The Pathogenesis of Veterinary Toxicity: The Ugly Truth

No veterinary team manager starts out with the intention of forcing their clinic into a socially precarious position. But over time, due to both pre-existent and self-perpetuated conditions, a certain miasma settles in. Let us examine the foundations of such cases to determine the best way to tear their structure down.

Life and Death

Death roams the halls of every kind of hospital, from pediatric to geriatric. But directly playing the agent of Death, as veterinarians do, is a whole other kind of trauma. Active or “aggressive” euthanasia (and dysthanasia) is a regular occurrence in veterinary hospitals. And it carries an emotional toll for both parent and vet when deciding to put an animal down. Deliberately taking the life of a beloved animal because of suffering, behavioral issues, or even financial insufficiency is not easy. Especially not for someone who cares deeply for animals, as many veterinarians do.

High Demand, Low Supply

The precipitous trend of animal adoption in the developed world is inadequately matched by the output of veterinary students. It doesn’t help that the cost of quality veterinary education ranges from $200,000 to well over $400,000 in the U.S. alone. The result is understaffed veterinary care centers where the practice manager is the beggar, not the chooser. This makes enforcing rules of conduct a tight rope to walk. What are you going to do? Fire your team’s only experienced veterinary technician for being mean to the intern a few times?

Elitist Expectations

Ever watched the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy? Right out the door, we get to hear the menacing monologue droning on in the background. “The 7 years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life,” it says, “You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your arena.” Internet personality, Doctor Mike, remarked that this sounded more like the Hunger Games than Grey’s Anatomy. Unfortunately, though, this dramatized version of the surgical experience sounds all too familiar.

A similar belief is perpetuated in the veterinary community. That those who endure the extreme workloads and rigorous training are worthy of respect and advancement. Commitment, it is called. Tolerance. Capacity to bear the veterinarian yoke.

And out of this bud, The Hazing blooms

For most in the medical field, the word hazing requires no definition. If you haven’t experienced hazing, then are you even a true veterinarian at all? (Let us be clear, that was said ironically). Why does this happen? Because the new hire is viewed as an added burden instead of a potential source of respite. Like leeches that will suck the energy of their attendings, hanging heavily off of their shoulders like sloths. 

Hazing is not necessarily the blatant, outright egg-throwing ritual you remember from Initiation Day. Often, it is deliberate maliciousness, sabotage, ostracism, and passive-aggression shown towards new initiates. Essentially, they’re put through the grinder to determine whether they’re durable enough. It isn’t always that extreme, of course. Sometimes the intern is simply abandoned to “learn on their feet” … till they walk out with blisters and bad memories. Or they survive, in which case: hurray! Another grim, sardonic, brutal addition to the bunch.

Needless to say, hazing is unhealthy and yields nothing that could not be accomplished by better means. In fact, it exacerbates the problem, driving away future hires and dooming the practice to perpetual staff-shortage.

Janus, the two-faced Client

The client can, sadly, play the dual role of angel and demon in the veterinary clinic. They are affectionate and considerate toward their pets but do not always extend this behavior to their animals’ caretakers. As Shawn McVey, MA, MSW, CEO of Pathway (Veterinary Management), quips, “People come to us with beer budgets and champagne expectations for their animals,” They use their intense bond with animals as an excuse to vent their emotions inappropriately. And this can weigh heavily on veterinarians.

Institutional Ignorance

You don’t really need an optician to help you read the writing on the wall. Often, what’s going on is clear as day to everyone in the team. But sometimes, the veterinary manager is either overwhelmed or embittered by the attitudes of the team. They are usually busy with efficiency optimization, inventory management, and the practical HR functions. So weighed down are they, that they neither can nor wish to face this particularly nasty dragon.

The Culmination

The stress of all these elements combine to turn the clinic into a pressure cooker, with the veterinarians inside slowly, but inevitably falling apart.

We have an idiom where I come from: “Jab tak chal raha hai, chalne de”. It means as long as a system is going, let it go. And sometimes this means you keep on going till its gone. A rather grim thought, when we consider that we’re talking about human beings here, not just the practice. Around 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague to suicide, according to a survey done last year. Worse, the suicide rate among veterinarians is 4 times that of the general population [1].

If these stark stats sound like something you want to address, then learn how to recognize the symptoms here.

Also join us in our upcoming webinar to learn strategies for preventing, negating, and managing these circumstances in your clinic

We cannot emphasize enough how important the environment around and mindset within a team affects the functionality of its members. There is no case that is too far gone.

[1] Stoewen DL. Suicide in veterinary medicine: let’s talk about it. Can Vet J. 2015 Jan;56(1):89-92. PMID: 25565722; PMCID: PMC4266064.