31

disconnection

Answer 31

-between new grads and vets
*need a meeting of the minds
-difference in what they think mentorship is