FDA
FDA officials reported that the agency has not assessed the sufficiency of its veterinarian workforce, but they told us that the workforce is sufficient to meet its responsibilities.
However, a 2007 report by an FDA Advisory Committee found that FDA cannot fulfill its mission because of an insufficient scientific workforce.5 More specifically, the report states that FDA's scientific workforce has remained static while its workload has increased, and that FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is in a state of crisis. This center employs nearly two-thirds of FDA's 152 veterinarians and is responsible for ensuring the safety of veterinary drugs and regulating animal feed, among other things. An author of the report told us that veterinarians enter FDA employment lacking necessary skills and experience to examine the wide variety of veterinary products that require FDA approval and that FDA needs to better train its veterinarians to review the many diverse products under its jurisdiction. FDA officials told us the agency is currently undertaking significant reforms to address fundamental concerns in the report. For example, FDA reported it hired more than 1,000 scientists in order to build a more robust workforce, and it created the position of Chief Scientist to improve coordination of science planning and execution across the agency. However, FDA did not tell us how these reforms address the identified veterinarian skill gaps.Although FDA officials said the veterinarian workforce is sufficient, CVM officials recently told us that as a result of new obligations, the center hired 26 veterinarians in 2008 to fill vacancies. This represents a 17 percent increase in FDA's overall veterinarian workforce in 2008, and it plans to hire more. The additional staff will enhance FDA's ability to review generic animal drug submissions, among other things, according to these officials. In addition, in commenting on a draft of this report, OPM informed us that it is currently reviewing a request for direct-hire authority from FDA to fill veterinary positions. According to OPM, this request is based on a severe shortage of candidates and it is projected that this authority may be granted through December 31, 2010. CVM also plans to develop an internship program for entry-level veterinarians and other scientists in order to develop a qualified talent pool from which to draw permanent employees. Further, these officials said that, as a result of recent participation in interagency efforts to protect the nation's food supply, CVM has begun to analyze the gap between its current resources and its needs.
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