Wagga Veterinary Hospital Dr Becci Brabin says it has been difficult to fill vet positions

An Australian study found that veterinarians are up to four times more likely to die by suicide than the general population and the Australian Veterinary Association noted that common causes of stress include working more than 50 hours per week and dealing with difficult clients.

Co-owner and veterinarian at the Wagga Veterinary Hospital Dr Becci Brabin said the high stress of the profession has been evident locally. 

“I absolutely agree with these findings and we saw it locally in the last few years where a veterinarian took their own life because we put a lot of stress on ourselves and also high pressure from our clients, understandably,” Dr Brabin said. 

“There’s also added stress on the money implications and people are used to the Medicare system for standard healthcare but not having anything like that in a pet point of view. 

“We also work long hours, through the night and then into the following day without sleep which is not out of the ordinary.”

Dr Brabin said a “great deal of impetus” is put onto the profession, which causes high expectations from society. 

“I guess a lot of it is monetary stresses and there is a skewed view from society that vet salaries are high compared but does not correlate with the study time and hours worked in reality.”

Dr Brabin said locality could be a factor as to why the Wagga Vet Hospital has struggled to employ veterinarians. 

“We’ve absolutely struggled to fill positions and we’ve advertised for a lot longer than expected and as a result we’ve had to use locum vets and that’s even with us having to pay above the award salaries to attract more,” she said. 

“Having a vet school in Wagga does help to attract vets, however many students also want to explore other areas of the country and in cities they don’t tend to do the same degree and have shift workers for after hours and emergency cases. 

“In rural and regional areas, emergency centres don’t exist and therefore our weekly hours increase.” 

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Dr Brabin said societal and business changes were needed in order to decrease the likelihood of vet suicides and improve working conditions.

“Vets notoriously don’t charge appropriately and businesses aren’t doing as well as people perceive, which means that we can’t offer higher salaries,” she said. 

“If we charged appropriately or didn’t discount we would attract more veterinarians and therefore we would provide better working conditions overall. 

“I think if people are more willing to embark on pet insurance and budget appropriately for pet care and emergencies, then we would likely see a change in the vet profession.” 

While Charles Sturt University were unable to provide statistics regarding student enrolments, Associate Professor in Equine Science Sharanne Raidal said she has not seen a drop in veterinarian enrolment numbers. 

“A six-year degree is certainly a long time and there are high demands that are placed on graduates, with time alone, but this isn’t new information and the AVA provides some good mentoring advice because the profession can be distressing,” she said. 

“Wagga is doing OK because of the proximity to the vet school which helps with recruitment but it can still be very hard to fill regional jobs. 

“I think there needs to be a wider generational mind shift and instead of seeing female graduates who want to work part-time as a problem, it should be embraced and seen as an opportunity to increase resources.” 

Professor Raidal said an important aspect of veterinary science in regional Australia is often being overlooked. 

“Aside from private practice, there’s a whole other side that is getting lost, like bio-security and certainly for our school we have a big focus on animal welfare, live stock and improving the quality and care for land and beef supply,” she said.