Veterinary employment patterns

Rolls and electronic records of The Veterinary Surgeons Board of Queensland between 1940 and 2000 were analysed to identify changes in the numbers and employment patterns of veterinarians. The number of veterinarians increase d at a much more rapid rate than the population and on a state-wide level r eached a plateau a decade ago at 340 per million. A plateau has not been re ached in the capital city of Brisbane. The percentage of veterinarians empl oyed with government funds has decreased, and the percentage of private pra ctitioners increased to more than 80%. In 2000, single veterinarian practic es represented 50% of all practices and 24% of practitioners. Women represe nted less than 10% of Queensland veterinarians until 1980, but 33% in 2000, and they are in higher concentration in Brisbane than elsewhere in the sta te.