4 Reasons Why I "Shouldn't" Have Reached Burnout As A Veterinarian

If you’ve ever thought, “I’m trying so hard to do everything right… why do I still feel like this?” — this one’s for you.

Going into vet med, I knew we struggled with burnout...I just didn't think it was going to apply to me.

I thought I was going to be proactive preventing it.

And yet it still happened to me. That's why I was in denial for a long time before I realized I was burned out. I thought I was doing everything "right".   

Here are 4 Reasons Why I Thought I Was Being Proactive About Preventing Burnout:

1. I took a year off in-between undergrad and vet school to make sure I still wanted to be a veterinarian.   

I knew vet school was going to be hard and expensive and since I had wanted to be a vet since I was 6, I wanted to make sure it was what I actually wanted and not just the career path I had always pictured. 

I also wanted to give myself a year in the real world before going back to 4 years of intense studies. I decided there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do and applied to vet school — confident it was the best career path for me.

2. I was proactive with my mental health and mindset.   

I had a 50 minute commute to my first job as a new grad and during those commutes, I binged SO MANY positive mindset podcasts and audiobooks.

Being a new grad was stressful and scary and I wanted to be proactive in having a long and successful career. There were lots of great tips that applied in my life. I still reached burnout. 

3. I prioritized my health.   

I started getting really into health and nutrition my senior year of high school. I loved eating healthy and worked out religiously. Running was my form of stress relief and it was time for me to be in my thoughts.

Even during vet school when I was on large animal rotations working long hours and on-call, I still got up early so that I could have a nourishing breakfast and fit in workouts. I was very proactive in supporting my physical and mental well-being, because I knew that was important.

At least I thought I was supporting my physical and mental well-being...

4. I had candid conversations with my bosses.  

Even though I was a people-pleaser, I would muster up the courage to have difficult conversations with my bosses when something wasn’t working.

When I moved to Charlotte, I worked in urgent care for a year and in many ways loved it. But I realized it wasn’t sustainable (the hours were the opposite of my husband’s) and I missed the relationships and follow through I had with my clients.

I decided to go back to GP, and had a lot of job offers and instead of choosing the one that had the best compensation package, I chose the hospital that I thought would be the right fit for my long-term happiness.

A few years later, I reached burnout. 

Those are some of the reasons why I was in denial that I was burned out for a long time — it wasn’t part of the plan. I was trying to do everything “right”. I was living my dream.

The things that led me to burnout were the rules and messages that I had trusted and listened to.

They were the things that I didn’t even question in my life, because I just thought it was the way that I was and the way things were supposed to be. 

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone — and burnout is not because of an individual flaw or weakness.

In reality, vet med struggles with burnout because we are a profession of high achievers trying so hard to do things right following rules and approaches that are fundamentally flawed. 

That’s why I created the Beat The Burnout videos and my other coaching programs. So much of what we have normalized and been taught leads to health and success often does the exact opposite — because it asks us to override our bodies, needs, and boundaries. 

The Beat The Burnout videos are a starting point to start reconnecting with all of you: body, mind, and heart. So that you can start questioning the rules that don't actually support you...before burnout sneaks up on you like it did for me.  

In your corner,

Dr. Amelia Knight Pinkston
Integrative health & life coach
Consultant | Speaker | Veterinarian