My statement was in no way unrelated to your post in this thread and addressed it directly, going back to specific parts of your post, if you fail to see that, that is your loss, not mine.
No, damage is done when pre-vets like you come on here and act like they know what they are talking about when they don't. You NEED to research this, because you are talking out your ass. These are estimates of the profession in 5 years time, it is not expected to change any time soon. Also, you have not been around here long enough to see what the posters who are responding act. I have been very supportive of people here, but I am also very realistic about the aspects of this profession. I do think the profession is a good profession, it has its benefits and rewards, but this part of the career IS a problem and to keep sweeping it under the rug does not help.
Also, you are not getting it through your skull that not everyone can specialize, that is an extra 3-4 years of schooling. It isn't feasible to just do a specialty for "a several years". If you are thinking small animal is a "specialty" that is wrong... that is general practice. So not only are you posting inaccurate information but you can't seem to recognize the difference between specialty and general practice and that specializing is not something you do for "a few years".
And your credentials are what?
Here. You want a study that says what you want it to?
https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reports/Documents/Veterinarian-Workforce-Final-Report-LowRes.pdf
Quoting directly from the report:
"We estimated that the supply for veterinarians (90,200) in the U.S. in 2012 exceeded demand for veterinarians (78,950) by approximately 11,250 (or excess capacity of 12.5%) at the current levels of prices for services."
"Between 2012 and 2025, under a baseline scenario we projected that both supply and demand would grow by about 11% (reaching demand of 88,100 and supply of 100,400 by 2025)."
There you go. Exactly what you wanted to hear. Now read what they also wrote:
"Because a large proportion of veterinarians were self-employed and unemployment rates for veterinarians were low, this excess capacity took the form of under- employment rather than unemployment."
"[An] AAVMC survey of recent DVM graduates of schools and colleges of veterinary medicine in the US finds that at six months post graduation only 2.1% of year 2012 graduates report being unemployed (with the remaining 97.9% employed in veterinary medicine, some other field, or enrolled in a graduate program)."
"There was little information to model growth trends in demand for veterinarians in industry.
Our analysis relied on survey data collected during the middle of an economic downturn that asked industry representatives their plans for hiring." (emphasis mine)
"Our review of the literature and analysis of existing data sources found little information on the retirement patterns of veterinarians."
"The current excess capacity among veterinary practices providing direct animal care could be influenced through efforts to increase the volume of services used. Research is needed to better understand the degree to which reducing the price of services will increase volume of such services."
"While at the national level there appears to be excess capacity in veterinary clinical practice, in certain geographic areas and for certain skill sets (e.g., research) there may be pockets where there is insufficient capacity to meet demand for services."
"Despite the increased difficulty that new veterinarian graduates are having finding employment, the large number of employment offers made to some new graduates demonstrates that top students at well regarded CVMs may have little difficulty finding employment."
Sad how none of my previous posts mentioned these things. /s
Ah well. Guess we're all doomed.
