Thanks for writing that. I too had a rough go on clinics and left for 12 years to do food safety (I did not have a PhD in me). I consulted and traveled the country helping set up local food businesses.
I went back to clinics 2 years ago after a TON of therapy and coaching. I love it now. I even work ER. I am not a perfect doc, but I am studying for DABVP boards and really enjoying the process.
That's a very cool journey! One of the things that could help young, struggling vets without much additional funding or infrastructure would simply be promoting the diversity of careers you can have with a DVM and decreasing the stigma around those who find that being a quote unquote "real vet" is not a good fit for them
Yep, I think the most effective ways are at the level of vet schools and through mentorship programs. During our 3rd year at Western, our rotations included mandatory zoo/wildlife, public health, lab animal, and pathology externships in addition to the standard small and large animal ones. Some students complained about it, but it was a great way to expose people to things they never would have considered. I've been back a few times to speak at alumni "career day" type events to educate students about "non-traditional" careers. Some of those who did so along with me included people who worked in the biopharmaceutical industry and university lab animal vets
Thanks for this article, Eric. I recently retired from small animal practice but spent most of my career with imposter syndrome, especially with regards to surgery. Never mind I never had an actual disaster, but I never felt hugely confident. I’m so glad you found your niche. I adore clinical pathology, especially cytology, thanks to great CE from Kate Baker, and so much wish I had known these careers were options back in the late 80s when I started out. Still, small animal medicine was my thing for so long, and it was weird hanging up my stethoscope. I wish you all the best...looks like you are where you need to be!
DW, I appreciate you sharing your vulnerability; imposter syndrome is something most of us feel, but very few talk about! We all need to support each other as vets because it is difficult out there (and getting harder). Kate is one of my good friends and her new site VetHive (full disclosure: I'm a consultant there) is specifically built around the idea of a healthy, nurturing environment for learning and getting help from specialists without judgment. I hope you continue to stay engaged with the field even in retirement. Thanks for reading!
Eric, thanks for sharing this! Candid conversations like these are exactly what we need. In the world of high-performing professionals, it can be difficult to accept one's weaknesses and challenges. Thanks for showing that there is nothing wrong in embracing them and continually adapting.
Thank you Bikul, I'm glad you enjoyed! I wholeheartedly agree. I've shared this post with several professional DVM networks and a number of people reached out to tell me it resonated with them. Many are at career junctions and pivoting away from ER or general practice to exciting new fields like relief or home euthanasia practice, non-clinical roles in industry, pharma, or government, start-up entrepreneurship and more, yet so many confess to feeling like a "failure" because they're not living up to the idea of James Herriot. Back in vet school I was told "there's no one right way to be a vet," and more people need to hear that message. Another thing that is needed to address the mental health crisis in both human and veterinary medicine is normalizing the fact that we all are fallible humans who make mistakes.
Thanks for writing that. I too had a rough go on clinics and left for 12 years to do food safety (I did not have a PhD in me). I consulted and traveled the country helping set up local food businesses.
I went back to clinics 2 years ago after a TON of therapy and coaching. I love it now. I even work ER. I am not a perfect doc, but I am studying for DABVP boards and really enjoying the process.
That's a very cool journey! One of the things that could help young, struggling vets without much additional funding or infrastructure would simply be promoting the diversity of careers you can have with a DVM and decreasing the stigma around those who find that being a quote unquote "real vet" is not a good fit for them
AVMA tries to do that...but they do it at their annual convention which is pretty pointless if you are not in clinical med.
Yep, I think the most effective ways are at the level of vet schools and through mentorship programs. During our 3rd year at Western, our rotations included mandatory zoo/wildlife, public health, lab animal, and pathology externships in addition to the standard small and large animal ones. Some students complained about it, but it was a great way to expose people to things they never would have considered. I've been back a few times to speak at alumni "career day" type events to educate students about "non-traditional" careers. Some of those who did so along with me included people who worked in the biopharmaceutical industry and university lab animal vets
Thanks for this article, Eric. I recently retired from small animal practice but spent most of my career with imposter syndrome, especially with regards to surgery. Never mind I never had an actual disaster, but I never felt hugely confident. I’m so glad you found your niche. I adore clinical pathology, especially cytology, thanks to great CE from Kate Baker, and so much wish I had known these careers were options back in the late 80s when I started out. Still, small animal medicine was my thing for so long, and it was weird hanging up my stethoscope. I wish you all the best...looks like you are where you need to be!
DW, I appreciate you sharing your vulnerability; imposter syndrome is something most of us feel, but very few talk about! We all need to support each other as vets because it is difficult out there (and getting harder). Kate is one of my good friends and her new site VetHive (full disclosure: I'm a consultant there) is specifically built around the idea of a healthy, nurturing environment for learning and getting help from specialists without judgment. I hope you continue to stay engaged with the field even in retirement. Thanks for reading!
Great articles Eric!
Thanks, Katherine! Glad you enjoyed reading :)
Eric, thanks for sharing this! Candid conversations like these are exactly what we need. In the world of high-performing professionals, it can be difficult to accept one's weaknesses and challenges. Thanks for showing that there is nothing wrong in embracing them and continually adapting.
Thank you Bikul, I'm glad you enjoyed! I wholeheartedly agree. I've shared this post with several professional DVM networks and a number of people reached out to tell me it resonated with them. Many are at career junctions and pivoting away from ER or general practice to exciting new fields like relief or home euthanasia practice, non-clinical roles in industry, pharma, or government, start-up entrepreneurship and more, yet so many confess to feeling like a "failure" because they're not living up to the idea of James Herriot. Back in vet school I was told "there's no one right way to be a vet," and more people need to hear that message. Another thing that is needed to address the mental health crisis in both human and veterinary medicine is normalizing the fact that we all are fallible humans who make mistakes.