The results of an annual survey conducted by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reveal an economic mixed bag when it comes to what new veterinary graduates encountered in 2009.

The survey results appear in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in a Sept. 1, 2009, article entitled, “Employment, starting salaries, and educational indebtedness of year-2009 graduates of U.S. veterinary colleges.”

“There’s good news, and there’s not-so-good news in the survey,” said W. Ron DeHaven, DVM, AVMA chief executive officer. “While most starting salaries are up, there are some areas that saw declines. And while the vast majority of these new veterinarians are getting jobs, we saw a drop this year in the number of graduates who received job offers by the time they graduated. That is a serious concern, considering that educational debt continues to climb.”

According to the survey, 79.5% of respondents received an offer of employment or advanced education by their graduation date, down about 11.5% from the class of 2008, most likely due to the economy. Of those who received an offer, nearly half received more than one. Eighty-four percent of those seeking employment accepted an offer. When it comes to salaries for these new hires, the average starting salary among all employer types combined increased 0.7%, from $48,328 in 2008 to $48,684 in 2009. Excluding those who continued their education through advanced study, the average starting salary increased 5.2%, from $61,633 in 2008 to $64,826 in 2009