Barriers to Rural Practice

One of the biggest things keeping vets out of rural practices is that for many of them, the idea of living in a rural area is not something they have any interest in doing. There's no Target, you have to drive to have a nightlife, and nowhere delivers (unless you're lucky and have a nearby pizza place). That subset of grads will never join a rural practice, no matter what. Of the vets left who may move to a rural area, the biggest barriers are often a financial one and a work-life associated one. Rural practices often offer substantially lower salaries, and they often have small staffs requiring the vet to work longer hours and more days. This combination of working harder for less money drives many vets away from rural areas, or at least to commute to a larger practice in an urban or suburban area in many cases.Keeping those doctors in rural practice is a simple enough thing in concept: just offer better compensation. More doctors come to work, they share case-load, can afford to live, and everybody wins. Unfortunately, a rural practice often has fewer and less affluent clientele, and often can't afford to pay those salaries. To counter that, universities and industry could offer more scholarships for students pursuing a career in rural practice. The VMLRP could receive additional funding to provide funding for vets in a wider variety of practice types, provide more funding to existing recipients, provide funding for more currently un-listed high-need areas, or some combination. There could be more industry, state, and federal grants to help with practice development.