Op-Ed

Burnout in Veterinary Medicine

Submitted by Olivia J. Smith, University of Florida

Burnout is a similar issue faced in many healthcare professions, including veterinary medicine. “In a recent survey, 86.7% of US veterinarians had ProQOL burnout scores in the moderate or high range” (Neill, 2022). According to psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, burnout is a “state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by one's professional life". Veterinary medicine is already a stressful field and between communicating with angry clients and trying to keep a work-life balance, there are so many factors that grab our attention and cause us to neglect our mental health expediting burnout. 

One of the factors that contribute to burnout is boredom. This is not one of the aspects of veterinary medicine that people think of off the bat, but it is one to be taken seriously. In veterinary school, we learn to be well-versed in a variety of species. When entering practice, people narrow their focus whether due to specialty or species preference. 

Throughout veterinary school, I have attended wet labs hosted by our veterinary school clubs and have found I enjoy working with both large and small animals. We also have a Veterinary Wellness Society that hosts amazing wet labs encouraging meditation, journaling, and basic life skills management. Balancing these clubs proves to be challenging sometimes, but the variety keeps me interested and actively learning new skills.

Over the past semester, I have started seriously thinking about what happens after graduation. What kind of work life balance do I want? Where do I see myself as a veterinarian? Initially, I planned to focus on companion animals and working with solely dogs and cats. Now, I am pursuing the Shelter Medicine certificate and tracking mixed animal. Upon graduating, I plan to work part-time large animal and provide shelter relief on weekends. Pursuing mixed practice this way offers two different work environments and will keep me focused, interested, and excited. As I become more experienced, I hope to provide consultation appointments to various shelters allowing for travel time. During my first half-decade out of school, I hope to just explore different balances between large animal and shelter medicine. 

By incorporating traveling into my plans, I expect to feel the excitement of occasionally changing locations and exploring different areas while also advancing the field of veterinary medicine.