GHP Q1 2018

GHP / Q1 2018 31 First-of-its-Kind Study Reveals Concern about the Future of the Veterinary Profession g large numbers of those that score high in wellbeing and mental health do not recommend the profession. The endorsement rate drops to 24 percent for those 34 years old and younger. In contrast, 62 percent of veterinarians age 65 and older would recommend the profession. “Merck Animal Health is proud to partner with AVMA to conduct this important study to better understand the challenges facing the veterinary profession,” said Scott Bormann, vice president, U.S. commercial operations, Merck Animal Health. “We are committed to working with AVMA and others to support veterinarians by raising awareness and offering assistance and resources, including close to $3 million in scholarships over the last three years, and will continue to look for ways to positively impact the well- being of practicing veterinarians, and enrich the possibilities for the future of this profession.” Survey Methodology The online survey was conducted by Brakke Consulting in November 2017 among 3,540 of a sample of 20,000 randomly- selected veterinarians in the U.S. For mental health, the study used the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale to identify veterinarians suffering from serious psychological distress. For wellbeing, a customized index was created based on three widely recognized measures. Data were weighted based on age, gender and region of the U.S. All data were tested for statistical significance at the 95 percent confidence level. For the sample as a whole, the maximum margin of error is +/- 1.62 percent. The study also compared results from respondents to employed adults in the University of Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the longest- running longitudinal household study in the world. A key strength of the approaches leveraged in this research is the ability to benchmark findings from the veterinary population against those found in other studies examining veterinarians, as well as the general public.