Veterinary Medicine: Do we need a Mid Level Position?

Dr. Jen Quammen shares information about the proposed veterinary practice associate (mid level position). There are workforce challenges in veterinary medicine, but is adding a new position into the profession the way to address these challenges? What do you think?
#vetmed #veterinarian #vetnurse #vettech #workforce #veterinary #vetstudent #keepourpetssafe #candidate #voteforjen #avma2025election #veterinarymedicine

[@Lisasmith-hn2lm]

Thank you for these great points - exactly what most veterinarians I talk with are saying. My question, living in Colorado, is why does the public get to decide on how our profession is structured, and who got this on the ballot?

[@jenquammen]

My understanding it that Prop 129 got on the ballot by hiring a company who sought and obtained enough signatures. More info on who financially backs this can be found here. ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_129,_Veterinary_Professional_Associate_Initiative_(2024)#Overview

[@a.c.e.s.creatingsuccessful1090]

Excellent explanation. Thank you. We had a discussion of this during our meeting with animal chiropractors, many of whom are chiropractors who have extensive training in helping animals, as well as triaging animals who may need to see a veterinarian. This is a current method of helping animal owners to find care and solutions to their animal health problems. They are trained and in place, especially in Colorado. They do not take the place of a veterinarian. We raised the issue of concern noting that it is a program being pushed by the $$$ from Mars. It is a sad day when the University simply is a prostitute for the drug companies.

[@AussieVetTech]

Australian Vet Tech - so please forgive my ignorance if I don't know how things run in the USA. Interesting video. I agree with a lot of what you said but I do think that there needs to be a mid level position similar to the NP/PA roles in healthcare. There definitely needs to be registration and licensing for this role in order to maintain professionalism and accountability, particularly if they want them to perform surgical procedures - which personally I think should be limited to removal/biopsy of questionable lumps (I'm generalising), suturing of minor wounds etc, and leave all other procedures to the Vets, because they will not, nor should they replace Veterinarians, rather they should be tasked to handle minor procedures and general health or emergency consults to free the Vet up to focus on the the tasks and procedures that only they can legally perform. In regards to consulting and diagnosing/treating conditions there again needs to be a clear line in the sand where this roles scope ends and the Vet takes over, particularly if we're talking about prescribing medications. NPs and PAs in healthcare have authority to prescribe, but their scope in this area is limited and similar to paramedics in a pre-hospital environment they must follow drug protocols in regards to drug, dose and duration. I like the idea of the position and understand the need, but if they want to make the training for a role such as this predominantly online I think that there needs to be specific entry pre-requisites, such as making it so that you must be a licensed/qualified and credentialed Veterinary Technician currently working in clinical practice in order to enrol, as well as clinical competencies that must be sighted and signed off by a supervising veterinarian for each of the online semesters. By doing this, it would be seen more as upskilling and professional development at the student level, rather then the perception of trying to replace vets

[@SVMEPresident]

Yes!!! Thank you Dr. Quammen for presenting very good arguments in opposition to this initiative!!

[@jenquammen]

Thank you. There are of course numerous sides to any discussion; I hope that people who have listened and researched this understand some of the motivations behind this push now.

[@janicetruemper]

Thank you for speaking out & making clear some of the points of this proposition for those of us out of CO.

[@jenquammen]

You are welcome. I do truly feel we have to stand up for animals, animal owners, and this amazing profession of veterinary technicians and veterinarians.

[@marciagannon1854]

If we are utilizing the human medicine model, in human medicine surgery is performed by boarded surgeons. So a general practitioner would not be performing surgery either. I do think we need to sort out the current situation with veterinary technicians prior to adding more confusion to the profession. We need a national standard and title. But in the future I can see room for a midlevel practitioner if done in the right manner. I’m not sure if that looks more like a nurse practitioner or a physician’s assistant or somewhere in the middle or totally different.

[@yvetteberndt3155]

Mic drop!