Veterinary Practices and Employee Assistance Programs

By Alera Group Small Business Unit

What do you know about the mental health of your staff? Are they able to handle the stresses that being a veterinarian can create? Emotional and physical demands, financial pressures, long hours and high workload all come with the territory and place the mental health of your employees at risk. Unfortunately, studies have shown that veterinarians are at a higher risk for suicide compared to the general population.

• One out of 6 veterinarians has considered suicide, according to studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While male vets are 1.6 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, female vets are 2.4 times more likely, and 80% of vets are women.1

• A survey of more than 11,000 U.S. veterinarians in 2014 found 9% had current serious psychological distress, 31% had experienced depressive episodes, and 17% had experienced suicidal ideation since leaving veterinary school.2

Harrowing statistics to be sure. But identifying an issue is the first step to finding a solution. Focusing on the health and wellness of your staff can be done in many ways. Allowing workers more control or flexibility over their schedules, as well as increasing the stability of schedules can be a great first step— as well as evaluating how your company culture can support the mental health of your staff. One of the best things you can do is talk to your employees! How often have you sat down and discussed what is going well and what isn’t? It can be difficult to find this time during the day, but it’s well worth the effort. You know how stressful the career can be, so checking in with your employees and coworkers on these issues can go a long way in understanding how you can help best:

1. Work-related stress: Veterinarians are often subjected to high levels of stress, including long working hours, demanding clients, difficult cases, and the emotional toll of working with sick and injured animals.

References

2. Compassion fatigue: Veterinarians are also at risk of developing compassion fatigue, a condition in which the stress of caring for others, particularly sick or suffering animals, can lead to emotional exhaustion and a reduced ability to empathize.

3. Mental health: Like anyone else, veterinarians may struggle with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

4. Work-life balance: It’s tough for veterinarians to balance their work and personal lives given the long hours and demanding nature of veterinary work.

Discussing these items can help lead you into a course of action. But perhaps the most impactful action you can take isn’t just being there to help your employees, but rather giving your employees the tools to help themselves! One way to do this is through an employee assistance program (EAP). These programs can be extremely important for veterinarians to help manage stress and prevent burnout. EAPs can help veterinarians recognize the signs of compassion fatigue and provide tools to manage it, as well as provide confidential access to mental health resources and counseling services to help veterinarians cope with these issues. In short, an EAP can provide veterinarians with the resources and support they need to manage the unique stresses and challenges of their profession, maintain their mental health, and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

The best news here is that as a PVMA member, you have access to Employee Assistance Programs! The Alera Group Small Business Unit isn’t just here to help members with health insurance, dental/vision and voluntary benefits – we’re here to support everything that a small to mid-sized company might need. We can help you set up an EAP program for your staff, as well as provide human resource support through the AleraHR program. To learn more, let us know how we can help by visiting www.AleraGroupSBU.com/PVMA !

1 Dembosky, A. (2022, April 8). It’s not just doctors and nurses. Veterinarians are burning out, too. NPR, Morning Edition 2 Chan, M. (2019, September 12). Veterinarians Face Unique Issues That Make Suicide One of the Profession’s Big Worries. Time, US Health.

By PVMA Secretary/Treasurer Bill Croushore, DVM

I vividly recall one veterinary conference where, during the business meeting, one of the seasoned practitioners made a pitch for more members to step up and volunteer to take a seat on a committee. His delivery, however, was unorthodox. The thrust of his talk was to compel the younger members of the organization to step up, because he—and many other members of the committees at the time—were, in his words, “old farts.” It was time for some new blood.

I sat there and thought that compared to his experience, and the experience of his fellow “old farts,” that I couldn’t possibly be of any service to the association. I couldn’t, at least, be as effective as those with far more experience. But his case indeed was compelling, so I mustered up some courage to volunteer. Once a part of the committee, I found it wasn’t as difficult, nor as time consuming, as I expected.

I’ve volunteered for many years in various organizations, associations and groups, and there is only one reason why I volunteered – it is because I was asked. Now, I’m asking you.

If you are a recent graduate and feel like you don’t have the necessary experience to contribute effectively to a committee, you’re wrong. You might not be ready to chair a committee, yet, but you can contribute. In fact, we need the contributions of new graduates, both large animal and companion animal, practitioners and managers, private and public sector members to keep our association great. Ours is the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, a diverse group of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and allied professionals working to advance the whole profession. And you already know that the best way to gain experience is to just do it.

If you’ve been in practice for a while, yet still not long in the tooth, well, we need your help too. I’m asking you also for your contribution. Your knowledge and understanding of the current challenges are vital to helping the association and advance the veterinary profession in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And to the “old farts,” I’m not letting you off the hook. I’m now part of that esteemed group of practitioners who are on the back nine of their career. I haven’t seen everything yet, but I’ve seen a lot, and I feel like I have more to contribute. You do, too. I’m asking you now, please help. Your vast experience can be a guide to those younger practitioners that are going to lead this profession through the challenges of educating our membership, advocating for our profession in Harrisburg, and mentoring those newer members of the profession.

The PVMA has two main committees in need of volunteers right now: the Scientific Program Committee and the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee. The Scientific Program Committee, as the name implies, is concerned with putting together the program for the upcoming scientific meetings, of which the PVMA does 3 annually. As you can imagine, it takes some major planning to pull this off. That’s where the committee comes in. The Scientific Program Committee makes recommendations for speakers, and in the past, has made recommendations on various options for entertainment and banquet speakers. If committee members want to reach out directly to speakers, to network and make connections for example, they may do that. Typically, the PVMA staff will handle that. When I was on the committee, I relished the opportunity to make contacts with some of the rock stars of the veterinary profession. You can call that a perk of the job. Committee members direct themes for the meetings and pick their favorite speakers or topics and can set the tone for the meetings. If there’s a particular topic that you want to see addressed at the meeting, this is your opportunity to have some influence.

The second committee, just as important, is the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee (LRAC). This committee’s goal is to advocate for the profession in Harrisburg. The PVMA has a long history of cooperation with the state government. We are the “go to” source of information for legislators and their staff on topics that involve the veterinary profession, animal agriculture, and animals in general. Through the PVMA, veterinarians have a loud voice when it comes to pending legislation and regulation that affects our profession. Over the years, the PVMA has built tremendous relationships with legislators and their staff, allowing us to have some influence in the state government. When there is legislation proposed that may affect us, we get an update from our lobbyist in Harrisburg, Duane Morris Government Strategies. The committee then makes comments and recommendations that will be shared with the powers that be. You might think that it doesn’t have an effect, but it does. It has a big effect, but only if we have people on the committee that want to opine.

Consider this a formal invitation to get involved. Committee members are appointed by the president, so if you want to be considered for a committee, please reach out to the PVMA office.