This is the title of an article on the website ‘Ask a Vet Question’.
Here is a link to the article. Go and read it, then come back to read my response.
There has been many posts of this article on various social media.
There has been many comments from pet owners and veterinarians.
Here is my opinion on the article and comments:
It’s a great article as the title sums up what some people think. The body reflects what vets want clients to realise.
Vets shouldn’t be afraid to tell clients they run a business. A business that has overheads, commitments and should return a profit for the owner/s.
Unfortunately, in the past, most veterinary practices ran a very inefficient, unprofitable business. Then they realised how hard they were working for poor pay and became more business orientated. So they should!
Since then clients have become upset thinking ‘Vets are in it for the money’.
If a vet invests a very large amount of money to buy a practice, work 60-100hr weeks in practice and doing paperwork, they expect to make more income than they would as an associate + have a nice asset to sell at retirement.
Every time a client is undercharged or not charged, it affects your productivity and your income. It also affects the profitability of the practice which affects salaries, updating equipment, cpd + much more. A profitable practice that is able to reward all staff appropriately with good facilities makes a happy practice.
Never apologise for wanting to earn a decent income for the years of training, building your skills & knowledge. For the many sacrifices in time, in lost sleep, in missing family, friends and events due to being at work.
I noticed a lot of comments from vets indicating ‘I don’t do this for the money’.
I became a vet because I love animals AND I want to paid very well for what I do. That doesn’t mean I am greedy or a bad vet. It’s actually not about the money. It’s what the money gives me:
- The ability to be at home to watch my children grow up.
- To go to school events like I did on Friday.
- To take my daughter to dance lessons and enjoy my last year at home with her before she starts school.
- To have Christmas off with my family
When I did a recent survey the most common response I had from vets was regarding their income. Most are very frustrated about how hard they work and how poorly they feel they are compensated. I get similar responses at any veterinary event I attend.
You did not sign a poverty agreement when you received your veterinary degree and wanting to earn a decent income, does not mean you care less.
The cost of living has increased. I have kids. My cost of living has significantly increased!
With the increase of women in the profession, it is of vital importance to maximise the income earned as usually there are many years of either no work or part time work while raising a family.
I am in the final stages of creating my product showing vets how to easily increase their income. You will be surprised how easy it is.
Enter your name & email into the box at the bottom of the page to be notified when the initial training videos become available.
Regarding the original article, when a client comments that ‘it’s expensive’, the real question is ‘Compared to what?’.
Natasha
I would summarize this as “until every veterinarian can afford to pay their assistants a living wage, every client is being undercharged”. Honestly, we don’t get too much grief from our clients because we’re a new (poor, underfunded) practice ourselves, so we really DO feel the client’s pain. The trick, I suppose, is scaling that compassionate financial empathy during better times. Perhaps combined with some sort of Robin Hood “charge those who can afford it just a little more so there’s some extra around to help those less fortunate”?
Looking forward to hearing more about your thoughts and ideas.