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Calling all first-opinion vets who have left the profession

Vet with kitten

There is a high attrition rate among vets who go into first-opinion practices, leading to a national shortage overall.

The Open University, in conjunction with Lancaster and Oxford Brookes universities, are undertaking research on these important matters.*

“While studies have given us some ideas on why vets may be thinking about leaving, we need research to understand more fully why people have left the profession. This is fundamental because it is a profession which they have usually harboured a long desire to join and one in which they have invested considerable emotion, effort, time and money.” - Dr Caroline Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies, OUBS

Your help is needed to improve the situation for past, current and future vets. To qualify, you must have been a practising first-opinion vet in the UK; and have left first-opinion practice voluntarily in the last five years. Please contact Dr Clarke for further details if you meet these two qualifying criteria and are willing to undertake an anonymous and confidential telephone interview. Please pass this invitation on if you know of anyone else who may be interested in taking part.

*Dr Caroline Clarke and Professor David Knights are conducting this research on behalf of the Veterinary Management Group. All data is anonymous and conducted independently and analysed by Open University researchers only. The data is also held by the OU, and any final report will ensure that all quotations from participants are strictly anonymous. Approval for this research has been received from the OU’s Human Research Ethics committee (reference HREC/3436/Clarke).

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