A peek behind the scenes
 

This is not just any other practice. The Ars Veterinaria Hospital is one of Barcelona’s top-notch hospitals, employing twelve veterinarians and eight support staff. The size is atypical for the average Spanish companion animal practice, the large majority of which are run single-handedly (average 1.7 vet per practice). And unlike most other Spanish veterinary practices,

 this one does not have a “peluqueria” or dog-trimming facility, for extra service and additional revenue.

“We do plan to increase our product range in pet food and accessories, once the renovation of the premises are finished, admits Iolanda. A veterinarian with a special interest in ultrasonography, Iolanda is one of the hospital’s seven female vets, confirming the high percentage of women which have joined the veterinary profession in recent years.

With two European Diplomate holders (internal medicine and neurology) and several other in house specialists on board (surgery, cardiology, opthalmology), around 50% of the hospital’s caseload are referral cases. The hospital’s equipment and staffing reflects these activities. The support staff is composed of three nurses (two assisting in surgery and one in the hospital ward) and five receptionists manning the phone and the front desk. The receptionists also double as nurses during consultations if necessary. The hospital, founded in 1979, furthermore has an in-house laboratory assistant and a manager. Needless to say, all are bilingual (Catalan and Spanish).

Like most Spanish nurses - “asistentes técnicos veterinarios” – those at the hospital are trained on the job, for lack of an officially recognised course. But the situation is not as rosy everywhere. A recent study showed that over two-thirds of Spanish small animal practices do not employ any nurses at all. And of those who do employ them, nearly three-quarters have only one nurse (see figure 2).

For not all practices are doing as well as the Ars Veterinary Hospital. Spain has the highest number of veterinarians in Europe (nearly 50,000*), while student numbers (currently 13,000*) account for a third of all European veterinary students. Over the past twenty years, the number of veterinarians has tripled. 

The average age in the profession is diminishing due to the large number of young graduates joining the profession: nearly 80% of the some 8,500 companion animal practitioners are 35 years or younger. Not surprisingly, there are a growing number of unemployed veterinarians.
This can partly be explained by the increasing number of veterinary schools. Spain currently has ten veterinary faculties – the eleventh, a private establishment – is about to open. Six of these were created in the past twenty years. The rising number of veterinarians is reflected in the growing number of practices.

Some eighty percent of the 4850 small animal practices in Spain are less than 12 years old (see figure 3). In the nineties alone, seventy-five percent of currently existing practices opened their doors to the public. Although most of these practices are new, modern, and well-equipped (see figure 4), they often lack clients. A recent survey showed that only 15% of practices have 3000 consultations per year (average 57.7 per week) or more (see figure 5). It is therefor not surprising that the high number of existing practices and disloyal competition are cited as the main “enemies” to companion animal practice in Spain (see figure 6).

But meanwhile, at Ars Veterinaria, the reception desk, surgery and hospitalisation wards are buzzing with activity, while renovation and extension work is going ahead full speed at all three levels of the hospital. “Come back next year to see our hospital transformed, urges Iolanda. I might just do that.

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