Veterinary burnout and staffing shortages are becoming increasingly urgent issues in the animal healthcare industry. We have a situation where many pet parents cannot access care for their animals, especially not in a timely fashion. At the same time, veterinarians and veterinary technicians are suffering compassion fatigue and burnout, given that they are frequently placed in situations where they know they could help an animal, but are unable to do so. These vets and vet techs joined the profession because they have a deep passion for animals, science, and are committed to providing quality care. However, whether it is the result of staffing shortages, or a client's financial situation, a majority of vets encounter cases where they feel they are unable to act in the animal's best interest. This unfortunately creates a situation where vets leave the profession, further compounding the staffing shortages that contributed to the problem in the first place.

Veterinarians operating their own practices are faced with the pressures of running a business, in addition to the demands of practicing medicine. In her TEDx talk, Melanie Bowden noted:

"Being a veterinarian takes a lot more than just my medical training, which is something no one told me in school. I'm expected to be a counselor, an educator, a financial adviser, a team leader. I am the face and reputation of our business."

When you look at Dr. Bowden's statement, the importance of relief veterinary staffing models becomes crystal clear. When vets need time off, or additional support so that they can better handle the demands of running a practice, relief vets are necessary to fill the additional staffing demands. This doesn't address the root cause of the problem - the fact that by 2030, the U.S. will need almost 41,000 additional veterinarians and 133,000 vet techs to meet the animal healthcare needs of the population - but it helps to address the pressures that hospitals and vets are dealing with right now.

Roo is an online platform that connects vets and vet techs with hospitals in need of relief shifts. The hospital creates a profile outlining its culture, expectations, and the type of shift available, such as general wellness or surgery. Vets and vet techs can access the platform to browse the relief shifts posted by hospitals. They can then request a shift if it seems suitable for them. The hospitals review the request and determine if the candidate is a good fit. If the match is successful, the hospital accepts the shift and the vet or vet tech can then work the assigned shift. During our conversation, Jeffrey Bishop-Hill, SVP of Marketplace at Roo, told me to think of it "like a dating profile, in a sense."

In another sense, Roo could be likened to an Uber or a DoorDash, translating veterinary and vet tech work into the gig economy. However, Jeff noted that as opposed to other gig economy marketplaces, Roo prides itself on being a community builder for its users, hosting continuing education events, along with happy hours and meet-ups for its vets and vet techs.

Ultimately, Roo is focused on empowering vets and vet technicians to be able to have a manageable work-life balance, which hopefully will create a shift where more vets and vet techs return to the profession, and there is an increase in the number of undergraduates deciding to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. Roo accomplishes this by allowing vets to work on a contract model, determine their own hours, and incorporate the ability to travel and work remotely into a veterinary career. It also allows the vets and vet techs on the platform the ability to focus solely on medicine and animal care, which is why the majority of them joined the profession in the first place. By nurturing that passion and providing room for it to continue to grow and thrive, companies like Roo are hopefully the beginning of a solution to the staffing shortages and burnout that are plaguing the veterinary profession.