A Vet's Average Work Week?

[all605]

Hi everyone,

I was just curious, from what you all have seen in your own experiences, how many hours per week the average small animal private practice vet works? The reason that I ask is that at the practice where I am at, our doctors work anywhere from roughly 30 to 65+ hrs per week. Now, I know it varies widely depending on whether the doctor is also the practice manager/owner and whatnot, but what would you all say is the "norm" for the typical associate veterinarian?

Thanks!

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[luplodw]

Hmmm... i'd say 50-60 for those that work Mon-Sat. Of course a lot of vets are on-call and some have emergency cases that require them to stay late. Every vet i've worked for has worked a ton of hours

 

[BlacKAT33]

I know they say the avg work week is more than 40 hrs. But I'm wondering if there is a new trend recently because in the clinics I've been at they all have either less hrs than this, or exactly this. These are the clinics that i know.

1) 4 vets total work at the clinic but only about 2-3 work each day, and they rotate diff days

2) 1 vet works MWFS doing regular appts, 1 vet does surgeries T and TH

3) 5 vets work at the clinic and they rotate schedules so 3 are there each day

4) i met a substitute vet (she just had children so she only works part time as a sub) she works about 3 times a week

Let me look for this slide show though, I remember they had real stats about this listed. I know the number of hrs has decreased from about 10 yrs ago but I can't remember to what. It also depends on the industry.

Found it!! Watch this, it is kind of long and boring speaker but the graphs and tables of the stats are really interesting!!! and I remember #working hours in there somewhere

http://www.avmatv.org/channel.cfm?s=67&c=408

2007 clinic hours is around 46ish

 

[xxalic3xx]

The vet clinic I am working at has 4 vets. 1 of them is the owner and the rest of them are relief vets. They don't have a set schedule as to who work what days. But the owner is there the most during the week. our hours are 8-6 M-F and 8-1 on Sat. But sometimes the surgeries are as early as 7 or 7:30 and the vets may stay later until 7 at night as well.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I know they say the avg work week is more than 40 hrs. But I'm wondering if there is a new trend recently because in the clinics I've been at they all have either less hrs than this, or exactly this.

Part of this is the economy. No reason to work long hours when there isn't as much revenue around. Unfortunately vet med is closely related to economic conditions, more so than many like.

It is sad, but taking proper care of pets is a discretionary item for most people.

 

[DVMDream]

We have 3 vets at the clinic I work at. One is part-time the other two full-time.

So the full-time vets work:

If surgery doctor:
M-F: 7:30-6; with a 1 hour lunch and they get one of those days off (usually not always)

If not surgery doctor:
M-F: 8-7; with a 1 hour lunch and they get one of those days off (usually but not always).

The doctors rotate surgery days. So they are doing surgeries on the same days each week. 1 doctor is surgery doctor for M and W. The other one does surgeries on T, Th, and Friday.

Then the part-time doctor and the other full-time doctor (the one who is not the clinic owner) alternate every other Saturday.

So that doctor will also work Saturday from 8-5. (They have a 1 hour lunch break, but they do not always get to sit down and eat; it just depends on how busy it is).

So that is how ours breaks down. On average I would say a full-time doctor at our practice works around 50 hours give or take. (Closing time does not equal leaving time; there have been many nights we are still at the clinic with clients at 8:30 or 9).

 

[lalzi22]

Jeez, everyone vets seem much more hardcore than ours. The two owners of my clinic actually own 2 practices. One works mainly at one while the other works at the other, with one extra vet at each, so between 2 practices, 4 vets. For each place the sched is the same though- the owner doc works M,T,W, and every other F, and one S a week. The other vet at the practice works T,W,Th, every other F and 3 out of 4 S. The times are 9 until 5, and on S its 10 until 3. And when I say 5, I mean at 5 they are OUT the door, like, no paperwork, not squeezing in one more- GONE.

 

[thearsonist]

In my clinic we have 6 veterinarians on staff. However we only have 2 doctors that work 8-3 and 2 doctors that work 3-10, occasionally we have another doctor who will work mid-day. They are scheduled rotating shifts. One day they might be morning shift, then next maybe night, or mid-day.

Since our vets are paid off of commission, it makes up for their lack of working hours throughout the week. now, when I say commission, I don't mean like the car dealers that will swarm you to get you to buy with them.

We run a high-volume walk-in clinic, seeing maybe 100 clients per day (this number varies if a person may have 1 pet, or multiple, and some days are busier than others).

So i'd say that even though our vets aren't working a lot, they do see a lot of patients.

 

[ReadyBeVet]

1 vet, small animal and exotic practice. 70+ hours per week 8:00-7:00 pm or later each night and Saturdays 9-2.

 

[rileydog]

I worked in a 1 vet practice. He was the owner. He worked Monday through Friday from 10 to 6 or 7 and Saturday from 9 to 1 or 2. No lunch breaks. Surgeries on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with appointments before, after and sometimes in between. We also had grooming on Wednesdays and Fridays and offered boarding. He kept talking about wanting to extend Saturdays, since that is the busiest day. I heard last week that he is going to try it, but that he hired a relief vet for it, instead of working it himself.

 

[all605]

Thanks so much for the insights everyone. One thing that really worries me about this profession is the possibility of burnout. I see the 60+ hour weeks that some vets seem to work and I really question if I'd be happy doing that.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Thanks so much for the insights everyone. One thing that really worries me about this profession is the possibility of burnout. I see the 60+ hour weeks that some vets seem to work and I really question if I'd be happy doing that.

remember, there are MANY types of fields (not just clinic/private practice) you can go into, not all work 60 hrs a week. Some work a regular 8hrs a day schedule. It just depends on what you want to do. and even above there are examples of SA vets who work regular hours. it isn't mandatory to work 60 hrs a week. i would suggest doing more research about the diff fields you can go into as a vet. If you watched the video i posted above they give many examples.

 

[all605]

remember, there are MANY types of fields (not just clinic/private practice) you can go into, not all work 60 hrs a week. Some work a regular 8hrs a day schedule. It just depends on what you want to do. and even above there are examples of SA vets who work regular hours. it isn't mandatory to work 60 hrs a week. i would suggest doing more research about the diff fields you can go into as a vet. If you watched the video i posted above they give many examples.

very true, I think I need to research my options a bit more. And I missed that video the first time I read through the thread. very informative though! thanks for posting it.

 

[FutureDVM2016]

It really depends on the vet (if they are owner/operators) and how much time they want to put in... the vet I work for only opens his doors from 8-6 three days a week, and one day a week he only opens from 8-12. We are closed for appointments and procedures three days a week.

 

[hunterjumper12]

At the SA clinic I shadowed at, there were 2 vets: the owner and another vet. The owner works M,T,Th,F, and every other Sat. morning, while the other vet works W and every other Sat. morning. The other vet used to work on M and W, but had to cut back to just Wed because she has her own mobile LA practice and was getting more business. However, the vets do not come in on Sat. afternoon, Sun., or nights (anything after 5 pm); they simply refer clients to an emergency clinic about 30 minutes away, which is what the majority of SA vets in this area do.

However, both of these vets are very much like the vets lalzi described. They are out the door at 5, no waiting around or squeezing one last patient in. I know the secondary vet at the SA clinic has to pick her daughter up from daycare by 5:30 or get charged a late fee, and she makes it very clear that she will not stay past 5. She said that they would work her to death if she let them, and that she has to establish her boundaries.