Every year, many young veterinarians match into internship and residency programs across the United States and Canada, entering postgraduate training programs to practice their skills or become highly specialized in a particular area. Along a career path that can sometimes seem like an endless series of low- and high-level decisions, the choice to pursue additional training is a major one, including a commitment to consistent long hours of hard work, a resolution to perform sometimes menial tasks, and the expectation of a meager salary. The desire, or even ability, to take on those additional years of lost income plays an important role in the decisionmaking of new veterinarians as they navigate growing debt loads, attempt to balance the stressors of professional life with enriched personal lives, and recognize the value of their time and education. As the industry struggles to address mental health, burnout, and suicide, the authors of a new study hope to challenge the profession to reframe the approach to postgraduate compensation from "what can we afford to pay" to "what should we pay."for years, it is not clear that locations have determined compensation proportional to cost of living. That disparity affects peoples’ choices and, ultimately, their careers and lives.
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