Background:The pressure on equine veterinarians to provide services that meet with a client's demands, that is, realizing client satisfaction, is considerable. Aim: The aim of this paper is to analyze existing literature, with a view to distill the most relevant components for client satisfaction in equine veterinary practice. Materials and Methods: A structured literature search was conducted. Included papers were systematically organised and analysed using an inductive approach. Results: Seven components relevant to client satisfaction in equine veterinary practice were identified: quality of care, quality of service, horsemanship of the veterinarian, costs of service, interpersonal skills, professional attitude and transfer of knowledge. Discussion: The limited amount and variable quality of available records regarding client satisfaction in equine veterinary practice are the main limitations of this study. Conclusion:The seven categories identified are likely to play a fundamental role in achieving client satisfaction in equine veterinary practice. Additional research is required to validate these categories and relate them to different types of clients as well as map their needs and expectations, so that they can be used to assist equine veterinary professionals in tailoring customer experience to the individual client.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

IntroductionIndividuals working in the field of veterinary care are regularly affected by their profession. High levels of responsibility to often provide life-saving health care to animals combined with having to manage owners' expectations and irregular working hours can cause considerable levels of work-related stress among professionals in equine veterinary practice. On the positive side, research also shows that working in the veterinary profession can have a positive impact on personal wellbeing and feelings of fulfillment. A limited number of studies has investigated work satisfaction and engagement among veterinarians across the globe, and none specifically in the equine veterinary work field. The aim of the current study was to identify relevant predictors of employee engagement and work satisfaction in relation to demographic and work environment related factors in the equine veterinary profession.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was used to investigate work satisfaction and employee engagement among equine veterinary professionals from the UK, the US and the Netherlands using an online survey.ResultsResults suggest that levels of work engagement and satisfaction in the veterinary profession may be gauged using four factors. These factors encompass Pride and purpose (the extent to which personal core values align with the mission of the employer, i.e., the veterinary practice), Company culture and relationship with management (the manner in which staff members interact with each other and the management), Working conditions and compensation (formal employment conditions relating to responsibilities and rewards and levels of collegiality) and Team culture and learning possibilities (encouragement to pursue personal and professional growth).DiscussionFindings underline the importance of being particularly mindful of inexperienced colleagues, those with demanding family commitments and, where feasible, of providing employees with a modicum of autonomy in order to ensure a satisfied equine veterinary workforce.