Jessica Vogelsang DVM

Perhaps in no other societal system [The United States of America] is this positive view of codependent behavior more evident than in the health care system. The health profession, with its emphasis on devotion to the care of others, is an ideal medium for the expression of the codependent person. It has been purported that many codependent persons have become professional caregivers for this very reason.

Clark and Stoffel, 1992, p.823

I have been a veterinarian for over nine years and I cannot open my social media these days without reading another article on veterinarian psychology, suicide, and a general sense of anxiety about the direction and culture of our profession. This topic, although somewhat disheartening, is a welcome breath from the culture of silence that I entered into as a naïve 26 year old. I have to ask myself, are we really hitting the nail on the head with our self-diagnosis? Or, are we speaking about the corners and edges of a bigger problem in our noble profession.

 

It’s is my belief that veterinary medicine has mis-stepped in two different ways in the last 40+ years fostering a culture of codependency that is self-destructive to our most vital members: the health care team.

 

First, we have to look at what Codependency is to understand my concerns. My favorite definition of the term is offered by Clark and Stoffel’s 1992 research article Assessment of Codependent Behavior in 2 Health Student Groups. They identify codependents as having “(A willingness) to sacrifice so much of themselves that they set aside their own physical, emotional, and psychological needs for the sake of others. They are detrimentally selfless.”

 

Does this sound familiar? I know it does for me.  It reminds me of the time I needed to see my own doctor for the first time in over 18 months. I had arranged with my employer to be covered over my lunch break to rush to my physician’s office for needed attention. As I was entering my doctor’s office, I received a phone call about a coding patient and was told to return to work immediately. My employer had been unreachable, and it turns out there was only me to help save that cat. I missed my appointment.  Frustrated, I cried as I drove back to work.

 

So how has veterinary medicine missed the mark?  First of all, I believe that the recruiting process has selectively chosen a population of promising candidates that are prone to the problems of codependency.  Historically, the students with the highest GPAs and the most selfless societal contributions have been hand picked for the coveted spots in our educational system. Alice Miller’s ground-breaking book The Drama of the Gifted Child describes a subset of children, often the product of an alcoholic or neglectful family situation that adapt by earning the attention they need to survive.  They become flawless at both accolades and the intuition needed to traverse their treacherous home-life.  They look like superstars on paper, complete with the compassion our profession reveres. Indeed, they look good enough to deserve a spot in the next freshman class.  We are seeking codependents in our interviewing process.

 

The second key component of this complex topic lies within the four walls of the typical American veterinary hospital.  I hear whispers of it every day when I’m at work. A stressed new veterinarian saying to me “I want to produce more than any other doctor at this hospital.” When I asked her why, slightly perplexed, she answered that it was of course, not about the money (it never is in our profession!) it was about proving her worth to her employer.

 

It makes me think back to a time when I did emergency work as a new veterinarian. I was asked to come in on the following day to do a corrective surgery on a failed eyelid procedure without pay, when the rest of the hospital was closed, in the middle of the largest blizzard the region had had in 15+ years.  Huh? Does that sound reasonable to anyone? Is the bar set so high in our profession that striving past reasonable limits is the only way to feel successful?  In no way does the blame rest squarely on one section of the profession.  I believe leaders and practice owners are under a separate set of stressors that can become overwhelming in their own personal lives. The truth remains; we are encouraging codependents as the prototypical “ideal worker.”

 

Blame need not be placed, but maybe a new understanding needs to happen in this kinder, gentler version of veterinary medicine that is slowly gestating. If you find yourself detrimentally selfless, struggling with martyrdom, self-sacrificing, and functioning with an empty vessel of self-compassion, there are resources for help available through CODA (codependents anonymous) and even AL anon.

 

I leave this topic with a few personal words of advice. It’s OK to say NO. It’s OK to turn away an abusive client.  It’s OK to see your own doctor, counselor, or your loved ones.  We all need to look in the mirror and practice unqualified self-compassion.  Try it tonight.

 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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Dr. Kara Moore received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Florida in 2008, after which she practiced emergency medicine for 3 years in the northeast.

In 2011, Dr. Moore and her navigator, Bruce the Boston terrier, took the trip down to Texas, where Austin became not just a new home, but a way of life.  She is currently practicing medicine as a relief veterinarian in the greater Austin area.

Veterinary medicine is an exciting field with every day being different from all the others.  You never know what’s going to happen, and that’s part of the reason I signed up for this job.  Most veterinary clinics are happy to schedule you an appointment to address your pet’s preventative health care needs as well as getting them in when they aren’t feeling well.  I say most clinics because there are a few walk-in clinics out there.  But what happens when you don’t have an appointment and you walk in, especially if you don’t call ahead with heads up?

 

Now granted there are times that are true emergencies and maybe calling ahead slips your mind or is not safe.  That’s completely understandable.  I’m talking about all those other times when a pet may have been not feeling well or having a problem for even just a short while or in many cases at least a few days.  Some examples running the spectrum from scratching at the ears, broken toenails, a sudden onset of limping to not eating for 3-4 days, vomiting or diarrhea for a week, or urinating outside the litterbox for a few weeks (yes, this happens).

 

Once you arrive at the clinic with your pet, the team will assess the degree of severity of their problem.  Yes, just like human ERs, we will put a priority on the more urgent cases first.  Pets that have had a seizure, collapse, trouble breathing, or being hit by a car will typically be taken to the treatment room immediately.  Right away the team will get to work on stabilizing them but sometimes, those minutes can be precious.  If we do know you’re on your way, we can be better prepared to help your pet.  However, there are going to be some rare circumstances in which the clinic won’t be able to help you.  At certain times, the doctor may not be in the building, they might be in surgery, or they might already be dealing with another critically ill pet.  A phone call might allow us to save you time in one of these circumstances.

 

For those non-emergency problems, your vet might still be able to see you.  Might….that’s a touchy proposition for a pet with a problem.  The vet’s office could be fully booked with appointments and that could mean a wait.  For a lot of people, waiting around in a doctor’s office might not be anything new.  But for your pets, if can be a time of anxiety and uncertainty.  I’ve seen waits be as short as 15-20 minutes to over an hour long.  Certainly, if an appointment doesn’t show up your pet might get bumped up in the order but unless it’s truly urgent, why make them stress about sitting there?  In some situations, your pet might not be able to be seen at all and it will involve a second trip to the clinic with a scheduled appointment time.

 

So please do try and call the veterinary clinic before just walking in.  We want to work with you in making sure your pet has a happy, healthy life.  Part of that involves helping us be prepared so a phone call can go a long way to doing that if you’re able.  Health care truly is a team effort by receptionist, technicians, the veterinarian, and you!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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About the Author

Dr. Ryan Llera is a small animal veterinarian at the Kingston Veterinary Clinic in Kingston, Ontario. Though originally from Florida, he married a Canadian (who is also a vet!) and they share their home with 3 cats, 2 dogs, 2 horses and a pet rabbit. Ryan is also a regular guest writer for the Ontario SPCA blog. You can find more of his writing at www.drryanllera.com or see what else he is up to on Facebook & Instagram.

I want you to imagine a scenario. Let’s say you’re in charge of bringing snacks for an annual work party. You decide to make your favorite cupcakes. You spend hours gathering ingredients, mixing them together, toiling away at a hot oven. You take your culinary vision to the clinic get together and everyone takes one. They must love it! So, you spend year after year recreating this exquisite dessert and bringing it to your coworkers. You get excited that it’s been such a hit.

Here’s the secret: No one likes your cupcakes. They take them every year to be polite. People smile and choke down this concoction and no one tells you that you needed more sugar or that the frosting tastes like colored lard. How would that feel to know that you had been investing all this time year after year recreating a lackluster dessert when you could have tried something new? I’m pretty sure my first thoughts would be “Why did no one tell me these cupcakes tasted like crap?” That’s pretty damn frustrating.

So now, I bring you to a vet clinic. You love your job. You do it every day and have a routine. You fit into the clinic social structure and every one seems to get along! Oh, what a dream clinic you have come across. Here’s the thing, several staff members have come to management with concerns about how you talk to them. It’s not that you’re talking down to them; your words just come across harshly.

You were promised a yearly review to discuss your progress and things you can improve upon. But the owner just worked their seventh day in a row and your review was supposed to be on Friday. It’s now Monday and the schedule is now double booked and there’s an emergency surgery that needs to be done during lunch time. So your annual review gets put on the back burner until things slow down. They don’t. And if they do, it’s time to work on projects to bring in new clients or generate business.

This happens year after year. Those staff members who’ve complained about your blunt demeanor stopped bringing it up a long time ago. They now avoid discussion with you and the clinic has become very separated. You feel tension and resentment in the air, but you don’t quite know why….  You begin to feel frustrated and isolated. You begin updating your resume because you dread coming into work because it feels lonely. How were you to know that something that began years ago has left a sour taste in your teammate’s mouth? No one told you!

Reviews are something that should be done on a scheduled basis. When they aren’t and issues are pushed aside, it’s only a matter of time before the clinic culture implodes. I know what all you bosses out there are thinking. “I don’t have time to give a review or the money to spend if an employee asks for a raise.”

Here’s the thing. Reviews do not equate a raise. This is a very common misconception and one that puts the review process at a standstill. Reviews are feedback. Reviews should consist of positive aspects such as excellent work ethic, or ability to multitask without direction. Give appreciation and thanks for employee efforts.

Reviews should also consist of items that the employee needs to work on such as communicating with co-workers and clients or improving their restraint. Ideally things that need to be improved on would have a plan detailing ways to achieve this with the clinic’s support. This doesn’t have to be annual, it can be weekly, quarterly, or biannually. The point of the review is to open dialogue, give credit where it is due and encourage growth and development.

The takeaway is this; no one wants to bake crappy cupcakes. Just because no one stopped inviting you to the annual get together, it doesn’t make it any better. If you had known your cupcakes needed more sugar, you would’ve switched to cream cheese frosting instead of buttercream, or maybe you would’ve realized that you should have brought an appetizer instead. Employers are expected to not just provide a job but encourage the growth of their employees and therefore their practice.  Now, about that review….Make time for it.  No one wants to bake or eat bad cupcakes.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jade is a licensed technician of 9 years who lives in Port Orchard, Washington. She enjoys emergency and critical cases, dentistry and creating a bond with her clients and team. During her off time she is busy keeping up with her two crazy Basenjis!

Have you ever taken a step back and wondered what others think about you as a colleague? Do you consider yourself kind, giving, patient, considerate of others, and respectful or is it all about you, everyone else be damned? Most of us would say that we don’t care what others think but in reality, you should. Who you are and how you conduct yourself, especially in a team culture, can make a lasting imprint on others and your reputation in veterinary medicine.

Your reputation will follow you throughout your career whether you like it or not. Once you have given someone the wrong perception of yourself, it is very hard to convince them otherwise. It will also be tough to convince a future employer that you are any different than the reputation that proceeds you. I can promise you that the veterinary industry is smaller than you think, and I know someone that you know. It is a small world after all.

Have you thought about why you didn’t get the job even though you were a rock star at your last clinic? Constantly wonder why you didn’t get a call in the first place? What about that promotion you have applied to over and over again even though you are qualified? I can tell you from experience that it is based on feedback from your previous employer or a reference that didn’t go the way you were expecting.

For example, I once received an awesome resume for a potential employee. It was perfectly formatted and the applicant had a stellar education background as well as being employed locally. I was so excited to let the owner of the hospital know that we had a winner! When I mentioned the name to the owner, the first word out of their mouth was the applicant was a definite no.

This particular person (based on feedback from previous clients who now go to this hospital I am hiring for) did not show any compassion towards clients or patients, was short tempered and had no personality whatsoever. This particular instance is one where reputation won’t even get you an interview based on client feedback. Funny thing is, does the applicant even know that they have a reputation?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you demonstrate patience with others in a teaching environment or do you become impatient very easily?
• Do you inspire others or is it all about you? Do you listen to your coworkers or interrupt them to get your point across?
• Do you believe in a team or would you rather do it yourself?
• Do you take more than you give?
• Do you keep to yourself while doing your job or gossip at the expense of others?
• Do you believe you are an equal or above everyone else?

If you answered yes to the first part of each question, congratulations on being you. You are compassionate, giving, happy, genuine, thoughtful and someone I would be proud to be on a team with. If you answered no, then Houston, we have a problem.

Here are three ways that could easily damage your reputation in veterinary medicine:

1. Lack of Work Ethic

You do the bare minimum to get by, always make excuses, are lazy, constantly late, always looking at the clock, never stay late, procrastinates, love to gossip, have poor attendance, and lack a professional appearance.

2. Bad Attitude

You are always whining, complaining, rude to coworkers, contagiously negative, speak nonstop offensive language, are aggressive, bossy, entitled, cruel, harsh, temperamental, and condescending to others.

3. Not a Team Player

You feel you are above or better than the rest of the team, lack support and compassion for others, lack flexibility, blame others, are irresponsible and selfish, don’t believe in the common goal, are unproductive and unmotivated, avoid others, or are detached from work and unreliable.

If you lack work ethic, have a bad attitude and don’t care about your teammates, then it might be time to find a job where you work by yourself so that the only damage you are doing is to yourself.  If you can relate to any of these, there is still time for you to change and remember where you came from instead of being bitter, mad and an ass all of the time. Our reputation is just like a credit score. It is easier to damage than repair it, but with time, effort and determination, it can be done. You just have to care and acquire the motivation to do so.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tosha has been a CVT since 2002 working in emergency, internal medicine and neurology. She has a passion for mentoring technicians to create a more positive work environment. When Tosha is not interviewing prospective candidates for Veterinary Practice Partners and their hospitals, you may find her dancing at a country music concert or relaxing at home in her hammock with Jagger and Dirty.

 

 

This content is sponsored by Petplan. 

Lipomas, tumors and bumps, oh my! Few things are as full of medical potential as an unexplained bump. Cancer? Cyst? Foreign body? Why all the mystery when we can stick a needle in it and figure it out? We all have our favorite masses to remove, from the quick clip of a pedunculated dermal mass to the ooey gooey gratification of an abscess in need of draining.

If there’s one thing we love to do here at DrAndyRoark, it’s pontificate on the tough questions, which is why we bring you today’s quiz to answer the age old problem: If you were a mass, which one would you be?

While DrAndyRoark.com has received compensation for this post from Petplan, all opinions expressed are those of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.

I have two school age kids, so needless to say I will be seeing Beauty and the Beast this weekend, and probably the weekend after that, and maybe a few times after then as well. It’s a nice moment come full circle for me, as I was in high school when the original came out so now I get to share something I loved with my kids. That being said, the years have not dulled my conflicted feelings towards the flick.

Beauty and the Beast is a great movie that is also seriously messed up. At sixteen years of age when I saw the cartoon for the first time, I was just beginning to understand how relationships were supposed to work. But even in my fledgling state I was taken aback by the notion that this really intelligent, independent woman would go full Stockholm syndrome with a buffalo mutant with anger management issues and this was somehow aspirational. Because this was pre-internet I had no one to discuss this with. My date for the movie- more of a Gaston type, sadly- thought the thematic issues were great. So, I thought, it’s just me being cynical.

This movie set the stage for a good many examples of me putting up with things that I really shouldn’t have been ok with. I blame Disney for my generation’s woes. But it’s actually a really great analogy for life in the clinic, isn’t it? We see all these characters every day:

1.Belle

Well, you’re Belle, of course. Feisty, smart, fiercely devoted to knowledge and those you love. We all knew Belle was going to grow up to work in the veterinary field if she hadn’t detoured to be a hostage; we all saw the way she handled getting that demanding jerk Gaston out the back door after his marriage proposal, right?

via GIPHY

2.Gaston

Speaking of Gaston, yes, we all know and abhor him. Gaston is every awful person who comes barging into the clinic two minutes before closing saying, “Do you KNOW who I am?” and demanding you drop what you’re doing to fill a prescription for a pet you’ve never seen. Gaston is the client who talks over you when you’re explaining a diagnosis, because he has a bigger, better diagnosis. He feeds his wolf hybrid that one food you hate and laughs when his maneater snaps at you because clearly, you’re showing too much fear. He’s paleo and makes sure you know it.*

Gaston mansplains the gender wage gap to you, without being asked for his opinion. He never learns your name, referring to you as “The Ladyvet” to the front desk staff, occasionally holding his hands in front of his chest for emphasis. He snaps his fingers at the technicians, who have all stated a strong preference for deep cleaning the freezer in the parvo ward rather than talk to him.

3.Lumiere

Lumiere is the one co-worker who keeps you all sane. Lumiere has five different names for Gaston, none of them nice but all of them hysterical. Lumiere entertains you by talking as the pets in the back and giving them all different voices, and is the one you send in with your most difficult clients because you know he can charm them into submission. On his days off, you text him stories that just can’t wait until you’re both working. You know Lumiere probably also has a nickname for you that isn’t super flattering but he’s so funny that you don’t even care.

via GIPHY

4.Mrs. Potts

Every clinic needs a Mrs. Potts, who serves as the matriarch (or patriarch!) and heart of your hospital. When you’ve had one of those days, with five euthanasias and six Gastons and Lumiere is on vacation, when you’re looking longingly at the oxygen delivery man and re-thinking your life choices because he gets to leave and you don’t, Mrs. Potts hands you a Snickers. She knows that a little chocolate goes a long way. She has a perspective much longer than yours, which makes sense because she managed to forgive her boss for turning her into a teapot and you’re not sure you could.

via GIPHY

5. The Beast

Need I say it? The Beast is veterinary medicine itself. You’re both drawn and repelled, experiencing deep love and seething disdain, depending on the day. Some days the Beast treats you with kindness and respect, and the next he’s howling at you because you walked up the wrong set of stairs. He is loving and playful, manipulative and harsh. You try to run away, you know he’s no good for you, and yet here you are, because there’s nowhere else you want to be. His heart is in the right place, you suppose, but even when the dust has settled and he’s turned back into a wide eyed human prince-man, you never forget the damage he inflicted on you, all in the name of love.

via GIPHY

* a veterinarian who is also a DACVN wants to point out that with all those eggs Gaston eats he must have some very serious cholesterol issues. This is what happens when veterinarians get together.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the DrAndyRoark.com editorial team.