There Is No Governmentwide Assessment of the Veterinarian Workforce

No effort is being made to assess the sufficiency of the veterinarian workforce governmentwide. This is problematic because the majority (67 percent) of the 24 component agencies and other federal entities that employ veterinarians told us they have concerns about their veterinarian capabilities.

Sixteen of the 24 component agencies and other entities employing veterinarians reported concerns about their veterinarian workforce (see table 1). For example, several agencies reported that they lack veterinarian expertise required to fully meet agency responsibilities, such as addressing wildlife disease outbreaks.

Table 1. Agency Concerns about Sufficiency of the Federal Veterinarian Workforce

Table 1. (Continued)

Table 1. (Continued

Table 1.

Source: Agency survey responses and interviews.

These current challenges are likely to worsen because a large number of federal veterinarians are eligible to retire in the near future. These retirements would exacerbate the veterinarian shortage and possibly increase interagency competition. Our analysis found that 697 veterinarians at FSIS, APHIS, ARS, Army, and FDA—27 percent of the combined veterinarian workforce of these agencies—are eligible to retire over the next 3 years. As the shortage grows, agencies across the federal government may experience a situation similar to the competition between FSIS and APHIS, and agencies with higher salaries for veterinarians are likely to gain an advantage.

Component SqencyifePeraI entity¹

Source: GAO analysis of agency data.

Note: Salaries do not include locality pay and stipends. In addition, we do not display mean salary for those agencies with fewer than four veterinarians due to the small number of employees represented. This includes the Departments of Energy and Justice; HHS's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; and DHS's Directorate for National Protection and Programs. In addition, DHS's Science and Technology was unable to provide base salary information in time for this report and, therefore, is not included.

^a We relied on officials from these federal entities to identify mean salaries of all veterinarians employed, including civil and military service employees, contractors, and other, regardless of job title. Because data are means reported by agencies, we could not assess the underlying distribution for outliers or skewness.

^b This does not include the salaries of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps veterinarians stationed at these agencies. The Commissioned Corps is a uniformed service that belongs to HHS but fills public health leadership and service roles at several federal agencies.

Figure 3. Mean Veterinarian Base Salaries at 19 Component Agencies or Federal Entities in Fiscal Year 2008

Some agencies, such as those within HHS and the Department of Veterans Affairs, can augment base salaries for veterinarians using special statutory authorities.⁷ Agencies can use these authorities to hire veterinarians when standard hiring practices, including the use of recruitment incentives, are impracticable, less effective, or have been exhausted.

OPM's mission is to ensure the federal government has an effective civilian workforce, but it has not conducted a governmentwide effort to address current and potential veterinarian shortages, as it has done for other professions. For certain professions, OPM has initiated governmentwide direct-hire authority, which allows expediting hiring during a time of critical need or a severe shortage of candidates. For example, in 2003, OPM authorized departments to immediately hire doctors, nurses, and other types of medical professionals without following prescribed competitive procedures. OPM officials told us their agency issued this authority based in part on department and agency concerns. OPM can also hold interagency forums to discuss workforce concerns but has not done so for veterinarians. According to OPM officials, interagency forums are open to all senior human capital representatives from all departments, including USDA and HHS. The forums provide an opportunity to discuss concerns, exchange ideas, and explore solutions to governmentwide staffing issues. OPM officials told us that no department has requested a discussion about veterinarian workforce concerns. Further, officials told us that the agency will facilitate a governmentwide solution, such as an interagency forum, if the departments demonstrate that a shortage exists. Our prior work has identified the need for OPM to use its leadership position to provide assistance to departments and agencies efforts to recruit and retain a capable and committed workforce.⁹

OPM officials told us the agency has taken some steps that could improve veterinarian recruitment and retention. During the course of our review, OPM created a Personnel Action Team to determine whether a governmentwide direct-hire authority should be granted for all veterinarians. OPM did not provide further details other than to state that a decision is expected in early 2009. In addition, OPM recently changed the federal classification of veterinarians. OPM raised the entry grade level for newly hired veterinarians from GS-9 to GS-11 and expanded the description of the federal veterinarian occupation to include areas of specialization, such as toxicology and pathology. OPM officials believe this will help attract more veterinarians into federal service. Agency officials also told us that they meet periodically with departments to ensure occupation classifications meet department needs. This was the first change of the veterinarian classification in over 20 years and was initiated at USDA's request.

The Congress has taken steps that address the broader, national veterinarian shortage, but its efforts thus far have had minimal impact. The National Veterinary Medical Services Act enacted in 2003, directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to help veterinarians repay their school loans when they agree to work in areas of need. Although USDA is responsible for implementing the act, it has been delayed in doing so. USDA's Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics testified before the Congress that this was because the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)—the USDA agency in charge of implementation—does not have experience with complex loan repayment programs. The Congress provided initial funding for the act in fiscal year 2006. In August 2008, CSREES began holding public hearings to solicit stakeholder input. Officials from USDA and veterinary associations told us that the $1.8 million allocated thus far for the program is insufficient and would have minimal impact on the shortage. With veterinary student debt averaging $106,000 upon graduation, $1.8 million would cover about 17 students with loans. Moreover, the program targets veterinarians who already have their degree and may not have the skill set the federal government is seeking. To be effective, officials from professional veterinary associations told us, the program would have to provide guarantees and target students early in veterinary school. The Congress also enacted the Higher Education Opportunity Act in August 2008, which has provisions intended to increase the number of veterinarians in the workforce through a competitive grant program that can increase capacity at veterinary colleges. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, however, these grants will be capped at $500,000 per school, which will not be enough to increase capacity to meet veterinarian demands.

End Notes

¹ See GAO, Older Workers: Federal Agencies Face Challenges, But Have Opportunities to Hire

and Retain Experienced Employees, GAO-08-630T (Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2008).

² GAO, Homeland Security: Much Is Being Done to Protect Agriculture from a Terrorist Attack,

but Important Challenges Remain, GAO-05-214 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 8, 2005).

³ USDA, Office of Inspector General, Great Plains Region, Audit Report: Evaluation of FSIS

Management Controls Over Pre-Slaughter Activities, 24601-0007-KC (Washington, D.C.: November 2008).

⁴ GAO, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: USDA Has Addressed Some Problems but Still Faces

Enforcement Challenges, GAO-04-247 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2004).

⁵ FDA Science Board, Subcommittee on Science and Technology, FDA Science and Mission at

Risk, a special report prepared at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (November 2007).

⁶ See GAO-04-39; GAO-03-914.

⁷ E.g. 38 U.S.C. § 7405; 42 U.S.C. § 209(f).

⁸ 37 U.S.C. § 303.

⁹ See GAO-08-762T.