In the decades to come, historians will look at the 2020s as the dawn of a renaissance in veterinary medicine. Think about all that is happening in our profession today: medical breakthroughs, the evolution of team-based care, telemedicine, technological advances, outside investors, new models of care, new models of veterinary education, new schools, the shift to Generation Z and millennial consumers, the recognition of how family pets benefit our health.
We are beginning to appreciate the remarkable future lying ahead for our profession. Understandably, some people stubbornly hold on to the past.
Those who went before us built a remarkable profession that is much to be admired. However, the old model is breaking down. The emerging new model shows tremendous promise.
Let’s look at what the Roaring ’20s will be known for by future generations. Veterinary historians will point to the following 10 factors that emerged this decade and will shape an even more promising future.
1. Demographics
We’ve seen a shift from the boomer-dominated consumer, who valued pets but didn’t entirely perceive them as equal family members, to Generation Zers and millennials, who’ve taken the human-animal bond to new heights. Next-generation pet owners insist that the same care they get be available to their four-legged family members. The bond between pets and families has grown to new heights in the 2020s. Given that strengthening bond, society will come to appreciate pets’ benefit to human health even further.
2. Technology
Technological innovations ushered in an age of improved client communication, clinical decision support, better patient monitoring, telemedicine, speech-to-text medical records and in-home diagnostic tools. Artificial intelligence emerged as a copilot to supplement a veterinary professional’s skills and knowledge, further improving the quality and efficiency of care. The breakthroughs of the ’20s are a glimpse of the advances to follow.
3. Better Medicine
Monoclonal antibodies, life-extending medications, genomic analysis and cancer discoveries foreshadow more exciting medical advances. The ’20s began a shift from reactive medicine to preventive medicine and, eventually, to predictive medicine.
4. Team Care
Our profession began to embrace team-based care and recognize the value of the credentialed veterinary technician. A team-based delivery model improved productivity, medical outcomes and engagement. The 2020s also brought about the midlevel veterinary professional associate. VPAs will provide credentialed veterinary technicians with one more rung on the career ladder, enhance employee retention and further reduce barriers to pet care.
5. Veterinary Education
After a long drought of no new veterinary schools, a dozen have or are emerging. New schools, unhindered by the boundaries of legacy institutions, challenge the status quo, leverage technology, and embrace virtual classrooms, distance learning, simulations and models. The core curriculum recognizes the value of professional skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork and practice management. The benefits of distributed, hands-on, real-world learning give clinical-year students thousands of interactions, resulting in their enhanced confidence and competence upon graduation. Tuition costs can finally level out through shared faculty and curriculum, distributed learning models, and educational technology.
6. New Business Models
Urgent care, wellness care, concierge care, membership clinics, virtual care, veterinary technician-delivered care and mobile care improve access to services and offer our workforce new opportunities to learn and grow.
7. Investors
Like it or hate it, the investment community brought billions of dollars to our profession. Some see outside money as a two-edged sword, but improvements in compensation, employee benefits, business expertise, efficiency and new technologies resulted partly from the investments.
8. Animal Shelters
When I graduated from veterinary school last century, over 10 million shelter animals were euthanized annually. Today, it’s less than 1 million. The 2020s foreshadowed the move from shelters to fosters. Canine Care Certified breeding programs will become the norm, ensuring documented quality care by puppy breeders.
9. Jobs
Today’s employment opportunities are varied and plentiful. Veterinary professionals can pick from full time, part time, relief, industry, academia, small animal, large animal, mixed animal, virtual care and mobile care. You name it. Tomorrow’s jobs, some not yet imagined, will remain abundant and include personal wellness support in the form of work from home, three- and four-day workweeks, generous paid time off, ample career development options, and access to counselors. Employers will see that life comes before work.
10. Pet Lifespans
Pet lifespans have increased by 20% over the course of my career. That’s remarkable! We can expect another 20% in the decades to come.
There has never been a better time to be a veterinary professional than today. Tomorrow looks even better. What we provide society is critical. Pets supply unconditional love. They connect us in a polarized and often contentious world. They make us better humans. Veterinary professionals make the world a better place.
What accounts for my current and continued optimism?
- Veterinary professionals are brilliant, hardworking and humble. Don’t forget humble.
- During the pandemic, we learned to innovate, adapt and pivot.
- The bond between pets and families has never been stronger and promises to keep growing. As my friend Dr. Marty Becker often says, pets have gone from the barnyard to the backyard, to the back porch, to the living room, to the bedroom, to the bed, to under the covers.
We’re moving from Vet Med 1.0 to Vet Med 2.0. Our profession is evolving toward even better opportunities for patients, clients and team members. The transformation is scary and difficult at times but so exciting.
Veterinary practice will look dramatically different in the decades ahead. Imagine a future in which pets routinely live into their 20s, medicine is largely preventive and predictive, technology allows us to diagnose, treat and communicate better, pet overpopulation is solved, and team-based care enables us to help more animals. I can’t wait for what the future brings.
We are living through the Roaring ’20s of veterinary medicine. Strap in and enjoy the ride. Our future is bright.
100 YEARS AGO
These innovations emerged a century ago during the other Roaring ’20s:
- Automobile headrest
- Three-color traffic light
- Water skiing
- Bulldozer
- Liquid-fueled rocket
- Quick-frozen food
- Band-Aid