View from the Board: Check in with your colleagues

We are veterinary professionals. We go to work and we’re constantly “on.” We show up for our clients, our teammates, and our patients. We ebb and flow with the day, adjusting to the atmosphere, matching tones, making sure that everyone around us feels seen, heard, and comforted. We diagnose, we treat, we heal. We consult, we comfort, we hold space for those who rely on us. We make critical decisions quickly and rely on our training and muscle memory to get us through life-saving procedures. Some days it feels second nature, like we were born for it. And some days it doesn’t. Some days we need to step behind a closed door, close our eyes, take a deep breath, reset, and refocus before we open the door and walk into the next exam room.

This cadence is the daily life of a practicing veterinary professional. This defines a day at the clinic. But many of us are simultaneously navigating financial concerns, working through unhealthy personal relationships, supporting an ill family member, raising a child who’s struggling at school, or focusing on personal health issues. The set of challenges we each face is unique to the individual. Just because it may be carried well, it doesn’t mean it’s not heavy.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. There continues to be an ongoing mental health crisis in the veterinary profession, and the suicide rate for veterinary professionals is significantly greater than that of the general population. The veterinary community tends to prioritize work over wellbeing, making it difficult to ask for support.

But we can’t afford to lose colleagues to silence and stigma. This month creates an opportunity for training with our veterinary teams about warning signs of depression, discussions on how to support our colleagues, implementation of wellness workshops, or exploration of employee benefits such as Employee Assistance Programs or on-site therapy. If nothing else, let this month serve as a reminder to check in on your colleagues and yourself.

We must care for our team’s wellbeing, just as deeply as our team cares for every life that walks through the clinic doors. When we normalize talking about burnout, compassion fatigue, and depression, not as exceptions, but as real parts of the veterinary journey, we build a healthier profession and a future where veterinary professionals can thrive, not just survive.

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. The national suicide prevention lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is answered 24 hours day. Ongoing services can be found at www.psychologytoday.com.

AAHA’s Board of Directors weighs in each month in View from the Board to let members know what they are working on, what is important to them, and what is coming from AAHA.

Paige E. Andersen, DVM, is a director on the AAHA Board. She is also Managing Partner at TimberCreek Veterinary Hospital in Manhattan, Kansas.

Photo credit: © AAHA

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