Prioritizing Mental Health in Veterinary Medicine

Mental wellness. It’s a topic at the forefront of the minds of nearly every veterinary practice owner we speak to. 

Today’s reality is that most veterinary teams are significantly overworked and understaffed due to a national shortage of practitioners and technicians — with long hours, poor work-life balance, overwhelming student loan debt, and the emotional nature of the work resulting in extreme stress and burnout. Dedicated doctors and staff members often spend even scheduled days-off caring for patients in need during emergency situations.

Adding to these factors are the lasting effects of COVID “pandemic fatigue,” when individuals adopted pets by the millions, causing a steep spike in the need for routine care and placing strain on practitioners and staff to absorb this additional work while at the same time dealing with the inherent risks of contracting the virus while doing their jobs.

According to data from the AVMA and VetX International, all of these factors combine to contribute to rising rates of burnout, employee turnover, and even suicide for distressed veterinary professionals.

Partners Who Care About People

Whether yours is a solo practice or one of the increasing number of practices that is partnering with a corporation, it is vital that you actively try to identify and solve these complex issues that you or your staff may be facing.

As a company that partners with a growing number of practices nationwide each year, EverVet is committed to keeping an open dialogue surrounding mental health initiatives with our practitioners and teams. We encourage them to come to us early to discuss issues so we can lean in and help. In many cases, our teams find relief in the form of an adjustment in scheduling, a reduction in workload, and/or additional resources and training. 

The list of mental health services we currently offer our partner practices include:

• An employee-assistance program that provides up to 12 mental health appointments per year (once monthly)
• Leadership training for managers and anyone who is dealing with difficult conversations with teams and patients
• Flexible scheduling with part-time, full-time, and days-only options available — all of which are less than 40 hours per week; full-time employees work 30 hours per week with full benefits
• Benefits that support our teams’ ability to go on vacations and take an appropriate amount of maternity leave
• An operational approach that helps doctors focus on care, while experienced managers and support staff oversee administrative functions
• Tangible professional development opportunities that support staffing needs, including a vet practice manager program, and tuition assistance for developing new technicians through Penn Foster’s online training program 

The bottom line is that we’re committed to being a true partner and a trusted resource, and we’re right there to help you be more successful, happy, and comfortable in your role.

Ready to start a conversation? Reach out today.