MightyVet launches veterinary career, well-being support platformMarch 5, 2018 MightyVet today rolled out the first phase of its initiative to promote the education and support of veterinarians, students, vet techs, and other veterinary professionals about the challenges and opportunities faced by those in the veterinary profession. According to the first mental health survey of U.S. veterinarians, one in six veterinarians have considered suicide. Further, study found that the profession has seen a growing trend in the level of veterinary burnout, compassion fatigue, ethics exhaustion, and decreased career satisfaction. To address these trends, the company has gathered resources and experience of passionate veterinarians from frontline practice, specialty and ER, universities, and pet health organizations to provide a resource for real-time sustainable change, according to Steve Weinrauch, BVMS, MRCVS, founder of MightyVet and chief veterinary officer at Trupanion. "MightyVet is an industry-wide movement that offers access to information not otherwise taught as universal core curriculum in veterinary school," said Dr. Weinrauch. "Our profession can be physically and emotionally demanding, and despite the best efforts of so many, nothing has ever truly made a sustained and comprehensive difference. From veterinarian or tech student to retiree, these issues remain and are closer to us than most realize." One …
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AVMA, AAVMC summit to address veterinary well-being cultureFebruary 19, 2018This spring, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, and Zoetis will present the Veterinary Wellbeing Summit 2018, Apr. 15-17 in Chicago to bring about well-being changes in the pforession. At this year's meeting, leaders within the veterinary medical community and other health professionals will gather to focus on strategies and resources for establishing a culture of well-being throughout the profession, according to the AAVMC. "The health and wellness challenges we face in veterinary medicine are real, they are serious, and they require a united and decisive response," said Andrew T. Maccabe, DVM, JD, MPH, AAVMC CEO. "We're gratified to see so many people and organizations working together to address this threat to our profession and the people and animals it serves." For more information or to register, click here.
Veterinarians are mentally well but experience poor well-beingFebruary 17, 2018Veterinarians as a group don't experience psychological distress at significantly higher rates than the general population, according to a new mental health and well-being study by Brakke Consulting and Merck Animal Health. The Merck Animal Health Wellbeing Study, designed to definitively quantify the prevalence of mental illness and stress in the veterinary profession, compared findings to previous studies and to the U.S. population in general. The survey, which polled 3,540 American Veterinary Medical Association members (from a random sample of 20,000), is the first to measure well-being of such a large veterinary sample using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, which is widely used in assessing psychological distress among general and clinical populations. "This survey is unique in that, for the first time, a nationally representative sample of veterinarians in the U.S. were asked about their well-being, which is a broader measure of happiness and life satisfaction than mental health alone," said study investigator Linda Lord, Ph.D., DVM, academic and allied industry liaison lead for Merck Animal Health. One big takeaway is that 5 percent, or 1 in 20, of veterinarians struggle with serious psychological distress (roughly that of the employed general population). "The …
What to do about growing stress in the veterinary professionJanuary 15, 2018Stress is an all-pervasive phenomenon in modern day societies and various professions, but the veterinary discipline suffers from the negative effects of stress and its sequelae at a troublingly disproportionate rate.
Veterinary Mental Health Practitioners forms as part of AAVMCDecember 11, 2017The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) is addressing mental health issues within the profession through its newly established Veterinary Mental Health Practitioners (VMHP) group. The group, which includes all licensed mental health practitioners working within colleges of veterinary medicine, is designed to protect and enhance the health and wellness of veterinary students as they conduct their studies and prepare for professional practice. "Veterinary medical students and doctors grapple with mental health and wellness issues, as do practitioners in other health professions," said Chandra Grabill, Ph.D., VMHP chair, assistant dean for student wellness and engagement at Michigan State University, noting that some of the challenges include depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, interpersonal challenges, and the struggle of balancing professional and personal responsibilities. "By combining our resources, the VMHP group will be in a stronger position to focus on these important issues." The group's goal is to enable all veterinary students to thrive during their education and flourish as veterinary professionals by: Addressing the personal, social, educational, mental health, and career needs of veterinary students; Cultivating a culture that values a healthy, diverse and inclusive veterinary community; Graduating students with competencies necessary to be healthy, successful professionals …
AVMA announces new mental health resource programsAugust 3, 2017Veterinarian mental health is among the top priorities of American Medical Veterinary Association (AVMA), stated the organization, which is why it says it is committed to developing resources to safeguard veterinarians’ emotional well-being.
Veterinary social work program a success for this vet hospitalJuly 6, 2017Compassion fatigue, burnout, depression and other mental health issues are big problems in the veterinary profession; suicide rates for veterinarians are extremely high too. Thankfully, this issue has veterinary school and organizations calling for more counseling and mental wellness practices in the veterinary profession.
Wellness summit covers mental health in veterinary professionJanuary 27, 2017Mental health stressors associated with the veterinary profession—and what can be done about them—were the topic of the fourth annual Veterinary Health and Wellness Summit.
Personal Wellness gets Zoetis' attentionJanuary 18, 2017Zoetis Inc. has beefed up VetVance, the drug maker’s free, online career education platform, by adding seven videos addressing mental health issues as they relate to the veterinary field.
BVA reports falling stress levels among studentsJanuary 16, 2017Veterinary students are under a lot of pressure—classes, tests, little free time and lots of tuition debt—but in the United Kingdom at least, stress levels are declining.
