The progression of some new graduates (and a few seasoned associates) toward profitability may be slowed by obstacles outside the realm of clinical experience. Although business education is expanding within veterinary schools, due largely to the efforts of student groups like the national Veterinary Business Management Association (VBMA) and corporate sponsorship of business courses (primarily from Hill's, VPI and Novartis), some recent graduates simply do not understand the inherent relationship between practice success and gross production.

Also, young associates may be unwilling to assess established fees due largely to a lack of (1) knowledge about the value of their time and (2) confidence in their own abilities (i.e. "I know I took four radiographs, but the other veterinarians would have probably only needed two. Our clients shouldn't pay for my inexperience."). These veterinarians simply experience "atrophy of the right arm" when it is time to produce the bill. Their productivity and the practice's average client transaction (ACT) value suffer as a result.

Adding to practice-owner frustration is disappearance of the "career employee." Veterinarians, like practitioners in other professions, are becoming increasingly transient in their employment. Patient practice owners who accept losses while biding their time and waiting for recent graduates to become productive may be in for a nasty surprise. Investing competitive salaries and benefits in recent graduates who may depart shortly after honing their skills is a proposition that can keep practice owners awake at night.

Yet, no one wants to be "taken advantage of." The reluctance of new employees to accept a salary below what their friends have received or what they have been offered by other potential employers is completely logical and understandable. For recent graduates, the desire to avoid being victimized is often coupled with a favorable associate supply/demand ratio and the fact that, according to JAVMA, 88 percent of new graduates are in debt an average of $81,052 (a 28-percent increase from the $63,089 average debt level in 1999). Under these circumstances, the tendency of new graduates to seek maximal compensation for their time is a no-brainer. Note that average debt for all graduates climbing at nearly double the rate of average salary between 1983 and 2004.

The question then becomes "how can practice owners compete to hire new graduates, make these new employees profitable and, finally, retain them once their skills have developed?" The answer may lie in a contractual mentorship program.

Mentorship programs

As the old saying goes, "Money isn't everything." As starting salaries climb to levels that cannot be supported by many practice owners, it becomes necessary to evaluate and/or create non-monetary forms of compensation. If an owner can identify and provide a unique service of high value to an applicant, then the applicant may not view salary as the sole criterion with which to evaluate an employment opportunity. Interestingly, DVM Newsmagazine's October 2004 survey reported that the most common issue cited by all veterinarians as being important for success was "training," while the AVMA-Pfizer study published in the Jan. 15, 2005 issue of JAVMA reported that "employee development" was the business practice most strongly correlated with high income. The recent establishment of a national mentorship program by the AVMA is further evidence of the prevalence of this sentiment. We all comprehend the necessity for trade-offs (you can't get something for nothing), and for many new graduates, the value of education in the form of a mentorship might be equal to or greater than that of cash.