{"id":21774,"date":"2022-04-01T17:23:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=21774"},"modified":"2022-06-15T17:48:48","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T17:48:48","slug":"reality-check-real-vet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/reality-check-real-vet\/","title":{"rendered":"Reality Check"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most impressive things about veterinary professionals is the great breadth of our skill sets. As practitioners, we know more than just the facts we learned in veterinary school; many of us are also experts in communication, problem-solving, diagnostic thinking, priority management and more. Anyone who has practiced in a clinic for even a day knows that much more than medical knowledge is needed to get by \u2014 not to mention excel \u2014 in this line of work.<\/p>\n

In recent years, I made friends with several people who have chosen to leave full-time practice and lean into veterinary-adjacent fields. Some took roles in diagnostic, pet food or pharmaceutical companies \u2014 auxiliary veterinary specialties, if you will. Others were promoted out of their clinic roles and now spend most or all of their time managing and supporting practitioners instead of being one. I know folks who cut back their clinic hours to make time for building social media and practice management consultancies for veterinary practices. And that\u2019s not to mention friends who dropped hours to take care of sick family members, raise children, support a spouse\u2019s new business, help on the farm or downshift into semiretirement.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know whether those alternative career choices are becoming more common \u2014 I suspect they are \u2014 or whether I found myself more drawn to those friendships since I took my career in an unusual direction several years ago. I count my lucky stars daily for the great fortune of having built a career in practices that allowed me to take this path. I feel very fortunate to have a schedule that leaves room for speaking engagements, travel, consulting work, creating the Uncharted conferences and, most importantly, being an active member of my family as a husband and dad.<\/p>\n

I love that veterinary medicine allows for such customization of our jobs. One downside? The \u201creal vet\u201d question.<\/p>\n

A Niche Concern?<\/h3>\n

Let me acknowledge that I\u2019m addressing an issue among a particular subset of veterinary professionals, albeit one that has come to my attention with increasing frequency. That\u2019s probably because it\u2019s an area where I have first-hand experience. If you think this doesn\u2019t apply to you now, feel free to skip ahead to the psychological concept I introduce later. There\u2019s a useful tidbit there for everyone.<\/p>\n

I recently got an out-of-the-blue email from a veterinarian who took a job leading content creation for a well-known veterinary CE provider. She loved her new job but struggled with impostor syndrome when she talked to friends who practiced full time. She got self-conscious when they asked, \u201cBut how much do you actually practice anymore?\u201d It felt like they were asking, \u201cAre you still a real vet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Honestly, I get it. The real vet question has bothered me for years. Like so many of us, I used to picture myself following in the footsteps of veterinary archetypes like James Herriot. I once envisioned a veterinary career like those of the senior-level experts I looked up to after veterinary school.<\/p>\n

As my career path evolved, I practiced less and developed the other facets of my professional life. Just like the veterinarian who emailed me, I loved what I was building, but I sometimes felt awkward about my status as a \u201creal vet\u201d because of my no-longer-full-time clinic schedule.<\/p>\n

I worried: Was I falling behind other veterinarians who practiced every day? In a way, yes. I could not develop my expertise as a practicing veterinarian as fast or as thoroughly as others if I practiced significantly less than they did. Sometimes it hit me as I stood in front of other doctors, lecturing on effective communication strategies. They talked to more clients each week than I did. Did that make me a fraud? Who was I to claim the role of a communications expert?<\/p>\n

I wrestled a long time with my definition of a real vet. I thought I could find a definition that would soothe my uneasiness. To me, a real vet had innate talent and skill for working up cases, building relationships with clients and staff, and performing surgery, which I did. But I also saw a real vet as someone who was available full time to clients in need, which I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Would a real vet sink a huge amount of time and money into clinical training<\/a>, then use the training less and less over the years? Could a real vet be introduced at social gatherings as \u201cMy friend Andy, the vet\u201d if he wasn\u2019t a practicing veterinarian five days a week? What about four days? Three? Knowing my \u201creal vet\u201d status seemed important to understanding my personal worth and value to my community.<\/p>\n

I have always liked that as a veterinarian, I know how to fix things \u2014 put my hands on a pet, write a prescription, pick up a scalpel. But the truth is I also know how to fix other things. For example, I know how veterinary practices can implement simple changes to run more smoothly. (I\u2019ve dedicated a great deal of time and research to the pursuit of this knowledge.) I know how to develop procedures that help staff members work harder and happier. I know how to advise practices on better communication so that the veterinary professionals who work there can do their jobs better. So no, I\u2019m not a fraud. I\u2019m just contributing to my field in a different way.<\/p>\n

All of that was a long journey for me. I had been out of full-time practice for about eight years when I finally decided that the mental gymnastics I was doing to justify my \u201creal vet\u201d status wasn\u2019t gaining me any sort of peace. Am I a real vet? Some might say yes and some no, but I\u2019ve decided that the question isn\u2019t relevant to me anymore. So, I\u2019ve let it go.<\/p>\n

A Useful Concept: Incongruence<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s a concept we should all know. The late American psychologist Carl Rogers used the term \u201cincongruence\u201d to mean the unpleasant feelings we get when how we see ourselves differs from how we imagine our ideal selves. That was the battle I fought as my career changed, and I think it\u2019s what the person who emailed me was going through, too.<\/p>\n

I had been carrying around the \u201creal vet\u201d ideal image of myself as someone who works in a clinic full time, just like most of my friends and colleagues. When I looked in the mirror, the person I saw didn\u2019t match that ideal. In reality, I popped into the clinic a day or two a week, but I spent most of my time working from home, writing, developing workshops and making slide decks. Nothing was wrong with the person I saw in the mirror; he just didn\u2019t match the outdated ideal in my head. That mismatch, or incongruence, hurt.<\/p>\n

Once I came to that realization, I understood there are only these two paths to peace for any of us:<\/p>\n