169: Exceptional Vet, Mediocre Pay: If I'm So Busy, Why Can't I Earn More? With Dr Andy Roark

Why does a vet who's flat out every single day still hit a pay ceiling? Dr Andy Roark explains the hidden economics of veterinary practice, and an uncomfortable truth: the thing that makes us good vets might be the same thing holding our pay down.

Andy is a practising vet, the founder of the Uncharted Veterinary Conference and podcast, host of The Cone of Shame podcast, and one of the best-known voices on the business side of vet medicine. He works with thousands of practice owners and managers, and he's still in the consult room too, trying to figure out how to find solutions for a client with $150 to her name - like you. In this conversation, he picks apart the sum every employed vet has done on the back of a lab result printout: why is there such a big mismatch between what I’m treating and the number on my pay slip?

In this episode, he explains:

■ The Mediocre Industry Problem: Why it's better to be mediocre in an exceptional industry than exceptional in a mediocre one, and where vet medicine sits on that scale.

■ The Inherent Tension: Why veterinary profession is one of the only jobs where we beg customers not to leave, and how our drive to keep care affordable puts the ceiling on what we earn.

■ Where Every Dollar Goes: The three buckets that eat 85 to 90 cents of every dollar a practice brings in, and the one number that puts everything in perspective.

■ The Invisible Stress of Ownership: Why practice owners often feel real shame when pay comes up, and how much of the finances they should share with their team.

■ Resentment as a Metric: How to tell when resentment is warning you about something, and how to choose what to do about it.

■ Corporate vs Independent: What a US survey found about who earns more and who finds more meaning in their work, and why comparing salaries is so often the thief of joy.

■ The Retail Model Mistake: The one thing Andy would change if he could rebuild the profession from scratch.

Mentioned in this episode

• The 10th Anniversary Uncharted Veterinary Conference
• Cone of Shame Podcast
• The Uncharted Veterinary Podcast
• Blunt Dissection with Dr Dave Nicol
• Questions With Crocker with Dr Tanasia Crocker
• Fictional podcast
• StoryCorps

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Topics and time stamps

| 2:38 | Money & Business in Vet Medicine – Why vets are uncomfortable talking money

| 3:55 | "Money is not distributed fairly" – Mediocre industry vs. exceptional industry

| 5:06 | The Disney World analogy – Why vets can't just walk away from unpaying clients

| 7:07 | The Inherent Tension – Caring for pets vs. maximising revenue

| 9:31 | Why Employees Don't See the Full Picture – The young vet's $50/hr frustration

| 14:04 | Compensation is more than money – Benefits, culture, flexibility & context

| 18:53 | Corporatisation & high salaries leading to unhappiness

| 22:35 | Resentment as a Metric – Choosing how you suffer

| 23:49 | The Dollar Conversation: "Andy, explain my pay"

| 27:29 | The Anchor Principle – Why clients think vet care is overpriced

| 29:13 | The Three Buckets – Labor Cost of Goods Overhead

| 33:54 | The Invisible Stress of Ownership – Catastrophising & shielding the team

| 37:53 | The Medusa Problem – Building trust before tackling money conversations

| 41:37 | Empathy for the business owner – Shame, fear & emotional baggage around money

| 45:49 | Corporate vs. Independent – Trust, meaning & pay trade-offs

| 49:07 | "Comparison is the thief of joy" – Don't chase dollars alone

| 54:42 | The Pass-Along Question – Redesigning the vet profession from scratch

Why money feels different in veterinary medicine

Veterinary professionals do not enter the profession purely to maximise income. They want animals to receive care, and that creates an inherent tension: the business must charge enough to remain sustainable, while the people providing the care often feel morally uncomfortable when a client cannot afford it.

Andy argues that this helps explain why veterinary medicine can be a difficult industry in which to generate strong profits, despite the expertise, responsibility and emotional labour involved. Services positioned as optional or premium, such as concierge and some house-call care, may reduce that tension because clients usually have a more affordable alternative.

Why an employee’s billings are not the practice’s profit

It is easy for an employed veterinarian to compare the revenue from several consultations with their hourly wage and conclude that the difference is going directly to the owner. The missing piece is the cost of keeping the whole hospital operating.

Andy uses broad practice benchmarks to illustrate three major financial buckets:

• Labour: approximately 40 to 45 per cent of revenue, including veterinarians, nurses, receptionists and other people who support the business.
• Cost of goods sold: approximately 20 to 25 per cent, including medicines, preventatives, food, implants, bandages and other stock purchased before it is used or sold.
• Overheads: approximately 20 to 25 per cent, including rent or mortgage payments, utilities, insurance, equipment, software and subscriptions.

These figures are illustrative rather than a universal formula. The mix varies between practices, locations and service models. Andy’s broader point is that only a relatively small portion of practice revenue may remain after expenses, and some of that still needs to fund repairs, equipment, cash reserves and future investment.

The hourly “cost of being alive”

One way for a practice to make its finances easier to understand is to calculate what it costs simply to remain open for one hour:

1. Add the practice’s total expenses for a representative period.
2. Divide that total by the number of hours the practice was open.
3. Use the resulting hourly figure to give context to individual billings and team decisions.

This reframes a large consultation invoice. It may be good revenue, but it also contributes to the salaries, equipment, stock and overheads required to keep the entire hospital functioning.

Compensation is more than salary

Money matters, but Andy encourages veterinary professionals to consider the whole employment relationship before comparing one salary with another. Compensation can also include:

• flexibility and time off;
• continuing education and professional development;
• mentorship and clinical support;
• team culture and psychological safety;
• retirement, insurance or other employment benefits;
• autonomy, purpose and the ability to practise in a way that aligns with personal values.

None of these removes the need for fair pay. They do explain why a higher salary does not automatically create a better job, and why two apparently similar roles may offer very different overall value.

Resentment is useful information

Resentment can be an early warning sign that the current arrangement is no longer sustainable. If someone repeatedly resents the overnight shift, the client interaction, the workload or the compensation, Andy suggests treating that feeling as information rather than ignoring it.

The next step might involve a pay conversation, a change in roster or responsibilities, time away to recover, or a decision to seek a different role. The aim is not to eliminate every difficult part of work. It is to choose which difficulties are acceptable and which require action.

Why financial conversations become a “Medusa problem”

Andy describes money as a “Medusa problem”: confronting it too directly can make the conversation harder. An employee may arrive feeling exploited, while the owner may hear the question as an accusation that they are greedy, unsuccessful or unfair.

The conversation becomes more productive when both parties recognise the relationship around the numbers.

For employees

• Consider the whole role, not salary in isolation.
• Ask how the practice economics work rather than assuming where the money goes.
• Explain what is becoming unsustainable and what change would help.
• Remember that comparison with another salary can omit major differences in workload, support, culture and expectations.

For owners and managers

• Give enough financial context for the team to understand the business without transferring every financial fear to them.
• Explain the practice’s costs and constraints in plain language.
• Listen without treating a request for more pay as disloyalty.
• Be clear that leadership means balancing the needs of employees, clients, patients, the business, the owner and the owner’s family.

Corporate and independent practices offer different trade-offs

Andy sees strengths in both models. Corporate groups may offer more structured career progression, broader roles and, in some cases, higher pay. Independent practices may offer a closer relationship with the owner, stronger local autonomy and a more visible connection between effort, values and decision-making.

Neither model guarantees a good or bad workplace. The more useful question is whether the individual practice provides fair compensation, meaningful work, trust and room for an honest conversation when something is not working.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a vet earn much less than the revenue they generate?

An individual veterinarian’s billings help pay for the whole system around their work. That includes other team members, stock, equipment, rent, utilities, insurance, software, administration and cash reserves. Revenue is not the same as profit.

What is a healthy profit margin for a veterinary practice?

In this conversation, Andy cites approximately 10 to 15 per cent as a broad ballpark for many practices. It is not a universal benchmark. Actual margins depend on the business model, location, staffing, opening hours, service mix and accounting method.

How can a veterinary employee ask for a pay rise?

Start with the full employment relationship, explain the concern clearly, and ask how the practice views the role, its contribution and its constraints. A constructive conversation can include salary, hours, flexibility, support, development and the expectations attached to higher compensation.

Should practice owners share financial information with employees?

Andy supports giving teams enough context to understand the business and contribute ideas, without making employees carry the owner’s anxiety. Useful information might include major cost categories, the approximate cost of operating each hour and the financial effect of specific decisions.

Do corporate veterinary practices pay more than independent practices?

Andy discusses US research that suggested a modest pay advantage in corporate practice and a modest meaning-at-work advantage in independent practice. That does not determine what any individual employer will offer, and conditions vary by country and workplace.

About Dr Andy Roark

Dr Andy Roark is a veterinarian, host of The Uncharted Veterinary Podcast and founder of the Uncharted Veterinary Conference. In this conversation, he draws on his work with veterinary teams, managers and practice owners to explore the emotional and financial realities behind veterinary pay and practice profitability.