Much focus has been given recently regarding the compassion fatigue and burn out in veterinary medicine.
Organizations such as, “Not One More Vet” and others have brought this problem into the national spotlight. So on April 11, eight members of the Karing for Kreatures team set out to attend the Restore and Reset, Avoiding Burn Out in Veterinary Medicine conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The event was coordinated by Veterinary Growth Partners, an amazing organization that assists veterinary clinics with training regarding communication, conflict, emotional health, and more.
On Saturday morning, the first presenter, Julia Behr, spoke on optimism and resilience. She provided resources and information regarding an optimistic vs. unhealthy response to adversity.
The next speaker was a veterinarian who left the field due to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is the psychological impact and fatigue due to always helping others through suffering, which can cause emotional suffering or even physical symptoms due to continual stress to the care provider. She presented the science of burn out along with physical and mental symptoms to watch out for.
Shawn McVey gave training on igniting change in company culture. He explained how each individual profoundly impacts company culture positively or negatively and how everyone needs to take individual accountability to make improvements and change.
Day two of class began at 8:30 a.m. The topic was discovering personal strengths and setting boundaries. Presenter Rachel Teichberg gave training on assertive communication techniques and boundaries at work and in your personal life. Specifically, learning how to say no without guilt and establishing interpersonal relationships.
Sunday afternoon closed with Michele Philips, the author of “The Happiness Habit.” Her energizing talk taught us that happiness is a daily choice. She encouraged attendees to consider strengths in yourself and others and to search for what brings joy and energy to your life. Many of my team have already purchased her book.
After the conference closed, we had time for one more dinner at another restaurant of Dr. Collins choosing where we shared what we learned with each other.
Vet assistant Hannah Rodrigues said, “The conference was very eye opening and gave me lots of tools to bring back home. I was able to share ideas that our clinic does with my tablemates from other clinics from all over the US. It was great to meet people that I was able to relate with and it made me feel like I was not alone in the way I feel. I am beyond blessed to have spent the weekend with my amazing team bouncing ideas off each other. I am eager to put the new tools into practice and I’m excited to see the progress that is to come!”
Ultimately, I am grateful for the quality time with my team and I was reminded again of the importance of investing time and money into training that is not medical. This time was an opportunity to learn and bond with each other on a personal and professional level. One encouraging thing we learned is that veterinarians are no longer the profession at highest risk of suicide. We have been replaced by human physicians.
I think our industry’s improvement in this area is due to more awareness regarding mental health and self-care and changes that vet med employers are making to ensure the safety and well-being of their staff in addition to their patients. I hope other industries will follow our lead and prioritize their team, so we all can live healthy, fulfilled lives.
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