November 1, 2024
The American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (ACVAA) strongly opposes the proposed Veterinary Professional Associate (VPA) and supports the practice of surgery and general anesthesia under a veterinarian’s care and direct supervision.
All veterinarians undergo an extensive training program encompassing the intricacies of comparative physiology, pharmacology, and disease pathology. Veterinary training develops the diagnostic and treatment mindset, evaluating the underlying principles and clinical context instructing the correct treatment protocol. Furthermore, these skills are evaluated through national certifying exams (e.g. NAVLE) and state licensing exams. Maintenance of veterinary licensing also depends on the pursuit of continuing education on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Therefore, the ACVAA ascertains that the safety of patients undergoing a procedure and anesthesia lies in the veterinarian-led clinical team.
The practice of veterinary anesthesia for a patient undergoing a procedure requires:
- The review and analysis of medical records and diagnostic results to anticipate potential peri-anesthetic challenges or complications
- The prescription of the anesthetic plan that accounts for the animal’s unique physical condition and the avoidance of drug side effects.
- The interpretation of diagnostic images (radiographs, ultrasound images, etc.), blood work results, and physiological monitoring systems.
- The prompt diagnosis of anesthetic complications and the prescription and initiation of the appropriate corrective measure through to the post-anesthetic period.
Veterinarians currently perform these critical and complex tasks. Having all or part of those tasks performed by a VPA whose short training can’t have provided the necessary background training in anatomy, physiology, physiopathology, and pharmacology and who does not bear responsibility for their actions through a licensing body is dangerous for both the animal and the public health.
Although dental and castration/spaying procedures are common, they are not without significant risk. The majority of dentistry procedures involve older patients. Those geriatric patients are 7 times more likely to die under general anesthesia due to concomitant diseases such as cardiac pathology or endocrine disorders when compared to adult animals.
Ovariectomy and ovariohysterectomy are invasive abdominal surgeries. They require proper aseptic techniques to reduce antibiotic use and the prescription of highly addictive drugs such as opioids to relieve the animal’s pain. Antibiotic resistance and opioid addiction are major public health crises, and those drugs should only be used under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Indeed, prescribing and diagnosing are restricted acts of veterinary science and must be performed by registered veterinary practitioners to protect animal health, safety, and welfare. Federal (USA) law also restricts the use of anesthetic drugs by or on the order of a licensed veterinarian.
The veterinary profession is already undergoing a high level of stress, as documented by the high level of veterinarian suicide (twice that of the medical profession and four times higher than the general population). Corporate companies now own many veterinary practices, and there is a high risk for veterinarians to be pressured to prescribe drugs and to take responsibility for animals that are undergoing the care of a VPA, which can only exacerbate the veterinarian’s mental illness. Transferring the patient care to a VPA may also compromise the trust between pet owners and veterinarians who created the veterinarian-client-patient relationship.
Veterinary technicians, for whom training programs and licensing already exist in many states, can aid in expanding the veterinarian’s capacity. There is no proper justification for creating an unregulated VPA profession that does not fill a gap as their duty overlaps the duties of other regulated professions.