Navigating the Labyrinth: Addressing Fears and Frustrations of a Veterinarian

Vets are often viewed as caring, dedicated medical professionals.

They're doctors for animals.

They’re available at all hours, and on some level, people consider them to have a “dream job”.

However, we’re professionals battling an unprecedented mental health crisis. Vets are leaving the profession in droves, morale is low, and there’s a shared sense of fears and frustrations echoed amongst most vets.

Common Fears in the Veterinary Field:

1. Job-Related Stress and Trauma:?

From emergency surgeries to high caseloads, the weight of responsibility causes stress and emotional trauma. Clients can be entitled and demanding, and add in the costs of medical care, and emotions can run quite high. This leads to an accumulating stress on the average veterinary professional.

Vets need to manage their hours, and actively take steps to look after their mental health.?

2. Animal Care and Responsibility:?

The care for animals is both a strength and a vulnerability. We're juggling multiple very sick animals, managing the patient and the client, as well all our other responsibilities - consults, surgeries, test results, and more.

It's essential for vets to establish boundaries and remember that you're doing the best you can with the resources available.

3. Mental Health Struggles?

Often as a result of the above, vets tend to struggle with mental health, and suffer high rates of depression. It’s a little-known fact that vet’s have on average a four times higher likelihood of suicide than the general population.

It's not a sign of weakness to seek help or counselling. Recognise the signs early, communicate with peers, and prioritise self-care.

4. Perceived Unfair Treatment:?

For hard-working, qualified professionals, vets can often feel like the bottom of the work pecking-order and often have no say in management decisions.

What can you do?

Advocate for yourself. Establish open channels of communication with superiors and colleagues to address and resolve feelings of inequity.

5. Self-Worth and Overthinking:?

Veterinarians as a personality type tend to grapple with self-doubt, possibly as the result of being high-achievers and (sometimes) having critical parents. We also tend to overthink and over analyse situations; for example, a nurse who snaps at us may just be having a bad day, but we might read more into this and beat ourselves up about it.

Celebrate your achievements daily, no matter how small. Lean on your support system and remind yourself of your strengths and impact.

6. Self-Reflection:?

Vets tend to be introspective by nature - and often we are quite hard on ourselves and self-critical.

While introspection is beneficial, it's vital to balance it with positive affirmations and actions. You are what you believe and if you’re constantly saying good things about yourself you will begin to believe it.

7. Financial Worries:?

From outrageous student loans to paying the mortgage, financial challenges are real. Vets tend to start building their financial future later than most professionals, due to a long (unpaid) degree, and often low-paid work in their early career.

Consider seeking professional financial advice to manage and optimise your finances.

Pervasive Frustrations in Veterinary Practice:

1. Lack of Autonomy and Boundaries:?

For hard-working, educated professionals, vets have very little control of their time. They’re often booked out wall-to-wall with consults, and then work late trying to manage their hospitalised patients. This feeling of lack of autonomy wears them down - and they begin looking over the fence at the freedom of other working professionals, such as bankers and accountants, who appear to have more control of their time.

It's essential to establish firm boundaries - both with your employer and with clients, to manage expectations effectively. Locuming also helps vets feel more in control of their time and gives a sense of autonomy when managing their work week.?

2. Work Environment Challenges:?

Most vets have experienced significant problems with their work environment. Overworked colleagues leading to a negative and sometimes toxic workplace. Poor management and lack of leadership are often the root of the problem, but this is no excuse for personal accountability, and every staff member contributes to the overall feeling in a clinic.

Control what you can control. Choose workplaces that walk the talk and have a history of good clinic culture.?

3. Lack of Creativity and Energy:?

Vets by nature are intellectually curious people. They love science and they love to learn - which is often the very reason they went to vet school. But in their job, their work is often repetitive, they’re not engaging their creativity, nor learning anything new. This, combined with the amount of stress of the job, leaves them drained of energy at the end of each workday.

What can you do?

Engage in continuous learning and find avenues outside of work to reignite passion and creativity.

4. Expectations and External Pressures:?

Vets experience high client expectations, but to make the problem worse, we often put unreasonably high expectations on ourselves. We’re essentially a jack of all trades - a GP, a surgeon, a physiotherapist, a dentist, a pathologist, a dermatologist - to name a few. We cannot be great at everything.

It's crucial to manage both self-imposed and external expectations. Bear in mind, perfection is not the goal; doing the best you can with the resources at hand is.?

5. Career Limitations and Dissatisfaction:?

A lot of vets feel stuck in their career.

They get good grades at school, get into vet school, land a job, and then the learning and growth often stop. What a vet may want from their life as a 30 year old may be wildly different from what they wanted when they signed up for vet school in their late teens or early twenties.

Continuously reassess your career trajectory. Seek mentorship, additional training, or even consider diversifying your veterinary career.

6. Financial Concerns:?

The frustration with finances is different from the fear. It’s the feeling of being unrewarded for the work we do. Especially when compared to our colleagues in similar fields - doctors and dentists. Veterinary care is expensive, but vets don’t actually get paid that well for the hours and stress of the job, never mind the debt we’ve accumulated.

Much like the fears section, financial planning and literacy can help mitigate these concerns. It's also about knowing your worth, adding value to a business, and learning to negotiate your salary better.

7. Geographic Constraints:?

There’s a perception from a lot of vets that their career aspirations are limited by where they live. Whether it's the desire to work in a particular location or the need to be close to family and friends, there are options outside of clinical practice, no matter where you live.

Network with people in areas of interest to you, and opportunities will appear.

8. Wellbeing:?

The frustrations stem from us doing everything to look after everyone else - our patients, our clients, our colleagues, and our family, But, the one person we can’t take care of is ourselves. Despite educating clients about ensuring their animals' nutrition and exercise is taken care of, we often don’t do the same for ourselves.

Prioritise self-care, engage in activities outside of work, eat well, and make exercise a daily habit.

9. Identity:?

Vets spend so much of their early career studying to be a vet and then working hard as a vet, they’re surrounded by veterinary friends and colleagues, it’s often easy to forget the person you are outside of your professional identity.

You're more than just a veterinarian. Allow time for your other interests, and don't let the profession overshadow other aspects of who you are.

While the veterinary field comes with its unique set of challenges, you can either complain about them, or do something about them. Address these fears and frustrations head-on. Start by seeking help and support. Nobody has a thriving career on their own.

Engaging in continuous learning outside of just professional CPD. Join professional development networks.

And don’t forget to enjoy all the other aspects of your life that make it all worthwhile. Vets can have rewarding and fulfilling careers, despite these fears and frustrations.?

Every challenge faced is either a roadblock or an opportunity for growth.?

And it’s your choice to make.