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Diffusing Difficult Situations with Veterinary Clients
In the fast-paced and stressful world of veterinary medicine, conflicts are inevitable. Very often these disagreements involve upset or angry clients who make statements like “you’re only in it for the money” or “you should have been able to figure out my pet’s problem by now”. When our self-image is challenged, particularly with accusations of […]
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Navigating the Top Stressors in Veterinary Practice
In the heartwarming yet challenging realm of veterinary practice, we, the dedicated professionals, often find ourselves juggling an array of stressors that shape our daily lives. Acknowledging these challenges is not just a necessity for our mental wellbeing; it’s a vital step toward nurturing a compassionate and supportive community. Let’s dive into the most common […]
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Defining Futile Care and Its Impact on Wellbeing in Veterinary Medicine
As an emergency and critical care specialist, I can wholeheartedly attest to providing futile care to patients whose owners who would not consent to euthanasia or discontinuation of intensive care. I remember one dog in particular who had a collapsing trachea that was stented and then had progression of his disease resulting in laryngeal and […]
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Five Tips for Building Better Boundaries (aka Saving Your Sanity!)
Veterinarians are notorious for struggling to maintain healthy boundaries. I cannot tell you have many veterinarians I know who go into work on their days off, follow-up with clients from home, or see patients outside of the hospital (even in their house) because a neighbour (or stranger!) asked them to. These same veterinarians tell me […]
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Why aren’t there more women in leadership roles in veterinary medicine?
I traveled to Las Vegas this past weekend to speak at the Women’s Veterinary Summit and was struck by a disappointing realization. Despite a gender gap characterized by a veterinary workforce of approximately 60% women, the number of men in veterinary leadership roles appears to consistently outweigh that of women. When I was in the […]
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How do you measure burnout among veterinarians?
The term burnout has been getting thrown around a lot lately and is certainly rampant among my colleagues working in emergency and critical care. Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a low sense of personal accomplishment. Veterinarians who become burnt out feel overwhelmed and unable to face the demands of their job or […]
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How I survived without my phone for an entire week…
During a recent trip to New York City, my phone was damaged to the point where the touch screen stopped working (oh, how I miss my sturdy keyboard-containing Blackberry). It happened as I was passing my phone to the gate agent upon boarding my flight from Calgary to Toronto – the phone fell on the […]
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Is Facebook bad for the mental health of veterinarians?
For years, experts have questioned whether spending time on social media is helpful or hurtful to mental health. I use social media (i.e., Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter) for my business, to stay engaged with followers, share pertinent information, and form new connections. I also use a personal Facebook account to stay connected with friends and […]
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So, you want to be an advocate for veterinary wellness?
Several times each month I receive an email or message via social media asking, “how can I do what you do?”. The messages are usually sent by a veterinarian or technician who admittedly is struggling to feel content in their current position and is looking for a way to shift out of their job into […]
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What do the sleep experts say about pets in the bedroom?
As an advocate for health and wellbeing among veterinary care providers, I often lecture and blog about the importance of sleep hygiene. (Hint: this has nothing to do with the cleanliness of your bed sheets, but everything to do with the activities you do to help fall asleep [and stay asleep] each night.) Among my […]
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Do male veterinarians have better mental health compared to female veterinarians?
I was a bit taken aback a few weeks ago when I received a comment on one of my blogs accusing me of “discriminating against male veterinarians”. Having not been accused of sexism before and considering myself a “lover of all beings”, I was confused and concerned by this claim. After engaging in a “virtual” […]
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What are the biggest practice-related stressors reported by US veterinarians?
Work-related stress is a huge contributor to cynicism, exhaustion, and feeling ineffective…and if you didn’t know this already, these are classic signs of burnout. Stress in the workplace has also been associated with depression and suicide among men and women, which makes recognizing stressors in veterinary practice imperative in the task to improve veterinarian mental […]
