Paper
The veterinary profession has an opportunity to increase demand for veterinary services while enhancing the health of our nation's pets by emphasizing the value and importance of preventive health care.
Are we really doing enough to provide the best veterinary care for our pets?
Published Apr 16, 2014 · Ron DeHaven
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
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Abstract
Views: Commentary 1017 R of the AVMA’s 2013 US Veterinary Workforce Study indicate that the veterinary profession’s capacity to deliver services to companion animal patients substantially exceeds the current demand. Although we have little opportunity to modify the supply of veterinary services, I believe the profession has a marvelous opportunity to increase demand for veterinary services while enhancing the health of our nation’s pets. Arguably, US veterinarians are the world’s best at treating illness and injury in our pets. Through our veterinary teaching hospitals, we have built an educational system focused on exposing students to the most difficult medical and surgical cases with oversight by boardcertified specialists in many practice disciplines. What we have not done as well is educating our students in the delivery of primary care and, as a component of primary care, preventive medicine. Over the past decade, companion animal practice has seen a substantial decrease in the frequency of veterinary visits. For both dogs and cats, for example, the mean number of veterinary visits was lower in 2011 than in 2001, and percentages of dogs and cats that did not visit a veterinarian in 2011 were higher than percentages for 2001. Simultaneously, there have been alarming increases in the prevalences of various preventable diseases in our pet population, including dental disease, obesity and overweight body condition, and internal and external parasite infestations. Human medicine has long realized improved patient outcomes by underscoring the importance of early disease detection and intervention. Historically, veterinarians have not been as diligent as our human medicine colleagues in educating clients on the importance of this concept. Stressing the benefits of annual checkups versus simply recommending the components of preventive care (eg, vaccination or heartworm prevention) will undoubtedly result in healthier patients by allowing us to identify at least some problems before they become apparent to pet owners. Simply put, we are delivering less than optimal health care to our patients by not adequately emphasizing the value and importance of preventive health care. To address this concern, the AVMA and American Animal Hospital Association have been leading Partners for Healthy Pets, a coalition of more than 110 Are we really doing enough to provide the best veterinary care for our pets?
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