ARS
ARS employed 57 veterinarians in fiscal year 2008, 12 percent short of its goal of 65. It has reported similar shortages throughout the last 5 years. Although veterinarians represent a small share of the ARS workforce (about 1 percent of more than 4,300 scientists and research technicians), the agency considers them critical to its mission.
According to ARS officials, a sufficient veterinarian workforce is important to the quality and breadth of research ARS is able to conduct. For example, ARS would not have been able to conduct its research on the detection of avian influenza and development of vaccines against it, or on the transmission of bovine tuberculosis, without its veterinarians’ skills and experience.ARS officials told us it is difficult to attract and retain veterinarians because the agency requires its research veterinarians and senior program leaders who are veterinarians to have a Ph.D. in animal sciences or a related field, as well as a veterinary degree, and there is a limited pool of candidates for these positions. A recent report by the National Academy of Sciences identified a declining interest in veterinary research among veterinary students as a cause of a shortage of Ph.D. veterinarians. In addition, ARS officials told us the agency cannot compete with many of the salaries offered in the private sector. In 2007, the mean salary for ARS veterinarians was $102,081, according to OPM’s Central Personnel Data File. This is about $28,000 less than the mean salary reported by the American Veterinary Medical Association for veterinarians with a Ph.D. working at universities and colleges and about $96,000 less than those working in industry with similar qualifications, such as at pharmaceutical companies.
To address its shortage of Ph.D. veterinarians, ARS provided six recruitment or retention bonuses to its veterinarians totaling $48,313 in the first 9 months of fiscal year 2008. The agency also created a tuition program in 2003, but participation has been limited. Only four individuals have been hired through the tuition program, and only two remained with the agency, according to officials. Under this program, ARS hires veterinarians without a Ph.D. and pays tuition and other educational costs while they earn this degree. Officials told us that the lack of success is most likely due to low salaries at ARS. In addition, the agency is reluctant to use this program because it diverts funding from the hiring of employees already qualified and ready to work.