Why is DEIB So Important Right Now for Veterinary Medicine?

By Dr. Niccole Bruno, DVM, Chief Executive Officer, blendvet™

In the past few years, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) has moved from being a “nice to have” to a top priority for most brands, companies, and even entire industries.

It makes sense that you would want to build teams from a wide range of backgrounds and create a work environment where everyone feels included, valued, and heard–like they really belong.

So how does the veterinary industry stack up?

The statistics aren’t great. In 2013, The Atlantic called out the job of veterinarian as “the whitest profession in the United States.”1 Ten years later, it’s still at the top of that list. Let’s take a look at the numbers:2

Veterinarians:

• 91.4% white

• 2.2% Black or African American

• 4.3% Asian

• 0.5% Hispanic or Latino

Vet Techs:

• 92.3% white

• 11.5% Hispanic or Latino

• 2% Asian

• 1.1% Black or African American

Unfortunately, veterinary professional stats don’t line up with the overall percentages of people 16 and over who are employed:

• 77% white

• 18.5% Hispanic or Latino

• 12.6% Black or African American

• 6.7% Asian

The Bottom Line: It’s time for the veterinary community to make an effort to diversify our teams and create more inclusive workplaces.

Why Should We Focus on DEIB?

Apart from bringing the veterinary world up to the standard of other industries, there are plenty of pragmatic ways the veterinary industry can benefit from making DEIB a priority.

Bringing Teams Together

For one, you can improve communication within your team by creating a stronger sense of community. This leads to greater employee satisfaction and less turnover. Not only can you feel the difference when a team is working well together…so can your clients! Everyone benefits.

Better Serve Our Clients

When it comes to attracting new clients, focusing on DEIB in your practice will put you at the forefront of a necessary and long overdue change. According to the 2019 Packaged Facts report, “Between 2008 and 2018, the number of Hispanic pet owners increased 44%, the number of Black pet owners grew 24%, but the white pet owner population went up only 2%.”3

Racial and ethnic minorities are the fastest growing segments of clients, but they’re not feeling like they’re being heard or treated with respect and empathy. Additionally, millennials and Gen Z make up 46% of pet parents today,4 and they expect companies–including the vet clinic where they take their pets–to have DEIB practices in place.

More Diverse Workforce

When it comes to hiring, the workforce in general has become more diverse, but this hasn’t carried over into the veterinary profession. We’re missing out on strengthening our teams with a vast amount of talented people who chose to pursue other careers because they couldn’t see a path to being a veterinarian.

How Do We Make Progress?

So, what does it mean to put DEIB first? It’s not just a “how-to” video from HR or a statement at the bottom of a job posting. We have to turn the tables and make an effort for real change!

That’s what led to the idea for blendvet™, a veterinary workplace & academic certification program designed to train and educate teams on self-awareness (BEING), cultivate environments based on trust and open communication (BUILDING), and encourage collaboration with their communities (BELONGING).

We target three main areas along the veterinary career path: (1) DEIB certification and training for vet clinics, (2) DEIB workshop programming for veterinary schools, and (3) pipeline development for children, focusing on underrepresented youth so they can see themselves represented as veterinarians.

DEIB Certification in the Workplace

With blendvet™ certified hospitals and workspaces, there’s an opportunity to continually improve the culture within veterinary medicine through an initial culture survey, incorporating DEIB into daily practice, learning together as cohesive veterinary teams to maintain certification standards, and understanding how diversity contributes to the extraordinary ways we show up for one another and the communities we serve every day.

DEIB Training at Veterinary Schools

Veterinary schools are the perfect environments to plant the seed for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We do this through lectures, RACE-approved modules, train-the-trainer workshops, and virtual conferences.

Pipeline Development

By leveraging the expertise of veterinary professionals who represent black, indigenous, & people of color (BIPOC) and the assistance of the local veterinary community, we create opportunities to increase the pipeline of underrepresented minorities (URMs) within veterinary medicine. Providing support in the areas of academia, resources, or mentorship, blendvet™ pipeline programming provides critical elements to ensuring a child’s path to veterinary medicine is attainable.

With the launch of our 2022 & 2023 pipeline programs in partnership with the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) & the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC), we’ve already witnessed the immense excitement, gratitude, and fulfillment from kids, parents, and veterinary professionals from their attendance and time as volunteers and are ecstatic to continue our efforts for years to come!

While matters of DEIB will not be solved overnight, we believe that by following specific outlined goals, our profession can begin to understand expectations and modify our behaviors to be a more inclusive and equitable field.

For more information and ways to get involved, visit www.blend.vet or scan:

References

1. Thompson D. “The 33 whitest jobs in America.”

Published by The Atlantic on Nov 16, 2013. Available at https://www.theatlantic.com/ business/archive/2013/11/the-33-whitest-jobs-in-america/281180/. Accessed March 21, 2023.

2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2022 Data. Available at https://www.bls.gov/ cps/cpsaat11.pdf. Accessed March 21, 2023.

3. Chan M. “Pet owners are diverse, but veterinarians are overwhelmingly white. Black veterinarians want to change that.” Published by Time on Oct 21, 2020. Available at https://time.com/5901334/black-veterinariansdiversity/. Accessed March 21, 2023

4. Megna M. “Pet ownership statistics 2023.” Publised by Forbes Advisor on March 15, 2023. Available at https://www.forbes.com/advisor/petinsurance/pet-ownership-statistics/. Accessed March 21, 2023.

About the Author: Dr. Niccole Bruno is the CEO & Founder of blendvet™, a veterinary hospital certification program in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). As an Afro-Latina, Dr. Bruno’s navigation into veterinary medicine has had its share of challenges. During her career, the experiences of racism, misogyny, and stereotypical behaviors caused Dr. Bruno to develop a sense of disengagement from a profession she once dearly loved. Nevertheless, her perseverance prevailed and her passion for veterinary medicine resumed when she was offered the role of Medical Director for a veterinary hospital in Long Island, NY. For roughly eight years, her sincere and dedicated service as a hospital leader in both NY and Houston fueled her heartfelt endeavors to ensure a culture of diversity and inclusiveness.

Today, Dr. Bruno continues in her efforts of diversity, equity, and inclusion through speaking engagements, mentorship, and building the pipeline of BIPOC students (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) into the profession. Following completion of the Purdue University and Inclusion program in 2020, her awareness, continual exploration, and study into the diversity deficiencies of our profession ignited her vision to create blendvet™ blendvet’s™ program was launched in the Fall of 2022 at Lincoln Memorial University Masters of Clinical Care, a program for veterinary technicians. In 2023, blendvet™ launched its first hospital certification program with Rarebreed Veterinary Partners. Dr. Bruno currently serves as an Advisory Board member for Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine and Pawsibillities, a mentorship platform for BIPOC students interested in veterinary medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys activities with her family, traveling, her Peloton, football, and binge-watching her favorite shows.