The Joyful DVM Podcast: Empowering Veterinary Professionals

The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us for a year now and will continue to linger for the indefinite future in some way, shape, or form. Veterinary Medicine, like many industries, has been forced to adjust and adapt. A year in, our colleagues in clinical practice are exhausted. Like much of the rest of the world, we’re dreaming of getting back to normal... .... but, we forget that “normal” wasn’t...

I don't care whether or not you stay in veterinary practice, or totally leave every potential job related to a veterinary license behind. I really don't. I care about your personal well-being. I care about your future happiness. I care about your purpose (I KNOW you have one, even if you aren't so sure). I also care about the decision many of us keep making to stay in terrible situa...

What do you hate about Vet Med? I'm guessing creating that list would come pretty easily. I suspect justifying that list with your personal experiences would be effortless. I bet you could even round up a group of colleagues who would agree with you... ... who would share their similar experiences... ... who would create their own, very similar, list. Herein lies one of the sneakiest problems...

The most common response to discomfort is to take action that results in a change. Makes sense from a survival perspective... (especially if you are being pursued by predators.) BUT... this "habit of leaving" isn't doing us any favors in the pursuit of our best lives. Sure, there will be jobs, relationships, and other circumstances in our lives that are not "right fits" fo...

As a veterinary professional you are likely a very smart person. After all, it wasn't by accident that you were able to pass those board examinations to secure your licensure... But something happens to many of us once we get into practice... The real-world becomes overwhelming and confusing. Our logical and strategic left-brained thinking tries to make sense of our experience. Tries. Fails....

What if you were never meant to work in Vet Med forever? What if the clinical practice was only supposed to be a tiny part of your journey? What if you were never supposed to "fit in" there? If these things are true, then did you make a mistake pursuing it in the first place? Many of us would believe Yes. Some of our friends, family members, and colleagues would also believe Yes. I belie...

You and I have at least one thing in common... We both pursued careers in Vet Med. Beyond that, there are similarities, and there are differences. Society and culture would have us believe our differences are problematic. This idea is so integrated that it leaves us comparing ourselves to others... Not measuring up... Concluding that the others have it all together, and we are the outliers who don...

"I just can't do this anymore." Most of us in the veterinary profession have said those words... at least to ourselves. Maybe the last time was after a particularly sad euthanasia. Or, maybe after an ugly encounter with a client. Or, perhaps, when leaving work hours after the scheduled end of your shift. There comes a point for all of us when we are no longer willing to tolerate cer...

Veterinary medicine brings us the opportunity to feel all the feels. You might struggle with that part. I did. I still do, sometimes. If you're anything like me, you probably have a tendency toward perfectionism. Perhaps you beat yourself up from time to time. And, maybe, you use things like junk food, television, shopping, and even overworking to try to feel better. (If I could just get caug...

Our world is full of never-ending opportunities to be stimulated. Veterinary jobs reinforce this with overbooked schedules and chaotic days. The unpredictable nature of practicing medicine doesn't help. Many of us get through our days with a combination of adrenaline and caffeine. We then collapse in physical exhaustion when we get home... but the looping thoughts about work, cases, and life...

Are you experiencing the compounding effect of anxiety and stress? Does it seem like it's getting heavier than usual? You aren't alone! If you're like me, your mind drifts frequently to the "what if..." And, let's face it... with the pandemic, election-related activities, and our own personal and professional challenges... we have a lot of material to work with. It ma...

We often experience an emotional rollercoaster in veterinary medicine. There are extreme moments of happiness, relief, and appreciation... And there are also extreme moments of grief, regret, and fear. However, the framework of our veterinary careers, and entire lives, actually creates no emotion for us at all. Life has two components: Framework Experience The framework is created by facts... data...

There are Four Root Causes of all Anxiety in Vet Med: Unexpected Outcomes Personal Inexperience  Human Interactions Prior Decisions These causes have two things in common: None of them are within our control. All of them are anchored in Fear.  Because they are anchored in fear, they feel extra terrible. They feel like something we need to fix, solve or avoid. They feel like something that threaten...

The new year is coming. So, where do you land? In the camp of excited anticipation? Or in the camp of dread, doubt, uneasiness, and a little bit of fear? No doubt, 2020 threw us a hefty dose of the unexpected... But... ...not really more than any other year. Read that again... Not really more than any other year. What we can predict has remained unchanged. What we control, that's remained unc...

The decisions we make exclusively from our emotional experience often do not create the results we ultimately want. We make decisions this way because we want to feel better. And when we make these decisions rashly. It's simply evidenced that we want to feel better immediately . It works... for a while. When we change our circumstances we automatically experience different emotional feelings....

Thinking about quitting Vet Med? You aren’t alone. Thoughts of leaving this sh*twshow behind are pretty common for a lot of us. Ya, Really! But, why? Here’s where it gets interesting... Why are you thinking about leaving your job? Why are you thinking about ditching the profession altogether? My guess: the VMVs... Blame directed at the Vet Med Villains is the most common response to “Why” we leave...

We put a lot of pressure on happiness. We've turned it into the measure of the quality of our life and career. Of course, we want to be happy! But in pursuit of that, we've turned the absence of happiness into something that it is not. Absence of happiness does not mean something is going wrong. Absence of happiness does not mean something needs to be fixed. Absence of happiness does not...

Some of the hardest components of a veterinary career are amplified by four things: Stressful Client Interactions Unexpected Patient Death Board Complaints / Negative Performance Evaluations Negative Online Business Reviews We try our best to avoid these things...  ... to keep them from happening. And then when they do, we turn inward... > we blame ourselves > we determine we are bad vets or...

In veterinary medicine and life, happiness is never something to be found, it is only something to be created. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions are never created by the events of the world. This faulty conclusion we've drawn about the things that happen to be the cause of the way we feel is defeating. When we believe our happiness (and other emotions) are dependent on the things that happen...

In an uncontrollable world, there is one thing you can control one hundred percent of the time... You. Unfortunately, many of us give away that control, which compounds the impact. The ways in which we give up our control are subtle. We don't recognize these three simple things have a massive negative impact on our lives, self-confidence, and our futures. Those things: People pleasing Failing...

The Vet Med journey is not predictable. Despite the shared experiences of those who’ve gone before, the journeys of others are not indicative of our own. We will forge our own paths. Left to chance, those paths look very similar. But, intentionally decided, they look very different. Vet Med is simply a catalyst. The ultimate question becomes this: How do you determine the value of your life? Are y...

Veterinary Work-Life Balance is an interesting thing. In Vet Med we often lament about not having it ... and we identify it as a must-have when searching for new jobs. Many of us believe the perfect job can make work-life balance a reality for us. So, we actively seek work-life balance, as if it is something to be found... as if it's, something we've misplaced or just not come across yet...

The veterinary environment can be rough. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. We often blame the clients, and their behavior, for our experience. But, it doesn't start there. It starts closer to home. Many of us experience work environments where gossiping and back-stabbing are the norm... ... where "us against them" is common... ... where nobody seems happy, and nobody feels safe. In...

Remember the Bluebirds I talked about back in Episode 11? They taught me a great lesson, which I shared on the podcast, about how to overcome obstacles. (If you haven't listened to Episode 11, consider checking it out.) Turns out, they had more wisdom to share. Perseverance: The ability to keep doing something despite how hard it is and how long it takes to achieve success. When we graduate w...

Uncertainty creates fear. Veterinary Medicine is full of uncertainty. It's no wonder many of us feel stressed, anxious, and worried a lot of the time. Under all of those emotions is fear. We've tried our best to eliminate the uncertainty. We've become control freaks & perfectionists. (okay, okay... so maybe those aren't new traits... but they are more dominant now) ​​ We&ap...