The disillusionment with the profession extends beyond salary expectations, work-life balance and career progression are also key aspects in the debate.
Even if average salaries were increased bringing them
closer to similar fields (eg; medicine, dentistry, etc) you are still left with a relatively poor work life balance (ie; long hours, often statutory minimum annual leave, potentially on-call/OOH work), a lack of career progression and a lack of job benefits (ie; a decent retirement package, childcare, etc).
It is pretty depressing when you consider that most vets salaries and careers will top out after 4-8 years around the £40K salary mark.
£40,000 a year may sound amazing as a student but when you factor in a mortgage, student debt repayment, pension/retirement contributions and potentially kids it doesn't go that far.
Do not get me wrong, you can break that £40K mark, but generally you have to work even harder (eg; management, specialisation) and make some compromises (eg; work longer or more unsociable hours, more stress, putting sales before science or customer care) - you can't just live an easy life as a GP vet.
A lot will provided you agree to a training contract (ie; you agree to repay your fees if you leave before the end of your certificate or 1-2 years after finishing it).
£6,000 sounds a lot but it will take most people at least 3 years to finish, most people's CPD budget will cover at least half of that. If it means that a vet can do
slightly more advanced work (and thus charge more for the privilege) and it bonds the employee to the practice then the owner will make a substantial profit the majority of the time.
Probably not without a diploma
The closer I get to completing my CertAVP the more I realise that it is unlikely to have much of an effect on salary and career progression (unless it is used to help secure a place on an internship/residency pathway).