Seven-year itch: Vets who make the move to non-clinical work do so after an average of seven years.

At a time when there is real concern about the recruitment and retention of vets, a British Veterinary Association survey, Voice of the Veterinary Profession, has revealed a mixture of reasons for vets’ decisions to leave clinical practice. 92% of the vets polled who are now in non-clinical roles had worked in clinical practice in the past. Women tended to leave clinical practice an average of 6.5 years after they qualified whereas it was 8 years for men – an average of 7 years.

43% of vets were looking for a new challenge through a non-clinical role and 33% were looking for a different type of work. They were also looking to improve their work/life balance (14%) and no out of hours work, with one in ten citing clinical work as incompatible with family or outside commitments. Other reasons given were difficulty in progressing with their clinical career (21%), and wanting less stress at work (19%).