Ep. 66 | Why Vet Med Has A High Burnout and Suicide Rate + What We Can Do About It

Any time I tell someone outside of the veterinary profession about the high burnout and suicide rate, they're surprised. And that's totally understandable - from the outside being a vet seems like a really fun gig. We get to see puppies and kittens, after all! But there is a darker side of vet med that's important to talk about in order for it to change. Once someone learns about the high burnout and suicide rate, their next question is WHY. This podcast episode dives into the root issues of what leads to burnout in the veterinary profession AND discusses solutions to each of those including how veterinary professionals and pet owners can help to be a part of positive change.

This episode is for animal lovers, pet owners, and veterinary professionals. Please share it to help raise awareness about what each of us can do to be a part of creating positive change.

Free resource for everyone in the veterinary profession: "Beat The Burnout: What We Should Have Learned In Vet School": www.lifeboost.today/beatburnout

Free anti-anxiety tool resource: www.lifeboost.today/mysecretweapon

Compare pet insurances at www.petinsurancereview.com
VIN student loan repayment simulator: https://www.vin.com/studentdebtcenter/

I'm doing something fun for the month of December! If you listen to a podcast episode and then share it on social media and tag me (@lifeboostwithamelia), you'll be entered into a drawing at the end of the month for a chance to win a free 1 hour 1-on-1 coaching session with me. Two winners will be selected at the end of the month (you can also gift the session if you wish). Every share on social media counts as one entry. Fun, right? 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

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To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

1:05

Welcome to the life boost with a million podcast where we're changing the narrative around what true health and success look like. They should give you energy, not drain it. I'm your host, Dr. Amelia multi-passionate integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, and recovered burnout veterinarian. Together, we'll explore the science behind how your brain and body work, including the unconscious mind while also connecting with what your heart needs in order to stand up to the norm of feeling stuck on a hamster wheel-working hard yet feeling exhausted and not where you want to be- and instead live a life that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning and in love with who you see when you look in the mirror. The reality is if you do what everyone else is doing, you're not going to feel good. Let's break the norm. Hello. So today's episode is for pet owners. Animal lovers and anyone in the veterinary community. And we're going to be talking about the high burnout and suicide rate in the veterinary profession. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, then you know that this is something I am so passionate about changing because I personally experienced burnout a few years ago. And I'm doing a lot of different things to create positive change in the veterinary profession. But I haven't specifically spoken about. The root of why are the vet profession is struggling so much? And that's what I wanted to tackle today because as I speak out about the changes that need to be happening in the profession, One thing that I consistently encounter is that anytime I tell a pet owner or anyone outside of vet med, That. We have such a high burnout and suicide rate. They're always surprised. And that's totally understandable because from the outside being a vet seems like a super awesome job, right? Like we get to play with puppies and kittens. That's what everybody always envisions. We get to save animals. Like how could that not be. Just a really wonderful job. And yet there is a much darker side of that med that I think is really important to highlight. Because, well, there are so many things that we can be doing within the veterinary profession to create positive change and to set us up for success instead of an environment that sets us up for burnout. It also is really important that the pet owners are a part of that as well. And I think it's really helpful just to see the full picture and to understand. All of the realities of the profession, because as pet owners, if you are able to have that new perspective, And maybe a little bit of extra patients, or even just a little bit of kindness or that simple, thank you. That truly can mean the world to us. And so. Today. I thought I would talk about why. We do have a high burnout and suicide rate. And so if you're a pet owner and this is news to you, just want to go over. A few alarming statistics, to give you an idea of where we're at right now. So half a vets and three quarters of vet techs. Have moderate to high burnout. 44% of private veterinary practitioners report consider leaving the profession, which I can relate to. I definitely fall in that category because. When I was burnt out, I really just wanted to like totally be done with that med. 32% of first year vet students experienced clinical levels of depressive symptoms. And report hiring anxiety levels, then medical student students, and just the general population. And then. Truly alarming is that vets are up to three and a half times more likely to die of suicide than members of the general population. So, this is not acceptable. And it would be one thing if it was just like in the past few years, you know, we've been really struggling because COVID definitely put a lot of, new challenges on our profession. New stressors. But this is old news and I'm talking like decades that we have been talking about this high burnout and suicide rate. And yet. You know, We hear a lot of talk. People are talking about different things. It's sporting wellbeing, but it really it's just not cutting it. It's seems still like veterinary wellbeing is just treated as this afterthought or like something you can check off the box of like, oh, we have, we provide this like outside resource for support or. It just, just not working like, well, that's what we can see. And every day I'm connecting with that students and veterinarians and they are exhausted and we really need to be creating change. In a big way. And so before I dive into why this has happened, where we're at. I do just want to send a reminder that I created a free resource. For the entire veterinary community called beat the burnout. What we should have learned in veterinary school. And it's my mission to get that into the hands of every single veterinary professional. Because these are the things that need to be integrated into every single day. And integrated into our culture. We need to be creating a new culture where we put our oxygen masks on first and where we are creating an environment where it's convenient to thrive. And there's so much that when I look back to being like a first year vet student, When I think about, wow. The things that if I had only known then like the skills and tools and mindset shifts, if I had known it, then it would have just. Changed everything in such a positive way. And so in this free resource, I've created four videos. That's truly sharing. What has helped me as well as the many other that professionals that I've worked with to reconnect with what they need to feel like a human again, to add pleasure, energy and fulfillment back into your life, because. We need to, at the end of the day, have enough energy. Just still be a human outside of vet med. So I'll link to that in the show notes, but you can also sign up and have instant access. By visiting www.life boost that today slash beat burnout Okay. So why is the burnout and suicide rate so high in the vet profession? It starts in vet schools. They select for deeply empathetic, high achieving people who are used to and willing to self-sacrifice in order to achieve their dream of helping and saving animals. So to give you a little bit of background information with vet school. So I decided that I wanted to be come a veterinarian when I was six. And like, from that point on, I knew that I needed to do really well in school in order to achieve that dream. Because there are fewer vet schools and there are medical schools. It's harder to get into vet school than it is to get into med school. And so you really do need to show that you can do it all. You need to have gotten an exceptional grades. You need to be. Demonstrating that you're really good at multitasking and doing a lot. And so they want to see that you're doing extracurriculars. They want to see that you're volunteering and working and that you've spent time in hospitals. And so right there where notice that. We are rewarded for being insanely busy. And we are learning that if we want to be successful, if we want to achieve our dream, we need to be. Somewhat perfect. You know, and of course, perfection is not a realistic thing to go for, but it was that high pressure of my grades needs to be exceptional if I'm even going to have a chance of getting into vet school, because there are so many exceptional individuals who aren't even given that opportunity. And so already we are set up with this mindset that rest is not associated with. With success. And if you've listened to my previous podcast episode, I believe it was episode 62. All about the trauma responses. You may notice that we are like primed for being in that flight response. We have learned that being busy and putting a ton of work on our plate and being high, achieving and perfectionism, that is the key to success. We have been rewarded for that that keeps us safe and loved. And at the root of everything that we do. And the way that our brain works. The one mission is for us to be safe healthy and loved. And so, as you can see, like from a really early age, I was learning like, okay, I really want to save animals. I love them so much. I want to do this. So I have to be busy, put a lot of pressure on myself. If I slow down, if I don't get perfect grades, I might not achieve my dream and that would be devastating. And then as I mentioned as well, we are deeply empathetic, right? Like as animal lovers. And if you're listening to this, I imagine that you are like, you know, that feeling of. Gosh, seeing an animal in pain is just the worst thing, right? It just gets you in your heart because they are just such innocent amazing creatures. And of course we want to be there to help them. And we also tend to have so much empathy for those around us too. We feel deeply like we care and we want to help. And that can also start to show up as the fawn response of putting other's needs before our own, right? Like it feels so good to help somebody who is struggling or help a creature that is that we start to be willing to sacrifice our needs in order to get that feeling of being able to help somebody else. And so already vet school is selecting for a very specific type of person. Who both has a very Big heart and feels emotions deeply. And deeply cares. While at the same time, having the like grit and determination and willingness to work really fricking hard. Um, kind of with that, no pain, no gain mindset. All because we have this dream of wanting to help animals and it sends, it is not new news that the vet profession has a high burnout rate that's one thing that schools do is make sure that we have spent many hours in. Um, the veterinary profession in hospitals, shadowing to make sure that we are aware of the reality of vet school. And so like going into vet school, I was aware of the high burnout rate. I was aware of the high student loans. And I even chose to take a year off. So when I graduated from undergrad college, I was like, you know, like this has been my dream since I was six I've like, haven't really taken a beat just to think about things. And before I meet this gigantic financial commitment and another four years of my life, And doing something really intense. I want to make sure that this really is. What I want to do. So I had my biology major. My BA from Wheaton. And so I just took a year off. I partly was doing extra chips. So I was working in a, an equine hospital because at the time I thought that I was going to go into equine sports medicine. Because I grew up riding as well. And my very first horse I purchased it. I was told it was like 12, maybe closer to the 13. He was supposed to be an awesome hunter jumper. And soon after getting him, he ended up being lame. We brought him to the vet hospital and it turned out he was actually closer to 20 and he had all sorts of medical conditions, navicular disease. If you are in the vet profession, you know what I'm talking about. But that Causes a lot of lameness. It requires expensive fancy shoes. Um, and he had Cushing's disease. So, um, Long story short. I spent a lot of time in equine hospitals with Monte, my horse. Um, and learned how to do medications. And he taught me so much. And so, I already had, had spent a lot of time. Like I knew, I really thought that that was what I wanted to do. So that year I was also, riding around with an ambulatory. Equine vet. And then I also just, worked in retail. I worked at J crew because, um, because I thought it probably was willing going to be a year off and most other jobs that you can. Do with a biology major would have been like research. And most of those were looking for two year commitment. And so, um, after taking some time and like seeing what other options were out there for me, um, with my degree, I decided, yeah, I do want to do this. So. I share that just to, to show that I don't think any. No one becomes a veterinarian by accident, right? Like we work really hard to get where we are and we are aware of the challenges and, um, we don't take that lightly. And yet we are all still reaching burnout. Right? Like I tried everything that I could to. To counteract that. And like, when I was starting out, I remember like I had, at least a 45 minute commute to my first job as a vet. And so I was just like constantly listening to audio books on like positive mindset and. So it was really trying to be proactive. And yet with all of that, I still reached burnout. So. Vet school select for. These deeply empathetic high achievers. And then when you get into vet school, I cannot. It's hard to describe how insanely hard it truly is. Because again, like I had worked really hard, like their high school, and then I worked even harder, you know, in college. And, you reach a point where you're like, how, how could it be harder? I work really hard. Um, But man, that school just slaps you in the face. Like. Like you thought college was hard. That was a piece of cake. The amount of information that we are inundated with, from day one. It's crazy, like just in Magine. So my lecture halls. Didn't even have a windows. So we're in there from. Like at least nine to four. Maybe nine to five, sometimes even later. It. Basically like a full-time job, but, and with 50 minute lectures, We maybe have 10 minutes in between, but often professors have more content that they want to share. And so they would go into those precious 10 minutes when we could like get up and go to the bathroom. And. The information that we're learning, you know, it is complex. You know, we are learning how the body's work. We're learning for every single species, how they are the same, how they are different. And it's also like learning several new. Foreign languages, really? Because we are learning this entirely new way to communicate with each other. So that then we can translate it back. Could you be able to speak to. Pet owners. And so we're we get. An insane amount of lectures in that day. And then when you get home at night, You have that evening to absorb all of that information because the next day. It's going to be that all over again. And if you don't absorb that, like there's just very little time and it, you were just like constantly having exams, weekends are for just like trying to cram this information in. It is very challenging to have free time in that school. And so when we think about what is actually important for learning. The environment is not setting. Students up for success, right? Like movement is really helpful. Fresh air. Brain breaks. Real nourishing food. Water sunlight. It's rest sleep. And, um, just about all of those tend to be sacrificed in that school. So. Not surprisingly, the norm is that that students are exhausted. They're burnt out and they are for sure, stuck in survival mode if they weren't already and reminder that those, that, those trauma responses, that flight and Fon. Um, those are all signs that you are stuck in. Survival mode. And yet. We keep going because the thing that gets us through and motivates us. Is still that passion and excitement, that dream that we have of finally being able to achieve. Achieve our dream and to make a difference and to help animals. And one thing that really, really frustrates me, Is hearing, but schools saying that they are making changes, that that are really supporting Student wellbeing and yeah, they they're just really missing the mark and kind of tone deaf to it. They're just treating wellbeing as like this. After thought or like as if okay. If we have like outside support. For students who are struggling, then, you know, we were handling veterinary wellbeing, but the. The problem with having outside resources and not like integrating veterinary wellbeing and creating an environment that is supportive to that. Students. The problem with that is that the students who are most overwhelmed and need support the most. They truly do not. Believe that they can pause, like they're too overwhelmed. And they think that they are too busy to take the time to like schedule an appointment to. Find out how to get help. Um, and there can also be some shame and imposter syndrome of being embarrassed. It can be easy to think like the students around you are. Are doing fine. And that, you know, it's just like this big mistake that wide, how did you get accepted? Like you don't belong there. And I say that because I know all of those feelings so well, like I was used to working really hard, but that having that be reflected with having good grades. Like, if I work hard, I can achieve my goals and. It was a real wake up call when I failed my first anatomy exam in vet school. I had never failed an exam in my life. Not even close. And I was working and studying harder than I ever had. And so at that point, my brain was like, Aye. Like, I didn't know what to do. I was like, I am trying as hard as I can and it's still not good enough. I'm failing. And so at that point, I didn't think that I had, like, I, it didn't even cross my mind to get support. I just was like, I needed, I need to try harder. Like I can't sleep or I just needed to study, like, how am I going to. Make it through, you know, I just felt like any moment of pausing was like going to guarantee failure. And so I see that, so that in case a vet student is listening right now, if you are feeling that way please send me a message. I totally get it. And I would love to just talk to you to help you to. Help you to know that it truly is going to be okay. Even though I know it doesn't feel like it's going to be at the moment. And that's why in the first beat the burnout talk, I share anti-anxiety tools because nothing good comes from being stuck in survival mode in order to really connect with what you need. You need to be able to shift out. Of that totally overwhelmed state. And I didn't have the tools at that point. So again, that's why that frustrates me so much with that schools is that. veterinary will be in, cannot be something extra that students are having to add on to their plate or to seek out. It needs to be at the, like the foundation of everything they need to be asking. How not, how can we cram as much information as possible into the vet students brain? We need to be asking what. Is important for a veterinarian. To have a sustainable and successful career. How can we be creating an environment that is conducive to learning that is optimized for learning to. Support these vet students in. Learning this huge amount of information that there is to learn. Like, it just doesn't matter how much information you cram it to a vet students brain. If they don't stay in the profession. And right now we need more bets. So. So far where we're at is that vet schools have selected for deeply empathetic, high achieving people, willing to self-sacrifice in order to save animals. Then they have just. Experience the hardest thing they've ever experienced in their life that going through vet school. They are all ready on empty. They're exhausted. They're burnt out. They're in survival mode, but they're excited itself because they finally get to do. What they want to do and save animals. And then they go into the real world. And it's one of those things where. So often we get caught into the mindset of that. As soon as this happens. Then things will be better. Right. And so I definitely was like in the mindset of like, oh, I just have to get through vet school. And then when I get to just like, be a vet. Oh, it will be so much better. Like I finally will have achieved my dream, but again, this is why it's so important that the journey towards. Health and success adds pleasure, energy and fulfillment. To your life, every step of the way, instead of draining them. Because right now, if you are hearing what I'm talking about so far, this journey sounds pretty draining, right? We are not adding pleasure. We are not adding energy and fulfillment. Maybe a little bit of fulfillment actually. Was it like working towards your dreams, but it's exhausting. So you finally achieve your dream and you enter the real world and that's a pretty scary jump. Because the nice thing is you're no longer studying and cramming for exams. You are the doctor, but it's also scary. Like suddenly you are calling the shots and these can be life and death situations. And, um, well, vet school has taught so much. It's also just like every. Everything is new. Every single experience. I remember like, you know, I didn't have the doses of the medications, just like in my head, like I do now, I would have to look up every single dose I would have to. Figure out, like, what is the protocol that I like for a dog that's vomiting or has diarrhea or cat that's inappropriately, urinating. Um, it's, they're all new and. If you are about student listening to this right now, the one thing that helped me so much with just, being brave and continuing to learn. I would tell myself, this is the only time. This is the first time I have to do this. And next time will be easier. So that when I had a case that felt overwhelming, or I was a little like, oh my gosh, I don't really know what I'm doing. Um, it was just that reminder, like, okay, this, this time is going to be hard, but I'm going to figure out my approach. I'm going to learn so much. And then I'm going to be remembering this and having all this new knowledge for next time. So here is where we start to get to the real root of what is leading. So much of our profession to burnout. So when you are in the real world, And we've talked about how. The, the thing that has motivated and driven us to this point has made us so willing to sacrifice so much to get to that point. Is the desire to help and save animals. And to make a difference. But the reality is. That in that med. Sometimes our hands are tied. And we aren't able to help an animal that we otherwise could. And that creates a huge disconnect because up until that point, That desire to make a difference and to save animals is what motivated us and gave us energy. But when you take that away and there aren't a lot of other things that are boosting your energy. And the weight and heaviness of the profession. And. Not supporting your energy. Start to sink in. It can weigh you down really quickly. So. Um, some examples of why we aren't always able to, to help. Is that sometimes our hands are tied and because of owner's decisions. So. In vet med. Yeah, a lot of owners don't have insurance. And so finances are a really big factor. So much of the time. And in vet school, the gold standard, you know, like the ideal treatment regimen. Is just drilled into us. And in vet school, you're having all of these complex cases and you're also having the, the most devoted owners coming into the hospitals. And so. You're used to be able to being able to provide a very high level of care. But in the real world, it's, it's not super common that an owner will just let me completely work up and do all of the recommended diagnostics or the gold standard. And that's okay. A lot of the time we do it's, it's important to be working with a pet owner with whatever budget they have. So I always think any. Any pet owner who has come into the hospital, they care enough that you want to be taking care of them. Otherwise they wouldn't be there. And so that's really important to me is to have those conversations, let a pet owner know that I'm here and we're, let's troubleshoot and find out what we can do with the finances that they have. But sometimes it's just not enough. You know, sometimes it's a very sick pet. And I need diagnostics enabled to be able to determine what's going on with them or, their medications. I need to prescribe. And sometimes the owner just truly doesn't have the money. And there are lots of options that we'll often recommend. Things like care credit can allow for a Monthly interest free payments. Sometimes people can even do a go fund, me account. But the reality is that sometimes we see very sick pets and we could help them. If we were able to do the diagnostics or prescribed the medications that we want, but we can't. Because the owner doesn't have the finances and. That is really hard. And again, we are deeply empathetic. We want to help, but we cannot just do services for free because we have a business to run. And in order to be there for more pets, we need to be having a roof and the diagnostics and we need to be. Uh, compensating the staff and I can. Assure you. That the assistance and the vet tax. Uh, they, they do not make anywhere near what they should be making. Already. And so if anything, prices should be going up. Not down so that we can keep the, support that we need in our profession. And so for any pet owner that is feeling stressed or is complaining about finances pricing, totally understand the stress of that, especially unexpected expenses, but. The majority of that professionals totally understand. Being stressed about finances. And so the very best thing that you can do as a pet owner is. Two. Get pet insurance. That way you don't have that added stress. If your pet is unexpectedly sick. Then also having to worry about the logistics of finances and a really great resource to compare all the different pet insurance companies out there is www.petinsurancereview.com. Even as a veterinarian, I have pet insurance. And I, as a veterinarian, get things discounted sometimes, and yet I pay the same exact price that you would for pet insurance. So it really is. Uh, worthwhile. And my hope is that that becomes more and more popular. So that prices can be raised without passing that stress on to the pet owner, but so that the veterinary team can be compensated in a way that they're not living with financial stress And this is a good time to highlight that veterinarians, the majority of them are very stressed about the amount of student debt that they have from vet school, because it is extremely expensive, especially compared to. Our salaries and, for veterinarians who are listening. It's important to not let that weigh you down. I definitely, when I first graduated, you know, I was willing to make that sacrifice because again, I was excited about going into the profession. I wanted to be making a difference, but again, if suddenly you are feeling more like your hands are tied. That's when you start to be like, wow, I made this huge financial commitment and I'm not even happy doing this, and that can take you to a dark place. And for a long time, I w w I'm the type of person where I, I like to save, like, even as a kid, I would just like, save all of my money. And so even going into debt in the first place with those student loans was stressful. And so then. I really, I have a whole podcast talking about money mindset. But for a long time, I was living with a scarcity mindset or like an, I don't deserve anything, extra kind of mindset I've mentioned before. Um, how Matt would kind of tease me about not being able to. You know, afford the guac at Chipola. That was kind of my mindset of like, I don't deserve. Anything extra until I've paid off all of my student loans and it's a huge amount, you know, that would be years and years. And that was partly what was, making me excited for like 20 years down the line when I had paid off student loans. And so, for any veterinarians who are feeling that way so important to know that there are. Lots of repayment programs available and resources to support you so that you are not overwhelmed with the burden of your student loans. A really amazing resource. I highly recommend checking out is through VIN, but even if you don't have a membership, this is available. They have a student loan repayment, simulator. And it will allow you to put in all of your specific information and it runs lots of different scenarios for you so that it helps you to find which one makes the most sense for you. I also highly recommend meeting with a financial advisor so that you do come up with a plan. That feels doable to you because I totally understand the feeling of just wanting those student loans to be. Gone but a lot of the times especially because of the repayment programs available it really makes sense to lower your monthly payment and to be able to be investing or putting aside money somewhere else um that often can make more financial sense so that's definitely something to explore and i speak with a lot of vets who really haven't realized that those are all options And then going back to having our hands tied. Sometimes owners just decline things sometimes they just assume that like I'm recommending these diagnostics just because I'm trying to like rack up the bill, which I assure you is never true. Um, Or they just don't think it's necessary. So, for example, pain management is really important to me, making sure that my patients are comfortable. And I will recommend. Pain medication options or supplements. And the owner will decline because they don't think that their pet is painful or they don't think that it's necessary. Or they don't really care, honestly, sadly, sometimes that is the case. And. It's interesting. For example, I will see a dog that is. Limping or a cat that's limping and the owner will say, they're limping, but they don't seem painful. And I think the perception is that pets that are in pain. We'll like scream out in pain. But it's important to just keep in mind, like, think about how, how painful you would need to be in order to be limping when something is hurting, that's a lot of pain, right? Cause like, if you go to the gym, like if you work out really hard, You. You may not be like dragging your legs still, right? Like you're still moving. Or like, can you imagine how much pain you have to be in to not eat? Right. And so, we need to remember that like, That has to be excruciating pain. If they are not eating and and if they're limping, that's a significant amount of pain. They don't just. You know, For fun. Like the, the reason that they would be doing that is because there is some, something that's been uncomfortable or painful. So certainly part of it is, it's so important to educate, just to make sure that owners do have that perspective and do understand their pet is uncomfortable. But the reality is that sometimes. The owner just says, no. They don't care about the pain control and that is hard. Because we have sacrificed so much to be where we are and we do. We care so deeply about. All of our pets and so wanting to be a good nip for difference and not being able to, if that is the reason you went into vet med. That is one of the root issues that needs to be addressed if. Yvette professional goes into the profession, and they're only why for doing that is to be able to make a difference and to save animals. And suddenly they are in a scenario where that's not possible then, then they've lost their why for being in the vet profession. And that makes it really hard to have the motivation to keep going. That is incredibly draining, feeling like that dream. Or that thing that you wanted to do so badly has been taken away from you. And, that is why. In my beat, the burnout series. One of the things I talk about. Is connecting with your core values? Not something that really helped me was starting to pay attention to. The other parts of the vet profession that gave me energy and also connecting with the core values of like, when I boil down everything that matters to me, what are the words that are at the root of what matters. And so for me, those are wellbeing, adventure, connection, and influence. And so. Starting to pay attention to how I could be focusing on those, in these hard situations or prioritizing those throughout my day. Helped me to be getting more of my energy back. So for example, During COVID um, I was feeling very disconnected because w w you know, with COVID in general, we all were right. Like we weren't being around each other. Um, owners were in their cars. So I was spending a lot of time on the phone. We had the masks, it just, um, feeling connected both to myself, but also my patients and the people around me is very important. And I didn't feel that. And so in order to start recovering, I would make it my mission. Like each day I was like, okay, This is actually a great way to, challenge myself. How can I establish a genuine connection with the owners, even when I'm on the phone? And that helped to make me more mindful and present for each appointment and seeing like, Ooh, okay. What, what conversation or communication technique? Is going to help me to genuinely connect with this human I'm an owner on the other side of the phone. So, This is something that is fixable. But if we're not recognizing that this is one of the roots of why we're reaching burnout then it makes it really hard to change it And now related to that first scenario of having our hands tied. We encounter a huge spectrum of emotions throughout the day in vet med. You know, going back to what most pet owners think of like, oh, like the puppies and kittens, those are like really positive, happy, exciting visits. But the reality is that it's very common that in one room I could have a new puppy or kitten visit. And in the other, I could be having an end of life conversation with an owner, or I could be. Having a euthanasia. Or I could be being accused of, not caring. Are only being in it for the money, by the owners. And we also experienced traumas. Right? We have emergencies coming in. We see pets that are really sick. And so we are experiencing joy and traumas and grief and frustrations all in a very short. Period of time. And. No one teaches us how to process those emotions. In vet med, we have just normalized being in the flight response. Just like, go, go, go one. After another, it's a very fast paced environment and we need to be professional as well. And so a lot of the times it's not appropriate, right? Like when I am doing a euthanasia. Sometimes I will be a little bit teary, but in general, it's my responsibility to be there too. Be the stable one to help the owner of clear, a clear understanding of the entire process. And to make sure that it's a very peaceful, experience for the pet. And that's not a time for me to be. Releasing my emotions. And if you are listening to this and you're a veterinarian and you do there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but just with the, in the day, there's this general, like we need to be professional mindset. And so that professionals are extremely good at internalizing emotions, burying them and having a smile on our face or acting calm, pretending everything that is. Is fine. And on the inside it feeling. Very different. I don't know if you've ever seen that cartoon. It's like this dog standing in a room that's just like completely on fire with his eyes wide. And he's just like, everything is fine. Um, that makes me think a little bit like representative of how some of that professionals can feel. And nobody is talking about. How this isn't okay. Right? The stress in your body is like air in a balloon. Like you can only take so much stress and with like the more air in a balloon, what happens? The Tenzer it guts, right? So that eventually. Even just the tiniest amount of air or like a little pressure from the outside will cause it to pop. And the same as for us, like if we don't have a pop-off valve for our stress and it's just like accumulating throughout the day. Then we are going to feel like we are going to pop. Or we are just going to be buried under all that pressure. And so we need to be normalizing anti-anxiety tools that actually work like starting it from day one in vet school, we need to be talking about these emotions that we're countering and how to process that and how to be gentle and kind to ourselves when we are dealing with that. But we also need to know how, like, because you can't just. Logically talk yourself out of not being stressed or not being in a bad mood, you know, that just, it doesn't work. You need to speak the language of your nervous system. And that means knowing tools that are truly changing the part of your brain that is activated. Or being able to shift your body into that. Parasympathetic state. And it doesn't have to be hard. In my beat, the burnout series I share. The first video shares seven anti-anxiety tools that actually work. I can dive deep into why this is so important. And then if you are not a vet professional, you can get my favorite one minute anti-anxiety tool it's called faster EFT. And I share basically a user manual of six different ways to use that, for creating positive change in your life. But these can be easy. We just have to be doing it and it can be as easy as. Truly just rubbing your two fingertips together. So as you're listening to this, just. Just try for a moment. Robbie or to fingertips together and notice what is the pressure? That you need so that you can just really feel the ridges on your fingertips. It's really focusing on that for a minute. So just by doing that simple, simple thing, just rubbing your two fingertips together and paying attention to that pressure. That she shifts the part of your brain that is active. So, if you are feeling overwhelmed or maybe you are even having that inner dialogue being like, oh, I shouldn't be so stressed. Like, you know, why am I feeling this way? Um, that is a part of your brain called the default mode network. And when you are rubbing your fingertips together and paying attention to how that feels, that activates a different part of your brain, the task positive network, and the, that is associated with more of a positive mindset. And, uh, feeling calmer. And so that's really helpful. So that in situations of even like, if I'm having a conversation with an owner who is being very rude and disrespectful, this is something that I can be doing without them even realizing to help, to make sure that I am staying. Uh, calm and grounded in order to have a conversation in the most productive way. Oh, another root issue of why we in that met her experiencing burnout is that we just don't have a pop off valve for the stress because nobody's talking about it. And that just really weighs us down, or it totally shifts us into that survival mode in those trauma responses. And that's when that really takes a toll on your physical and mental wellbeing. That's either that you're stuck in flight mode where you're just like workaholic. You're always busy. You're never able to slow down. And so that means that you're carrying around all these stress and emotions. And you're not allowing your body to ever slow down and process that or recover. And that's a great way to get injured or sick or, or burnt out. Or with the fawn response, it's pretty similar if you're just self sacrificing, you're just maybe saying yes, you know, maybe there, you're already overwhelmed with the number of appointments that you have, but someone calls and there's a pet that's sick and needs to be seen. We have that deeply empathetic, caring nature. We want to help them and we feel guilty saying no. And so maybe we accept that, but that just like Oop increases our stress load. To the max and maybe now we're working through lunch. And so we're not giving our bodies, the nourishment and our brain, the fuel that it needs in order to think clearly. We're not supporting our energy yet. We're taking you on even more on our plate. And that you can see how that is just not sustainable, or you can go into fight mode. And that's where I see. You know, I've, I've worked in over 30 different hospitals now because of my experience in general practice and urgent care and now relief work. And it is very normal that there is just a very cynical. Culture where everybody is just complaining and focusing on all of the negative things, whether that's the owner or the pet is being difficult or the, just you. Entire way that the hospital is run. And that's a sign of that. Fight response of just being everything is irritating and having that negative brain filter on. And when your beliefs in that brain filter and what you're seeing that becomes your reality. So that is incredibly draining and depleting. And of course it'll reach burnout when your brain is only showing you all the really hard. Depressing things instead of the positive things that give you back some energy. And then, the freeze mode is the fourth trauma response. And that is just when you are just like shutting down. It's just too much. That's when. We are numbing emotions, right? And so at the end of the day, if we haven't released any of the grief and trauma and stress. And that feels really uncomfortable, especially because we haven't been taught how to release it. And so that leads us to what is an easy way to escape. How can I, again, Remembering that we always are wanting to feel better. We want to achieve health and success, which means adding pleasure, energy and fulfillment to our life. If you think about what are we wanting to feel better? That's when we turn to alcohol, maybe we feel like that's a way to like escape and just numb those emotions. So you don't have to feel that feeling temporarily. Um, when you think about food, what they meet, think of as comfort food. And if you pay attention to how it truly makes you feel probably makes you feel kind of crappy, but maybe just like overeating or eating food that in the moment gives you that dopamine hit and helps you to feel that comfort and safety and pleasure that you're not getting anywhere else in your life. Or just basically not wanting to be around anyone and yet, you know, that connection. It can be so important so that you don't feel like you are alone. Um, and then when you go into freeze mode that tends to come along with a lot of shame and judgment. Because just our culture makes you think that you need to have discipline and willpower and be absolutely perfect. And, um, when things are already overwhelming and then you have that internal dialogue or that inner critic just totally beating you up telling you that you should be doing better. That just leads you right to burnout too. And all of those trauma responses, the. The fight flight, freeze and fun. That we can shift into that survival mode or that trauma response, any time our body encounters, more stress than we can process. In the moment. And one constant stressor that that professionals are often exposed to sometimes without even really being consciously aware of it. Is that we are around and witnessing pets that are really stressed out at the vet we go into the profession because we really want to help animals. And we love them. And then the norm and vet med is for those pets to be really stressed out around us. Not wanting to be touched by us and, that that hospital couldn't be a scary place. And so here we are loving animals wanting to cuddle with them and then having so many that are like running away from us or seeing stressed animals, you know, being restrained, like in order to do a nail trim and. That is an area where there's a big opportunity for improvement. We do have fear free certifications available. And so if you're a pet owner and not familiar with that, That is all about educating on the different signs of. The stress response, our pets and how we can be making that hospital visits. As fear free as possible. And that creates a much more positive experience for everybody involved. It's less stressful for the owner. The pet is so much happier. And it's so much more enjoyable as a veterinarian to be able to help a pet that's scared to have the time to warm up or to find what combination of. Treats or maybe anti-anxiety medications helps to have a smooth. Experience so that we can do a thorough physical exam so that we can do. All the diagnostics that we need to do. In a way that isn't overwhelming for the pets. And sadly the norm right now in vet med and as a relief veterinarian, I work in a lot of different hospitals and. It's important to me to be practicing fear-free techniques. And yet there are a lot of hospitals where owners have animals that are really stressed and nobody's ever talked about. Potentially taking a different approach, maybe having some anti-anxiety medications that they can take, an hour or two before coming in. So that it'll kind of. Be like they've had a glass of wine before. It's just not as overwhelming. And a big reason for this, I think is number one, just like we're how we're not recognizing signs of a stress response. And. Each other and ourselves. We're not always recognizing the signs of a stress response in our pets. You know, sometimes. Like a pet showing their belly. That doesn't always mean that they're like so happy wanting to be there and they want a belly rub that can mean be very submissive. Like, please leave me alone. Kind of position. And so, It's so important that we are noticing and creating a fear free experience for everybody. And any time we're noticing the stress response. Pausing and getting curious about why things are feeling scary or overwhelming or threatening from that person or animals. Perspective and what needs to happen to reestablish safety? I dive deep into how we can create a zero tolerance for bullies policy in vet med in the beat, the burnout series. But one reason I see. For that professionals just kind of normalizing stress or, or not be having maybe the patients to slow down with a pet that is overwhelmed is because everybody is stuck in survival mode because we're overbooking there just isn't time. And it does take more time to slow down and give pets a little bit of time to warm up. And so. That's why, again, we need to be at the core having anti-anxiety tools, but we also need to be noticing when there are unnecessary stressors in our environment. And noticing how can we eliminate some of those so that the baseline stress level. In vet med is. lower So that we can shift out of survival mode ourselves and have more compassion and the way that we are treating the pets so that, that can be so much more rewarding. And as a pet owner, there's so much that you can do to help, to decrease stress for your pet. If you know that they get really stressed at bet hospitals, if they hate nail trims and you don't like doing it at home. I have two episodes. There were like a fear-free mini series on the podcast episodes eight and 13, that dive into details on how to be desensitizing your pet to nail trims, or helping them to have a more positive experience at the vet hospital. But. Certainly taking the time to. Desensitize them to things like nail trims or being, bringing them in for positive, happy visits at the vet hospital where they just visit. Maybe they get a pat, they get a treat and then they get to leave. And then know that there are supplements and medications that can be given before vet appointments to really decrease the stress in your dog or cat. So if that's something that your vet hasn't brought up before, baby, that they are feeling totally overwhelmed. They haven't maybe had the time. To talk to you about that but that's something that you can absolutely initiate and that's just going to have an amazing ripple effect when your pet isn't as stressed then you're not going to be as stressed and that's going to be a more pleasant experience for the entire veterinary team so know that that's available So pretty easy to see how we are heading right down the highway, straight to burnout. With the norm. In vet med Okay. So we've talked about so far that we, aren't able to practice the gold standard a lot of the times, which can lead to feeling defeated and prostrated, our hands are tied sometimes. And so we, aren't actually able to feel like we are helping or saving animals, even when we really want to. And then we're encountering a ton of emotions and stressors and not knowing how to process or release those And then on top of that, we, tend to be used to. Knowing a lot, like doing a really good job being high, achieving. And the reality is that it's impossible to know everything in vet med. It really doesn't matter how long you've been out. There will always be those cases where you're just like, I truly have no idea. What's going on. And. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed with imposter syndrome. Especially like I was sharing, like even in vet school, I suddenly was working hard and I still wasn't getting the grades that I wanted to. And so having that. Voice coming up and just like questioning if I really belonged there. And, um, so many vets experienced that for a really long time, not just as a new grad, but that voice. Of just not thinking that you know, what you are doing or that you're not a good vet can be really overwhelming and. That is incredibly draining having that, just. Mean girl voice following you around all the time. But that is also something that is. Fixable, changeable, you know, it's again, in this case. Just living in that judgemental mindset or that fixed mindset. And instead shifting into that carrier city, one of the three CS. Right. So any time. You are encountering something that is feeling hard or you're feeling stuck embracing the three CS compassion, curiosity, and connection. We'll always help you to move forward and feel better. And so having compassion for yourself is huge. Absolutely not letting that bully or that inner critic, take over. But also embracing curiosity. So with those cases, when you're like, wow, I have no idea what I'm doing instead of letting that be proof that. You don't belong or that, you know, and even if you have a mistake, letting that be proof that you're just totally failing or you're a bad vet. And instead, just noticing with curiosity, like what did I learn from this experience that is going to make me a better vet? Right. And. At the end of the day. Writing down the successes that you have. Changing your brain filters. So that instead of looking for your fails, you're looking for all of the positive things that happened. All the proof, like the good conversation you had with an owner or the thing that you did diagnose correctly. Or the thing that you learned from that case that you weren't really sure about? All of those are successes. And so just making sure that that inner critic isn't taking over and, um, weighing you down. To burnout So once again, the people pleasing on and that fond response, it really just ends up being, this self-sacrifice culture where it is so normal for. The schedule to be so full that staff are having to work through lunch. And with that food is fuel for your body. You, right? Like, just because you physically can. You know, make it through the day without eating doesn't mean that we should because your brain just, it needs energy and we will all be more productive and more energized and have more patients when we are not self-sacrificing basic things and including a brain break in no lunch break is not just about getting fuel. It is about having some time to decompress in the middle of the day. Day. Ideally it's important to get out of the hospital. I think because the hospital can be. A very high stimulating, noisy, fast environment. And so that is just a lot of micro stressors that we're not even often consciously aware of. It's just all the noise and the bright lights and the movement. And so getting outside into fresh air, allowing your brain to have a break. Nourishing your body with water and real food. That's going to give you good energy. That's so important to, in order to have the patience and the resilience for the unexpected things that will inevitably happen in vet med. But as long as we are self-sacrificing we are creating an environment that is not convenient for thriving you need to have the basic necessities and safety as a foundation otherwise you are not set up for sustainable success Another huge root issue. Is that really been. Entire vet profession is like stuck in the fond response that people pleasing response. And so individually that can look like. Overfilling the schedule, you know, if a walk-in is coming in, maybe the front desk. Asks if that's okay. And the, again, like the vet. Or staff just feel already overwhelmed, but they feel bad or feel guilty saying no. Or maybe they are in a hospital that has a, we will accept everything. Um, because we like, because the clients are our top priority. You know, over staff wellbeing. And so they feel like they will get in trouble if they are declining or, you know, be negative consequences. That can also just be within their own time, like maybe on the weekends, they are just saying yes to so many things. And again, Creating that just busy-ness so that there isn't it. Beautiful. Space in your day and in your life to process emotions and decompress. There is that med is a lot and just the Norman, our entire culture is just to not have a lot of time to decompress. And with the people pleasing. I also see that for hospitals. Turning into. Catering to disrespectful clients. So sadly, that is something that we encounter, not infrequently that clients are really bullies. They are extremely disrespectful and rude to the staff who already are not. Compensated nearly enough. They have such a hard job. You know, we are sometimes. Um, accused of only being in it for the money, um, of not caring, um, and. Then the response is sometimes to cater to that or to let them just to tolerate that kind of verbal abuse and. What happens when a hospital caters to disrespectful clients like that? Is that they send. An unspoken message to the entire veterinary team that they are not a priority. And they are putting their staff in a position where they are subject to verbal abuse without a way of escaping. They are creating an unsafe environment and who. Would ever want to go to work in a place where they don't feel safe and they don't feel respected and they feel like they are a lower priority. So again that's why i have an entire video dedicated to how we can be creating a zero tolerance for bullies policy in the beat the burnout series one of the easiest, lowest hanging fruits any hospital can do to create positive change is just. Stop catering to disrespectful clients. It's important to know that when a client is being rude or accusatory, they are feeling unsafe as well. Something in their life is feeling overwhelming and it could be that they're worried about their pet. They're stressed about finances. It could be that they're just dealing with a lot of shit and that is going on in their own personal life. And they're taking it out on us. And so it is important to have that compassion or that perspective, understanding that they are feeling threatened and we need to reestablish safety in some way. But sometimes that's just not possible. Even when you are really trying to connect with and work with an owner as a team, they're just not at that point where they are able to be respectful. And if that happens, that's when hospitals need to be. Firing clients or creating that boundary, because the number one most important thing should be that the veterinary team feels respected and safe. Otherwise you cannot thrive and be successful in an environment that doesn't feel safe. Now another interesting thing that happens that you may not be aware of, if you are a pet owner. Is that we not only are experiencing tough emotions for the pets that we're helping the animals. It's also with the humans that we're interacting with. And interesting that happens is that often pet owners, especially when they are already experiencing something. Really hard with our pet. Maybe their pet has a chronic disease. Maybe they're having end of life discussions. Maybe it is with a euthanasia during that time, people tend to share. Really hard things that they're experiencing in their own personal life. And, it's a lot to here. I think for many of us. You know, these relationships that we develop with clients are really important for, GPS, in general practice. Those that's we'll sometimes get to be with a pet throughout their entire life. And that means that you really get to know the humans that come with the pets really well. And learning about the hard things that they're experiencing too. That's heavy. But even when we don't have those stablish relationships, there are just gut wrenching situations. Like for example, I've had like a sweet, old man coming in and having to use at night as his dog and just witnessing him. Sopping because that dog was the only companion that he had left he had lost his wife and that it's a lot to witness again, it just kind of goes back to, that emotional burden of vet med and how we really need to be extra thoughtful about not only having that empathy and compassion towards, our clients and pets, but also towards ourselves so that we are able to be processing or having the support that we need. When we are. On the receiving end of hearing about those things that are really hard. And finally. When we look at all of this together, so we're being stuck in survival mode. We're not processing emotions. We went into this profession thinking that we were going to be able to save animals. And then that's not always the case. We are being accused sometimes of, only being in it for the money or not caring when that could not be farther from the truth. All of those things that are normal in our environment in vet med. They have an impact on our physical body too.. Like the high stress. Maybe we're not sleeping. Well, then we're start popping Advil because maybe we either had too much wine at night trying to deal with the stress or maybe our body is aching from like never slowing down. And like, man, if you ever see like what techs and assistants have to do with restraining animals, it's a very physical job. So early, maybe taking and CEDS, or maybe we are never resting. And so we're getting sick and we're having to take antibiotics. And all the food that we're eating and vet med is just like this food that is not giving us good energy. It's like bagels and donuts. That's causing us to. Our energy to spike and then totally crash so that we just keep eating more processed, fake food and energy drinks, like all of that. That's really negatively impacting all three of the life boost BS. So it's belly, meaning gut health, blood sugar, and brain thinking about like mindset, stress, brain health, happiness. And. I mean. All those things that I listed, those all really hurt gut health, and that influences everything. Your metabolism, your digestion, and your mood, your immune system, your stress, your blood sugar, your whole Marlins. It truly impacts your whole body. And then when your gut starts to have an imbalance, too many bad bacteria. Then you start to have weird signs throughout your body. Maybe you have brain fog, maybe you have headaches and migraines. You're having skin issues or low energy. You are having. Allergies. Achy joints, you don't feel good, you know, and your blood sugar's going for a roller coaster. So you're not having any sustainable energy to get you through all of these hard things. And then again, the Brene, you're just your stress balloon is ready to pop. And that all just has such a big impact because that's all depleting your energy. And in order to have a sustainable anything as a sustainable career, you need to have energy left at the end of the day. And with that med where you are not thinking about how our environment is setting us up versus success, we're not thinking about how can we create an environment that's convenient to thrive. We are in the food that's normal and every hospital that is used to even reward, staff is food that is honestly leading to decreased productivity and poor energy and not feeling good. Physically, which influences how you're feeling mentally too. And so, um, we really need to be thinking like, again, how can we be creating a safe, supportive, Environment. And what basic necessities, like how can we prioritize these so that our staff are having the energy that they need? And the support in order to get through the day on. Uh, in my beat, the burnout series. That's why I talk all about, I give easy practical ideas for how to actually be having. Nourishing real food. So instead of setting up your team with bagels and donuts in the morning, I give breakfast ideas that are actually. Doable, but like how incredible, right? If you, as an employee, No that even if you're busy and don't have time in the morning to get breakfast, knowing that your work is providing an, a breakfast that actually makes you feel good and healthy, and it's super easy. That little switch is it's not a lot for a veterinary hospital to do. But man, the impact that has on just how valued and supported the employee feels as well as their energy and their productivity throughout the day, these little things truly can make the biggest difference. And. That's my biggest frustration. I think, with where we're at in the vet profession is. I just feel like we're not getting to the root of this. We are not noticing what is truly the problem. And, and once we do see what the real root issues are, there are solutions. There are a nine. Outline those in the beat, the burnout series. They don't have to be hard and it can start just one simple step at a time, because like any. Like creating any change, whether that's in your personal life or as a hospital. You know, it's one small step at a time. And as long as you are on a journey towards true health and success that involves adding pleasure, energy and fulfillment to your life with every step instead of draining them. Then the beautiful thing is then with each step, you have a little bit more energy and a little bit motivation for the next step. And that's how you create sustainable change. And that's why I've shared that in the beat, the burnout series. And that's why all of my programs also are centered around that. If you follow the LBC, the life boosting change approach that I've created. It's impossible to not be boosting your energy or pleasure or fulfillment as you work towards your goals. So as a reminder with the LBC approach, you have to prioritize the three L's in order to find a sustainable approach that gives you energy. And those are love lifestyle long term. Love, you have to love what you're doing, the way that you're making that it's making you feel. And it has to come from a loving and respectful place. Lifestyle. Your approach has to feel doable for your lifestyle needs to be making your life easier. Not harder. And longterm in order to achieve long-term results, your approach has to be long-term too. You have to be willing to create a new norm. Otherwise things will go back to how they were. And you have to balance the three BS. If you want to feel good inside and out, those are brain belly and blood sugar. And then finally, in order to move forward, I. Anytime you feel stuck or things feel hard. You have to embrace the three CS compassion, curiosity. And connection, including connecting with your body, mind, and heart and tuning into what they need. Promise. If you tune into that, no matter what change you're wanting to create, whether that's in your career relationships, your health. Anything. And that's why this approach feels like a breath of fresh air. It is pretty much the opposite of the approach that the rest of our society has because we are so used to the no pain, no gain mindset and thinking that in order to work towards. Health and success. It has to be harder, but when we pause and think about what does it mean to be healthy and successful? It feels good, right? And so if we are trying to work towards that in a way that is. Draining pleasure, energy and fulfillment from our life. Then we're missing the point. Because as a mentioned before, it's easy to have that mindset of as soon as I achieve this. Or as soon as this happens, this will be better. But that moment is so fleeting because as soon as you achieve that, That myth of after as if it's just like everything freezes in that moment. And then it's, you know, Perfect forever. The reality is as soon as you achieve that, something else in your life has changed or there's a new goal. And so if you are only allowing that moment of after to be the time when you feel good, man, It means most of your life, you're going to feel really depleted and that's not sustainable. But instead, if today you get curious about what do I need to do today to add energy, pleasure and fulfillment to my life. That's when the journey, which is life, life, the way that you're experiencing it starts to transform in a really amazing way. That is what helped me to recover from burnout or to be living this life that is better than I could have imagined. And that is why I have created my six month programs. As well as the free beat the burnout Resource to support you in that journey. So as a quick summary, for some of the things that we need to be doing in order to beat burnout in Batman. Connect with what matters beyond saving animals, of course that's important, but tune into the other things in the profession, or that really matter to you that give you energy and make sure that that outweighs that things that are draining it. Learn how to process your emotions and decrease stress so that your baseline stress level is low so that you have that resilience and flexibility when things do feel hard. Create boundaries so that you do have energy left to be a person outside of vet med. Learn how to establish boundaries without feeling guilty. You want to find a hospital that respects you, prioritizes your wellbeing on your safety and creates an environment where it's convenient to thrive. And. Learning how to be communicating with rude clients in a way that is empowering to you. And instead of having it drain you, I outlined how in the beat the burnout series. Make sure you're changing your brain filter, focusing on your successes instead of your fails, writing down your successes every day. And finally know that you don't have to do it all as a vet. We tend to put so much pressure on ourselves thinking that we have to work all of these. Long hours. We have to be good at everything. And. No, that there are a million different ways to be in vet med and it, you can change, you can experiment and find out what works for you in this season of your life. So that you do have the proportional amount of time in your life to be processing and recovering and supporting your energy. And, If you are not sure about what other options there are in vet med, or you want to explore that you can always reach out to me. I can knock with so many different opportunities out there. And I'm always happy to be a sounding board for you to help you to connect with what you need to feel fulfilled in the career that you worked so hard to achieve. If you are a pet owner or animal lover, some of the things that you can do to help us to beat burnout in the profession, one is to be kind and just having a little extra compassion or having this perspective and helping to share this with others to increase awareness and. Something as simple as just giving us a little bit of patience, if we're running behind or saying, thank you. Can't tell you how much that can totally make our day. That's simple. Thank you. The second is to be kind and gentle to yourself because when clients are getting frustrated or upset, so often it's because they're feeling stressed in their own life, things are feeling hard or you're not feeling good physically or mentally. And so by treating yourself with compassion and learning anti-anxiety tools in order to have a pop-off valve for your stress. That just makes us all so much more resilient and to have a little bit of patience for those around us. Also getting pet insurance so that you are not feeling burdened or overwhelmed with, finances when it comes to your pet. And really embracing a fear free approach for your pet and being an advocate for your pet and this. Knowing if they do get really stressed, I'm working on how can you desensitize them to that? Or asking for anti anxiety medications to make it a smoother experience for everybody involved Thanks for listening. If you are a pet owner, if you earn in the veterinary profession, or if you know someone who is please share the free resource that I created, the beat, the burnout series, what we should have learned in vet school. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with someone who you think could benefit. And if you're enjoying this podcast, it would mean so much to me. If you would take the time to leave a review so that others can find me. And as I thank you. If you leave a review, send me an email, letting me know, and I'll send you. A free guided meditation for mental rehearsal. So that is exactly what elite athletes, executives, incredible surgeons all use at the scientifically proven way to improve performance. And the reason this works so well is because when you are mentally rehearsing, the same area of your brain is lighting up. As if you were actually doing it. And so it's a safe and effective way to be preparing and practicing and improving your skills for when you're actually living it in the moment. So send me an email at a million at life boost. Stop today if you leave a review and i can't wait to share that with you cheers your inevitable health happiness and success