Factors influencing aspirations for practice ownership by veterinary professional students at the University of Sydney.

Abstract

Understanding the factors that influence the aspirations of future veterinary practitioners is critical to assist succession planning. The aim of this study was to discover factors that currently influence veterinary students' desire to own a veterinary practice in the future, including whether these aspirations were influenced by a student's experience throughout their years of veterinary studies. The study surveyed University of Sydney students enrolled in the postgraduate Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in 2020. A response rate of 29% was obtained (142/508). Of those 142 respondents, 50 (35%) indicated that they wished to own a practice in the future, 40 (28%) indicated that they did not wish to own a practice in the future and 52 (37%) were unsure. The results demonstrate that practice ownership is currently only influenced by factors that are external to a student's experience at university, given that there was no significant difference between practice ownership aspirations between DVM years. After excluding those who were unsure, veterinary students whose parents or guardians own, or have owned, a business are three times more likely (OR=3.19; 95% CI=1.35-7.73; P < 0.01) to aspire to practice ownership than those students whose parents have not. Asian students showed significantly less interest in practice ownership than Caucasian students (OR=0.41; 95% CI=0.16-0.99, P < 0.05). Further qualitative research is required to better understand these findings so that tailored advice can be provided to students and veterinary schools to positively support graduating veterinary professionals towards future practice ownership.