Table 4.
Kruskal-Wallis tests describing differences in the impact of characteristics of shelter medicine between current, previous, and non-shelter veterinarians.
| Current shelter veterinarians | Previous shelter veterinarians | Non-shelter veterinarians | X2 | P | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | Mean rank | Median | Mean rank | Median | Mean rank | |||
| Salary expectations | 2 (2–4) | 107.02 | 3 (2–3) | 112.10 | 3 (2–4) | 112.26 | 0.28 | 0.87 |
| Employee benefits | 4 (3–5) | 125.24 | 3 (3–4) | 71.97 | 4 (3–5) | 117.01 | 19.96 | <0.001 |
| Access to loan forgiveness | 3 (3–5) | 114.87 | 3 (3–4) | 96.19 | 3 (3–5) | 113.90 | 3.14 | 0.21 |
| Regularity of work hours | 4 (4–5) | 122.43 | 4 (3–4) | 92.19 | 4 (3–5) | 112.07 | 0.57 | 0.06 |
| Number of work hours | 4 (3–4) | 118.80 | 3 (3–4) | 100.79 | 3 (3–4) | 110.94 | 1.94 | 0.38 |
| Workload | 3 (2–4) | 108.31 | 3 (2–4) | 114.47 | 3 (2–4) | 111.03 | 0.22 | 0.89 |
| Promote animal welfare | 5 (5–5) | 142.05 | 4 (4–5) | 110.15 | 4 (4–5) | 98.83 | 20.44 | <0.001 |
| Provide community service | 4 (4–5) | 123.47 | 4 (4–5) | 108.86 | 4 (4–5) | 106.65 | 3.06 | 0.22 |
| Opportunities for career development | 4 (3–4.75) | 127.27 | 3 (2–4) | 77.67 | 4 (3–4) | 114.49 | 15.66 | <0.001 |
| Perception of shelter medicine | 3 (3–4) | 116.35 | 3 (2–3) | 101.92 | 3 (3–3) | 111.58 | 1.44 | 0.49 |
| Ability to find internship/ residency | 3 (3–3.75) | 119.87 | 3 (3–3) | 102.85 | 3 (3–3) | 109.90 | 2.59 | 0.27 |
| Ability to find suitable jobs | 4 (2–4) | 118.59 | 3 (2–4) | 110.85 | 3 (3–4) | 108.01 | 1.11 | 0.58 |
| Location of shelters | 3 (3–4) | 114.36 | 3 (3–4) | 103.58 | 3 (3–4) | 111.88 | 0.77 | 0.68 |
| Opportunity to educate/ interact with owners | 4 (3–4) | 107.63 | 3 (3–4) | 95.27 | 4 (3–4) | 117.07 | 4.10 | 0.13 |
| Opportunity to perform duties without interacting with pet owners | 4 (4–5) | 134.20 | 4 (3–5) | 110.71 | 4 (3–5) | 101.81 | 10.46 | 0.01 |
| Strong emphasis on shelter live release rates | 4 (3–4) | 114.91 | 4 (3–4) | 114.90 | 4 (3–4) | 108.27 | 0.63 | 0.73 |
| Risk of compassion fatigue, burnout or stress | 2 (2–3) | 114.02 | 2 (2–3) | 125.62 | 2 (2–3) | 105.41 | 3.66 | 0.16 |
| Confidence in performing procedures | 5 (4–5) | 148.82 | 4 (4–5) | 130.55 | 4 (3–4) | 90.01 | 39.73 | <0.001 |
| Organizational policies/procedures | 3 (2–4) | 121.03 | 3 (2–3) | 99.37 | 3 (2–4) | 110.48 | 2.77 | 0.25 |
| Interactions with administrative staff | 3 (2–4) | 116.53 | 3 (2–3) | 84.71 | 3 (3–4) | 116.68 | 8.92 | 0.01 |
| Availability of mentorship | 3 (3–4) | 110.04 | 3 (3–4) | 87.91 | 4 (3–4) | 118.31 | 7.55 | 0.02 |
| Ability to be part of a multiple veterinarian team | 4 (4–5) | 126.24 | 3 (3–5) | 89.10 | 4 (3.75–5) | 111.47 | 8.48 | 0.01 |
| Interactions with shelter veterinarians/staff | 4 (4–5) | 137.33 | 4 (3–5) | 105.15 | 4 (3–4) | 102.22 | 13.08 | 0.001 |
Possible range from 1 (strongly discourage) to 5 (strongly encourage). Bold text indicates there was a statistically significant difference based on Kruskal-Wallis H test and post-hoc pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction.