Why Are Veterinarians Prone to Professional Burn-Out?

Deborah Stone, MBA, PhD, CVPM, CEO of STONE Veterinary Practice Management, discusses why veterinarians are more likely to experience work-related burn-out.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Actually, burn-out is a problem in every profession, but specifically with the veterinary profession. Doctors deal with heavy caseloads, long days, team members take home work as well, and therefore, oftentimes they keep going and going and going and going until they get a little toasty and it’s called burn-out. Some of the signs you may see, for instance, a team member may get quiet; they may get a little depressed or they may get short. So, oftentimes it’s just not taking care of themselves. In other words, if we don’t put on the oxygen mask for ourselves, how could we possibly take care of those around us?

We have heavy caseloads; we never know what’s going to come through the door; we sometimes don’t stop; we sometimes don’t think it’s okay to stop; we say, ‘yes’ to so many things and then at the end of the day we continue our work and it just never seems to end. [Oftentimes], we don’t give ourselves permission to just stop, take care of ourselves, and breathe.”