Me, we, us: Comprehensible wellbeing

This episode is sponsored by Blue Buffalo

On this week's episode of The Vet Blast Podcast presented by dvm360, our host Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, welcomes Alex Miller, VMD, MS, and Phil Richmond, DVM, CAPP, CPHSA, CCFP, to the show to talk about some recent progress for awareness and integration of wellbeing in veterinary practices. Throughout the episode, the trio emphasizes the importance of addressing burnout, compassion fatigue, and mental health through positive psychology, veterinary social workers, and evidence based tools.

This episode will also share more on the Florida Veterinary Medical Association's Inspire program, which focuses on access to mental health professionals, workplace well-being champions, and more.

Below is a partial transcript, edited lightly for clarity

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: Well, I love that we're having this conversation friends, because this is what it really should be about. And I want to start talking a little bit about, where are we at with the current state? Phil, you know, how would you describe the current state of well being in veterinary medicine today?

Phil Richmond, DVM, CAPP, CPHSA, CCFP:That's a great question. Adam, and I think it's important for us to remember where we came from, you know, as thinking about 15-20, years ago. Dare I say? When those of us in this room were in vet school, and before is, were we really having these conversations? Were we talking about well being on a systemic level? I mean, we were just starting to talk about, you know, like burnout and maybe a little bit of compassion fatigue and some of these things. But the level in which well being is being is being integrated into veterinary medicine is very heartening. Certainly, it's like watching the news. I mean, there can always be things that, you know, if we get on social media, you know the downsides, but we don't hear about the, you know, the 10 year old kid walking, you know, walking the grandmother across the street.

You know, in the hard work that many, many people in veterinary medicine are doing day to day to elevate well being in the profession. So I'm very, very bullish on on where we are, where we've come from, and the direction we're going in, because it's not just it's it's not just the passion of the lived experience of veterinarians, but bringing in evidence based tools, bringing in veterinary social workers, mental health professionals, veterinarians who are trained in, you know, in positive psychology and that type of thing, veterinary professionals. So really, really excited about the direction we're going

Christman: What are your thoughts, Dr Miller?

Alex Miller, VMD, MS: I would agree with Phil, in the sense that we've come a really long way. It's really easy to look forward and say, here are the gaps of where we want to be versus where we are. But when you think about how the the content that's shared in veterinary magazines and at conferences and and just what the talk on the street is in veterinary medicine, well being is now a household name. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that every solution that's out there is that we've that we've that we've gotten where we want to be. But I think getting over that hurdle of awareness and kind of, I wouldn't say the stigma, is completely overcome, but we're able to talk about these things openly and candidly now. And my favorite sort of indication that we've moved beyond that is I hear less and less of well being referred to as a soft skill. It's probably my least favorite term in veterinary medicine. I'm definitely a stickler for language. So there's all these things in veterinary medicine that I think are named wrong.

But soft skill, it suggests that it's an afterthought, it's squishy, it's fuzzy, it's cozy. These are things that sometimes get in the way of a busy day when we start to think of these as genuine people skills. And I know Phil and I have chatted a lot about this, it becomes integral to the success of everyone in veterinary medicine, and that's where I think we are. But we can't take our foot off the gas, because we've made a lot of progress, and we can see things, you know, slow down or halt.