This week I sent a puppy back home with her owners. Happy and boisterous, there was no sign of the virus which had ripped through her body and left her on deaths door less than a week before. The smile on her owners face was only slightly less enthusiastic than the wagging tail and tugging on the lead as I walked her to the front of the clinic. It was a great experience to have a happy ending after the hard work I’d put into nursing and caring for her over the previous days. Quite simply, it made my day.
The same day I checked the messages sent to me on my tumblr and got one from a biology major asking me if vet school was worth the stress. It’s a good question, vet school is tough, anybody who has done any searching online knows that. There’s no shortage of blogs and posts on social media about the sleepless nights, tough classes, and emotional challenges. I’ve posted my fair share. The question made me think about the perception that people looking in to veterinary medicine as a career have about being a vet, and the message we are putting out about our profession.
Articles about the high rates of suicide, burnout, and compassion fatigue are important, engaging, and fiercely relatable for veterinarians. It’s a reality of the profession that there are serious lows. It’s important that we talk about those things and establish a healthy dialogue so that we can support each other. But for each of those deep dark lows, there are also cloud-tipped highs.
Seeing Practice 