03/06/2021
PSA: Be kind to your veterinarians and their staff.
This week, 2 veterinarians (3/6/21: ETA: 3 veterinarians and 1 technician) took their lives, leaving behind family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
Veterinarians are 2-3.5 times more likely to die by su***de than the general population.
Why? We get to play with puppies and kittens and foals all day, right?
Some of the identified reasons for this phenomenon include:
- Demands of practice such as long work hours, work overload, and practice management responsibilities.
- Ever-increasing educational debt-to-income ratio.
- Poor work-life balance.
- Access to euthanasia solution used for animals and the training to calculate a dose that could also be lethal in people.
What can you, as a client and pet owner, do to help?
- Be kind. This should go for life in general, but realize that veterinarians face extraordinary demands beyond what you see. In the closed exam room, owners demand to know what is wrong with their pet but don't want to do any diagnostics. Owners don't follow through with treatment recommendations but then blame the vet that the pet didn't get better. They complain about prices when the vet may not have any control over the pricing. And even if they do, it's a business. We are one of the few professions that gets chastised and bullied for trying to make a living. In most cases, you have choices of where to go for veterinary care. Call around if you don't like the cost of doing business at your chosen vet clinic.
Did you have a good experience at your vet clinic? Show it! Leave a review, write a note, refer a friend.
Did you have a bad experience? Discuss this with the practice manager, the owner of the practice, or the veterinarian directly. If you have concerns over the treatment of your pet, consider speaking to the state veterinary board. While veterinarians may shudder at this, this is the best method to have a non-biased evaluation of the veterinary care your pet has received. Taking it to the Court of Public Opinion (i.e., Facebook) leaves only one side of the story exposed. As much as we would like to respond, we are limited by client confidentiality laws. Imagine if you had something said about you that was possibly partially or even completely untrue and you were unable to defend yourself? Allow the state board to investigate both sides and determine if malpractice occurred.
- Plan ahead. Have an emergency pet fund. Accidents happen, pets get sick. If you have a horse, it's inevitable. The veterinarian should not have to foot the bill for your horse, dog, or cat. We usually have enough of our own to take care of. Be up front with your financial limitations. Look into pet/horse insurance. There are affordable options out there. Do NOT put this financial burden on your veterinarian. Guess what, you're not the first or likely the 5th person to ask to make payments on their bill THAT DAY. And if a vet doesn't allow payments, it's likely because they've been burned by people who promised to pay back the money owed.
- Stop bothering your vet/vet friend/vet family member/vet acquaintance you used to know in grade school on Facebook messenger or text message, especially out of hours. Let the vet rest. The vet may respond kindly, but know that they do not appreciate these messages. We all need time to wind down, leave work behind, and decompress.
- Realize that the pandemic has changed veterinary practice. While you may be frustrated at curbside care, don't argue with it - this is a choice veterinarians have made to keep their staff safe. If you do not like it, find another veterinarian that suits your needs. Curbside has added extra demands on the vet and staff - instead of being able to talk to you through the exam, they need to call to go over findings. Do you know how many people don't have their phone on, are on a phone call, or don't answer their phone when called about their pet's exam, despite being asked to be prepared for a call? This adds time to the vet's day (and then they often get yelled at for not calling! What?!?) When asked to stay in the parking lot, people often leave for errands. This adds to the day even more. If the person bringing in the pet is not able or allowed to make decisions on the care of the pet, this should be made clear immediately so the person in charge can be contacted directly, versus having to have the same conversation twice. Realize that, although considered essential workers and open since the beginning of the pandemic, veterinarians are still not considered high enough in the ranks to be vaccinated in many states. Isn't that a kick in the pants?!
There are many more reasons why a vet's day can be overwhelming - these are just a few of the big ones, in my opinion.
Ask your vet how they are doing. Offer support if you are concerned.
Some further information:
https://www.nomv.org/in-the-news/
https://time.com/5670965/veterinarian-su***de-help/
Some resources to share with your veterinarian or their staff if you have concerns:
https://visp.caresforyou.org/welcome.cfm
https://www.betterhelp.com/nomv/
https://su***depreventionlifeline.org/
If you are interested in QPR training (Question. Persuade. Refer.), see here:
https://qprinstitute.com/
