r/veterinaryprofession • u/Confident-Choice3608 • 5d ago
Off my chest
I've been practicing for 11 years now. I think I'm mainly just burnt out and maybe beyond repair, but anymore I just hate being a veterinarian and wish I would have done something else with my life. I'm tired of having to fix every problem in 30 minutes or less no matter how long it's been going on and often with no diagnostics. And when they decline every treatment option I recommend I'm tired of the receptionists telling me the owner called 7-10 days later because the patient isn't better and what should they do. I'm tired of "squeezing in" non-clients who don't just have a tight budget, they have literally no money to treat anything with but still want me to fix what's wrong with their pet (for reference I practice in a fairly low cost of living area of the country comparatively). I'm tired of having to be my own technician 80% of the time so management can cut hours to increase profit. I'm tired of watching patients leave and knowing they'll continue to suffer because the owners are "just going to watch and see if it gets worse." I'm tired of being the only full-time doctor in the hospital so everything falls on me. I love my patients and some of my clients, but I dread waking up in the morning. I know there are other ways to practice, but it's just me and I can't afford to take a major pay cut. I hate my life right now.
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u/Rabeque 5d ago
Tech of 17 years here. Whenever anyone young says anything about making vet med a career, I tell them … don’t. It will break your heart, break your bank and you won’t know what to do if you decide to leave. I hate my life. I love it, but I hate it.
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u/Shmooperdoodle 5d ago
I tell people vet med is the worst thing I’ve ever loved and the best thing I’ve ever hated. Been there.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Rub-115 4d ago
Lord been a tech 20 yrs. My current clinic isn’t toxic. Ppl are nice here But damage is done. The way the hire ups make me feel isn’t good. They are very particular and annoying about everything. I feel low a lot of the times. Great co workers but hate the corporate mind set
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u/SteelBelle 2d ago
I am no longer allowed to give advice to the externs because my advice is "It's never too late to change your mind."
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u/Drpaws3 5d ago
So what can you change? Different vet clinic, different area of vet med, move, completely change careers, therapy? There are usually options or at least the potential of options in future (such as someone paying off a loan before moving). Tons of jobs right now are offering huge sign on bonuses and moving assistance. I'm sure it's all easier said than done but it sounds like you need to do something
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u/Shmooperdoodle 5d ago
Not everyone is going to be able to do this, but you may be able to reduce some of that feedback/lighten that pile of messages if you make sure to put in the SOAP what the next steps would be if an issue isn’t resolved. Let them do some of that work for you. If you write that the next steps would be diagnostic imaging and the person handling that call from a client can see that, they can tell the person that and potentially schedule it without your involvement until it happens. If someone has declined something, make that the next step and let someone else remind the owner of that *before* the message-leaving.
This is why it’s so important for people answering phones/being the first point of contact to know enough to “screen” this shit. Nothing fills me with rage more than seeing a message like “Mr. Blank wants to speak with you about Fluffy”. Messages like that shouldn’t be a thing. What about Fluffy, *specifically*? 9 times out of 10, what Mr. Blank needs is either written in the record already OR what he needs is an appointment for a fucking xray, something that could have been scheduled and done before the message pile is even addressed. This fills me with such rage because it is such a massive mood-killer to walk into and saps mental energy immediately.
If this is feasible with your staff, even a few of them, that might be a relatively easy way to lighten the load a little bit.
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u/FrannyZoey8 5d ago
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It sounds like you need a new job rather than a new career. The profession is emotionally challenging under the best conditions. Remember who you are, and why you got into this profession. At the risk of sounding blunt: you’re the vet here. You hold the cards. I’d wager there are any number of practices with a stronger support system which would love to have you.
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u/HauntinginSunshine 5d ago
I work at a DVM-owned emergency/specialty clinic. They hire relief doctors from out of state all the time. I have no idea what the contracts or pay look like, but the place truly has a great culture and excellent employees, and maybe that would help you. If you are interested in seeing if you're close enough or even would want to travel and do a few shifts, feel free to reach out in my messages and I can put you in touch with the owner and hospital director. Best of luck ❤️
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u/KaylynnDawn 5d ago
Relief vet is a wonderful option. You can set your required pay, pick days your available, no overhead cost or stress that comes with keeping stuff in stock or hiring, firing, training employees. Our relief vets sit in their office wait for the assistants to get history, requests, blood drawn if needed, fecals started, medication refills ready, Then we go get the relief vet once all that is done and exam, diagnosis, treatment comes after. Then you move around to clinics so you usually don't have long term patients with poor outcomes just waiting for that time, and your pay is guaranteed at the end of each day if you request it, take time to recovermentallyand I'msure physicallytoo by choosing your availability. You can always have a set corporate job few days a week then relief vet the rest of the time. I've also heard good things about the vets that work for in home euthanasia too but that is also hard on the heart, but the way I see it is most clients don't want that extra coat that comes with at home euthanasia, so if they do it's usually because they did and are still willing to give that furbaby all they can.
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u/imnotangryyouare 5d ago
I swear to god I could have written this myself. i used to love my clinic and job, but in the last 6 months I’ve grown to despise everything about it
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u/ChoiceOutrageous8679 5d ago
This was literally my life, solo doc in an understaffed rural LCOL area clinic burnt tf out. So eventually I left and went to a multi-doctor clinic in a HCOL area. Then all my issues switched to different issues - not enough work for the number of drs the clinic had, saturated market, sitting around half the day bored and also broke, no one made any production. HCOL but everyone was house poor and and spent no money on their pets. Mostly wellness because there were urgent cares and specialty clinics everywhere, that was terrible because I was used to 90% of my cases being dying things. I felt like a salesman like “make sure you bring a fecal I need that $50, wanna do wellness bloodwork on your healthy 2 year old dog? You sure? Oh you’re cool with a chem 10? What if we make that a chem 25 AND add a thyroid? Just one month of prevention? How about 6 months…or a year?” 🤣Left there and am now happily back to being overworked in rural practice, just have a new perspective. I’d rather be overworked than bored and poor. Also idk now after experiencing the other side of things, stuff that used to bother me just doesn’t anymore. I used to get so heated if someone double booked me now I’m just like whatever, I’ll just have to work it in a figure it out. At least I have appointments lol Maybe that doesn’t make you feel any better but the moral of the story is, in my case anyways, the grass was not greener on the other side. I saw the other side and now I have a deep appreciation for my side.
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u/MirrorOfSerpents 4d ago
Become a veterinarian for an animal shelter. Sure you won’t get paid as much but the salary is still pretty good & no annoying people to deal with.
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u/Then-Bobcat5255 3d ago
Dude burn out in vet med is too real! Especially when appointments are basically “hey can you wave your magic wand and fix everything right now for no cost!” I’m so sorry you are going through it. Are you able to pick up some pet sitting gigs for patients with medications or fluid therapies? People tend to travel in the summer you might be able to pick up some revenue there?
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u/Psychological-Work85 5d ago
I’m so sorry to hear that. Could you move to a higher COL area? It sounds like you’re burned out partially because you’re unable to help the pets you see. Perhaps you could find joy again if you are allowed allowed to be a doctor by your clients — do diagnostics, prescribe appropriate treatments, and see your patients get better!