Veterinary Medicine is one of the toughest professions in the world
and as veterinarians we are faced with difficult decisions
on a daily basis, often accompanied by financial constraints,
owner non-compliance and overwhelming caseloads. All of these factors
mixed together can often amount to a bottleneck of stress
which can easily lead to burnout if you are not careful.
That is why it is extremely important to maintain a positive
work-life balance and as a recent graduated veterinarian from South Africa,
I will share my insights on how you can achieve it!
For me it is really important to take on a holistic approach, focusing on the five
main pillars of personal health; namely physical,
emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual. Veterinarians are quite
busy and have packed schedules, but taking 30 minutes out of your day
for a visit to the gym or to go for a quick jog around the
neighborhood will not break your schedule.
In fact, exercise releases endorphins that can help
lift your mood and improve your ability to focus,
therefore increasing your productivity. Eat healthy
and get enough sleep. As animal doctors, we know that this is important,
so do not neglect your physique due to laziness!
Veterinarians are superheroes, I know, but we're also only human beings. We all need
emotional support in some form or another. Dealing with
death on a weekly basis does take its toll after a while and
although you'll learn how to cope with it
by distancing yourself, you will need an ear to listen
and a shoulder to cry on every now and again. There is no
shame in that! Being compassionate is not being weak
and oftentimes we need to carry the burden of a suffering animal
on our shoulders, especially if we cannot provide the optimal care
due to financial constraints. Identify someone in your life
that you can trust and to whom you can open your heart to,
and if there is no one, there are many support groups
for veterinarians on social media platforms that can relate to your pain
and offer guidance and support where needed. As veterinarians,
we tend to isolate ourselves, but we are still
social creatures by nature. We all need to share that beer
or tea with our friends every now and again
in order to stay sane. It especially helps us to escape
the black hole of analysis where we re-evaluate the cases in our heads and
question previous diagnosis we made even long
after both us and our patients went home. It is also great to share
funny stories of your workplace with your friends and family,
just remember that you need to try and censor what you share,
as not everyone will appreciate hearing about
how snippy's anal glands exploded in your face
while they are sipping on their chocolate milkshake...
It comes without saying that Veterinary Science is a very tough degree to
complete and that you will be mentally challenged
in ways that you would never have imagined
could be possible. This does not end after you graduate
though, but does get a little bit easier as you gain
more experience. What is important here is to have a
healthy mindset when challenged mentally and to always
have an eagerness to learn and improve within your profession. We
are intelligent, but we are also forgetful
and thus we need to continuously feed our brains with the most
up-to-date clinical information in order to provide
optimal care for our patients. Lastly, and most importantly to me, is our
spirituality. Being a person of faith, I have a
peaceful assurance that there is a much higher power at
work that is in control of both my life and my destiny. All I
need to do, is give my best every single day and
that is enough. I don't have to ponder the whole time on
what my purpose in life really is. God already determined that
for me the day I was born and as long as I try to add value to
both animals and people's lives every day, I
am at peace that my life is fulfilled. So as long as you acknowledge these five
pillars and set time aside to improve yourself
holistically, you will have a much better balanced life
and will be equipped to face challenges on a daily basis.
But you can't spend any time on these areas
if you don't have any. That is why it is extremely important
to maintain a healthy work-life balance. As a recent graduate,
we are often overwhelmed by the fast pace and long hours of private practice.
Many are thrown into the deep end and expected to work
excessive over time and that is unfortunately
how it sometimes work in the real world. But you need to put yourself
first and if you feel that you are overworked,
speak up! Unhappiness within your work atmosphere
can easily bleed into your everyday home life. You are
a human, not a machine. Communication is extremely important within our
profession and you need to try and find a fine balance between getting
as much exposure as possible early in your career and
getting enough time off from work to be a human being. So make sure to
voice your opinions with your superiors early on,
that is your right! We are in a very fortunate position
to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
You have the opportunity to both touch and save lives
every single day, but you need to first make sure that
you are healthy. That way you'll be able to do a much better job
and be consistently fulfilled within your profession.
Thank you for watching this video. If you enjoyed the content, make sure
to share it with your friends and your family and if you are new to my channel,
consider subscribing, as I'll be posting new videos on interesting
pet related topics every week. As always, have a lekker day
and I'll see you in another video next week. Cheers!